Jonathan Haze obit

Jonathan Haze Dies: Seymour In Original ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ & Longtime Roger Corman Collaborator Was 95

 

He was not on the list.

Jonathan Haze, who originated the Seymour role in cult classic 1960 horror comedy The Little Shop of Horrors during a long collaboration with its director Roger Corman, has died. He was 95.

His daughter, Rebecca Haze, told Deadline that he died peacefully of natural causes on November 2 at his home in Los Angeles but did not provide a cause.

Born in Pittsburgh on April 1, 1929, Haze was discovered working in a gas station by Wyott Ordung, who gave him a role in Monster from the Ocean Floor, which Corman produced. That same year, he cast Haze in The Fast and the Furious and then as Billy Candy in the 1955 western Five Guns West, starring John Lund and Dorothy Malone.

They were the first of nearly 20 movies they made together, including 1955’s Apache Woman and Day the World Ended; 1956’s Gunslinger, The Oklahoma Woman, It Conquered the World and Swamp Women; and 1957’s Naked Paradise, Not of This Earth, Rock All Night, Carnival Rock and The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent aka The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent.

Haze also did guest turns on TV’s Dragnet, 77 Sunset Strip, Overland Trail, The Californians and Cimarron City before landing his signature role.

Seymour Krelboined is described in The Little Shop of Horrors screenplay as “a scrawny runt, with a nose like a door-stopper and the gait of an ostrich.” Working as a assistant in a skid row flower shop alongside Audrey (Jackie Joseph), on whom he has a crush, Haze’s Seymour is fired after botching an arrangement for a mean dentist. Seymour gets to keep his job after telling the boss about a plant he has grown from seeds, which he names Audrey Jr., to his colleague’s delight.

Plant food fails to provide enough nourishment for the rather strange flora, but things change when Seymour cuts his finger and drips blood on Audrey Jr. The Venus flytrap-like plant now craves — no, demands — human blood and begins to grow. Big. And horror hilarity ensues, leading to the film’s signature catchphrase: “Feed me, Seymour.”

The film was adapted for the 1982 Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors, which later was produced in London’s West End and in a 2003-04 Broadway revival. That show inspired director Frank Oz’s 1986 film musical, starring Rick Moranis as Seymour.

Haze — a cousin of drum legend Buddy Rich — went on to appear in Corman’s 1963 films The Terror and X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes and would have sporadic film and TV roles culminating with the 2010 gangland drama feature Nobody Smiling.

He also served as production manager on Corman’s The Fast and the Furious and The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) along with a few other films in the 1960s and ’70s. Haze also wrote screenplays for the 1962 feature Invasion of the Star Creatures and a 1960 “Family Skeleton” episode of 77 Sunset Strip and went on to enjoy a long career producing commercials.

Along with Rebecca Haze, survivors include another daughter, DD Haze; grandchildren Andre Bryant, Rocco Haze and Ruby Bryant; and a great-grandson, Sonny Haze.

Actor

Nobody Smiling (2010)

Nobody Smiling

8.7

Older Man

2010

 

The Phantom Eye

5.9

TV Series

Detective #1

1999

 

Invisible Mom II (1999)

Invisible Mom II

3.7

Video

Ski (as Jonathon Haze)

1999

 

Nick Bakay and Richard Steven Horvitz in The Angry Beavers (1997)

The Angry Beavers

7.2

TV Series

Mann Servante (voice)

1998

1 episode

 

Vice Squad (1982)

Vice Squad

6.4

Dapper Man

1982

 

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

6.6

Gangster Dressed as a Cop (uncredited)

1967

 

Blood Bath (1966)

Blood Bath

5.1

Beatnik

1966

 

Ray Milland and Diana Van der Vlis in X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

6.6

Heckler (uncredited)

1963

 

Boris Karloff in The Terror (1963)

The Terror

5.0

Gustaf

1963

 

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

The Little Shop of Horrors

6.2

Seymour Krelborn

1960

 

Overland Trail (1960)

Overland Trail

7.4

TV Series

Duke

1960

1 episode

 

Richard Coogan in The Californians (1957)

The Californians

6.6

TV Series

Beggar

1959

1 episode

 

Forbidden Island (1959)

Forbidden Island

6.2

Jack Mautner

1959

 

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

77 Sunset Strip

7.7

TV Series

Banjo

1959

1 episode

 

George Montgomery in Cimarron City (1958)

Cimarron City

7.4

TV Series

Judd Budinger

1958

1 episode

 

Ghost of the China Sea (1958)

Ghost of the China Sea

5.1

Larry Peters

1958

 

Teenage Cave Man (1958)

Teenage Cave Man

3.5

The Curly-Haired Boy

1958

 

Stakeout on Dope Street (1958)

Stakeout on Dope Street

6.2

Julian 'Ves' Vespucci (as Jonathon Haze)

1958

 

The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957)

The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent

3.4

Ottar

1957

 

Susan Cabot in Carnival Rock (1957)

Carnival Rock

4.8

Max

1957

 

Bayou (1957)

Bayou

5.1

Bos

1957

 

Rock All Night (1957)

Rock All Night

5.7

Joey

1957

 

Beverly Garland in Not of This Earth (1957)

Not of This Earth

6.1

Jeremy Perrin

1957

 

Naked Paradise (1957)

Naked Paradise

4.3

Stony Gratoni

1957

 

I Led 3 Lives (1953)

I Led 3 Lives

8.1

TV Series

Potter

1956

1 episode

 

Flesh and the Spur (1956)

Flesh and the Spur

4.9

Outlaw (uncredited)

1956

 

It Conquered the World (1956)

It Conquered the World

4.9

Pvt. Manuel Ortiz

1956

 

Peggie Castle in The Oklahoma Woman (1956)

The Oklahoma Woman

4.5

Blackie Thompson

1956

 

Beverly Garland in Gunslinger (1956)

Gunslinger

3.8

Jake Hayes

1956

 

Dragnet (1951)

Dragnet

7.5

TV Series

Jerry Roath

1956

1 episode

 

Mike Connors, Carole Mathews, Beverly Garland, and Marie Windsor in Swamp Women (1956)

Swamp Women

3.4

Charlie the Pickpocket

1956

 

Robert Shayne in Navy Log (1955)

Navy Log

8.0

TV Series

1956

1 episode

 

Paul Blaisdell, Richard Denning, and Lori Nelson in Day the World Ended (1955)

Day the World Ended

5.4

Contaminated Man

1955

 

Dementia (1955)

Dementia

6.7

Character (uncredited)

1955

 

Highway Patrol (1955)

Highway Patrol

7.7

TV Series

Hay Delivery Driver (as Jonathon Haze)

1955

1 episode

 

Lloyd Bridges and Joan Taylor in Apache Woman (1955)

Apache Woman

4.7

Tom Chandler

1955

 

Cell 2455, Death Row (1955)

Cell 2455, Death Row

6.4

Wells, Gang Member (uncredited)

1955

 

John Lund and Dorothy Malone in Five Guns West (1955)

Five Guns West

5.2

William Parcell 'Billy' Candy (as Jonothon Haze)

1955

 

East of Eden (1955)

East of Eden

7.8

Piscora's Son (uncredited)

1955

 

John Ireland and Dorothy Malone in The Fast and the Furious (1954)

The Fast and the Furious

5.3

Connie's Rescuer (uncredited)

1954

 

Anne Kimbell and Stuart Wade in Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)

Monster from the Ocean Floor

3.8

Joe (as Jack Hayes)

1954

 

Production Manager

Mummenschanz

Short

production manager

1978

 

Medium Cool (1969)

Medium Cool

7.2

production manager (uncredited)

1969

 

Linda Evans, Don Joslyn, Don Murray, and Angelique Pettyjohn in Childish Things (1969)

Childish Things

6.2

production manager

1969

 

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)

The Beast with a Million Eyes

3.7

production manager (as Jack Haze)

1955

 

Jayne Mansfield in Female Jungle (1955)

Female Jungle

5.5

unit manager (as Jack Hayes)

1955

 

John Ireland and Dorothy Malone in The Fast and the Furious (1954)

The Fast and the Furious

5.3

unit manager (as Jack Hayes)

1954

 

Writer

Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962)

Invasion of the Star Creatures

3.1

screenplay

story "Monsters from Nicholson Mesa"

1962

 

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

77 Sunset Strip

7.7

TV Series

story by

teleplay by

1960

1 episode

 

Forbidden Island (1959)

Forbidden Island

6.2

story editor (uncredited)

1959