Jonathan Haze, beloved B-movie actor, dies at the age of 95

Jonathan Haze, a versatile and beloved actor, died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles, leaving behind a legacy of more than two dozen films made with B-movie legend Roger Corman. He was 95.

Born Jack Aaron Schachter on April 1, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Haze began his acting career on stage, working with famed entertainer Josephine Baker and drummer Buddy Rich, his cousin.

After a chance meeting with Wyott Ordung, Haze was introduced to Corman, which marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration.

Recalling their first meeting, Corman said, “There’s a role for you, a Mexican… But you’re going to have to grow a mustache. You’re also going to have to bring your own costumes, do your own stunts, and you won .” Don’t you get overtime? Do you still want it?’ Initially billed as Jack Hayes, Haze later adopted the stage name Jonathan Haze.

Haze’s most iconic role was as Seymour Krelborn in the original The little horror shop (1960), where he played a clumsy flower shop clerk who discovers a plant that requires blood and human flesh to survive.

In one memorable scene, he pulls teeth from mortician Wilbur Force, played by Jack Nicholson.

“All the interior scenes in the movie were done in two days, they were twenty-hour days, and then we went out on the road and did three nights with a second unit, with a completely different crew. It was insane,” Haze recalled in 2001.

“We were actually filming on Skid Row, with real hobos as extras. We paid them 10 cents per walk-through.”

Haze’s versatility and enthusiasm earned him a reputation as a chameleon actor. A 2011 Tumblr post described him as “a small, slight man with a boyish appearance… He maintained an overwhelming enthusiasm for whatever project he was working on, and… was willing to go for the enthusiasm if It was about changing his attitude and voice to create a new on-screen personality.”

Throughout his career, Haze appeared in numerous Corman films, including The fast and the furious (1954), Day the world ended (1955), Stakeout on Dope Street (1958), and X: The man with the x-ray eyes (1963).

He also wrote the screenplay Invasion of the star beings (1962) and worked as a production manager and producer on various projects.

Haze is survived by his daughters, Rebecca and Deedee; grandchildren, Andre, Rocco and Ruby; and great-grandson, Sonny.