The death of actor Jonathan Haze at the age of 95 is a sad day for his loyal fans.
The news was broken by his devoted daughter Rebecca who confirmed to Deadline that he had died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home on Saturday. He’d been a frequent collaborator with producer Roger Corman ever since he was first discovered way back in 1957.
The actor was first discovered while working in a petrol station after a chance meeting with Hollywood director Wyott Ordung led to him being offered a role in Monster From The Ocean Floor. It was a minor part, but allowed the starry-eyed hopeful to get his foot on the first rung of the ladder – and he soon became an experienced actor.
Key moments included winning roles in Corman’s The Fast and the Furious in 1954, followed by Five Guns West in 1955. He ended up accumulating 41 acting credits – including 20 which were Corman movies as the pair developed a great working relationship.
Tragically, Corman himself died three years ago, at the age of 98, and Jonathan has now followed. Besides his film career, he also appeared on television shows including Dragnet and 77 Sunset Strip.
However, perhaps his most iconic role so far was that of flower seller Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, a film so inspiring within the industry that the 1982 off-Broadway musical of the same name was modelled on it.
While it first seems as if he’s working an ordinary and mundane job, everything changes when a drop of his blood falls onto a plant in the shop, which transforms into a human-like character demanding to be fed.
It then hounds him to make demands for human blood, with the famous catchphrase “Feed me, Seymour!” now being well-known among fans of vintage films.
The comedy had viewers in hysterics – and the actor later described his indisputed success as a “home run”.
Talking at a nostalgic fan convention in 2001, he declared happily: “Sometimes it just all works for you; some days you get home runs and some days you strike out. Well, that was a home run situation.”
He added: “We were shooting it on the stage that Charlie Chaplin used to make his films on, which maybe there was some kind of spiritual ghost or something that affected us all, but it is magical.
“Not only is it magical, you can’t really put your finger on what makes it wonderful.”
Jonathan, who is survived by his two daughters, Rebecca and DD, plus three grandchildren and one great-grandson, will be nostalgically remembered and sorely missed.
