Immortalized as Seymour in Corman’s The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Jonathan was pumping gas in California when Wyott Ordung ran into him and cast him in Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). From there Roger used him in film after film. Day the World Ended (1954), Swamp Diamonds (1956), Gunslinger (1956), The Oklahoma Woman (1956), It Conquered the World (1956), Naked Paradise (1957), Not of This Earth (1957), Rock All Night (1957), Carnival Rock (1957), Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1957), Teenage Caveman (1958), The Terror (1963), X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967). A member of the Corman Stock Company. Haze wrote Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962) and was Production Manager on Medium Cool (1969). He’s a face we’ve seen 5 times on MST. Swamp Diamonds, Gunslinger, It Conquered the World, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, Teenage Caveman. A Natural or Miracle-Gro?
Note: 5 Haze pics were MSTs. Swamp Diamonds (1956), Gunslinger (1956), It Conquered the World (1956), Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1957), Teenage Caveman (1958). Links to discussions on all 5 are listed below.
I like Jonathan Haze. I mostly think of him as Seymour and Little Man. That sort of character type.
Honestly, Jonathan Haze is pretty impressive because he has played multiple parts where I didn’t even recognize him. When you consider that he’s not really acting in amazing movies, the fact that he’s good enough to be hard to recognize based on the role he’s playing says something about his skill.
…and I didn’t realize that he was in It Conquered the World, either.
Jonathan Haze is Seymour to me, though Rick Moranis did a great job in the remake, the tone is completely different. Haze’s Seymour just has the perfect dark and depressed vibe that works so well in Corman’s film. It does seem that he disappears into many of the other roles we see him in. I think that goes to show how under appreciated his talent really was.
“Spot Jonathan Haze” is another fun game when watching Corman films. He’s one of the secret herbs and spices that gives those movies their Cormanesque flavor.
Alas, he doesn’t appear to have been in any of Corman’s Poe films.
“You don’t understand! I’M A PRINCE!”
Possibly he was too contemporary an actor for Poe? He is in The Terror (1963) but it isn’t based on anything Poe.
Trailer of The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).
@optiMSTie I just realized the “Dracula” joke in Santo In The Treasure of Dracula (1969) and Doing Things For Ourselves In School (1963) may be a Little Shop of Horrors (1960) reference. I only now caught that.
Joe Dante on The Little Shop of Horrors.
THE BESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST
Trailer of It Conquered the World (1956).
Trailer of Swamp Diamonds (1956).
He melted away in a part. That’s always a tell tale of a great actor. Not even knowing it’s him. Only after you’ve seen it do you realize.
Little Shop of Horrors and Bucket of Blood are marvelous little films that really showcase what those two can do as actors. I don’t care how cheap they were, those are good films.
And they live on. We’re still talking about them today. They have a greater afterlife than many big pictures of the period.
Trailer of Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1957).
