Jackie Earle Haley

February 26, 3:32 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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JACKIE EARLE HALEY

You say you’ve never heard of Jackie Earle Haley?  Sure you have -- the scrawny, befreckled kid from The Bad News Bears and Breaking Away.  See, I told you.  If you ever wonder what became of him, wonder no more.  Especially since his role as Rorschach in Watchmen has put him back squarely in the spotlight.

Jackie was born in Northridge, California on July 14th, 1961 -- his father is Haven Earle "Bud" Haley, an actor and radio show host.

From a very young age, Jackie was acting professionally.  His early television work included The Partridge Family, voice work on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, Marcus Welby M.D., Planet of the Apes, Shazam!, and The Waltons.

His first break into the world of cinema was in the 1976 sleeper hit The Bad News Bears, where he played Kelly Leak, the cigarette-smoking rebel who played outfield and was the best hitter on the team.  After appearing in two sequels, and the sci-fi bomb Damnation Alley, Jackie went on to costar with Dennis Quaid, Dennis Christopher, and Daniel Stern in Breaking Away.  That film -- #8 on the AFI’s List of America’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies -- would mark a career high, and also be the last major role Jackie would have for decades.

Though Jackie worked sporadically as an actor throughout he eighties and nineties, he eventually turned his eye to producing and directing television commercials.  He owns his own production company, JEH Productions in San Antonio.

In 2006, Jackie returned to acting, costarring alongside Sean Penn in All The King’s Men.  That same year, he won rave notices for his performance as a paroled sex offender in Little Children -- the role earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

After appearing in Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell, Jackie received the casting coup of his life: he won the role of masked detective Rorschach in Zack Snyder’s film version of Watchmen.  Before the film was even released, most critics -- even those in awe of the movie’s spectacle and groundbreaking themes -- were stating that Jackie stole the show.  The film reunites him with his Little Children costar, Patrick Wilson.

Jackie married to his third wife, Amelia Cruz, in 2004.  He has two children (Christopher - 1986, and Olivia -- 1998) from previous relationships.

Up next: Martin Scorsese’s Ashecliffe, Shutter Island, Bolden!, and The Great Observer.  He is also rumored to be in the running for the role of Freddy Krueger in a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.