NEWS: A Child Star and a Second Chance

CELEB: A Child Star and a Second Chance

In the late-seventies, many considered Jackie Earle Haley one of the most promising young actors of his generation. He started acting in commercials as a child, and by 1976, he landed the role of Harley-riding delinquent Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears.



In 1979, Haley co-starred in the coming-of-age flick Breaking Away, a film that received five Oscar nominations, including a nomination for Best Picture.



Although Haley excelled as a child actor, the transition from child-star to adult actor proved difficult. While no one doubted his acting skill, he suffered typical teen problems such as acne, voice changes, and stunted growth. As Haley matured, the job offers dried up and the roles he was offered were not appealing. With acting gigs not coming in at all, Haley delivered pizza and drove limousines to make ends meet.



Haley eventually left Hollywood, finding moderate success directing and producing TV commercials. With a new life ahead of him, Haley found himself running his own production company and planning his wedding. That's when his name resurfaced in Hollywood.



While honeymooning in France, Haley received a message that director Steve Zaillian called. He wanted Haley to audition for a All the Kings Men. Haley admitted auditioning was difficult, but he was able to complete his audition video and sent it off. "He was just as good an actor now as he had ever been" raved Zaillian. Although not the lead, Haley appeared alongside Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, and Sean Penn.



The performance inspired director Todd Field, who was searching for someone to portray sex-offender Ronnie McGorvey. Field, impressed with the audition video, invited Haley to read with Kate Winslet. Again, Haley nailed the part. Little Children opened to excellent reviews; Entertainment Weekly even mentioned a possible Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.



At the age of forty, and away from Hollywood for over a decade, Haley embraced his comeback. When asked if he was bitter about his fading popularity throughout the 1980's, a pensive Haley replied, "Not at all, I completely took it for granted that I was going to be an actor for the rest of my life. And when it started to slip away, man, it took a long time to make sense of that. But bitter? That would be a waste. It feels so great now to have people come up to me. People who wondered what had happened to me. Honestly, I'm amazed anyone remembered."



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Basketball has been so kind to him. Why go back to acting?

Thanks for posting that. Good story.

I haven't seen any of those movies.

Something tells me this thread is going to bring light to the glaring generation gap on SG!


LET THEM PLAY! LET THEM PLAY!

all growed up

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Breaking Away is such a good film. I'm going, to have to see if it's available to buy on dvd.

I think you're right about this. I was just reminiscing about the huge crush I had on him when he was in the Bad News Bears!

"you go cutter, go!"

This story is a good indicator that not all news is bad news.

Same here only for me it was Tatum O'Neal.

And thanks to Shelly for the terrific article. If by chance you read this Jackie, know that your fans never forgot about you. Whether it was cruising through Damnation Alley with Jan-Michael Vincent or hanging out in the Astrodome with William Devane, your contribution to American cinema is not one to be forgotten. Glad to see you're back in business again.

he was great as cousin donald in that episode of GET A LIFE

He was my favourite child actor back in the day - glad to see him back in form.
And anyone who hasn't seen Breaking Away should treat themselves. Lycoris, occasionally they've shown it on TVO here in Ontario so keep an eye out for it.

His name is Haley. Funny.

Yet we all know his greatest role...

Interview with Chris Elliott

DRE: I still laugh when I think about that one episode of Get a Life where you were shoving tuna balls into your Cousin Donald's car radio.
CE: [laughs] Oh yeah, Adam Resnick wrote that one. It was the family reunion episode. That was really funny. Jackie Earle Haley was Cousin Donald in that.

You know, just like AndersWolleck just said.

Wow. I could have said that myself. In fact, I think I said something nearly identical to that in my second book.

Who are you?





I kid, I kid.

Thats awesome. I love it when he punches the time clock in Breaking Away.

two cane-waving classics!

That's how media outlets the world over produce 90% of thier content each day.

yup, infact 90% of the news articles here on the news wire are reworded stories from other publications. I don't think that the reporters here are on the front lines of Iraq reporting what they see. I guess when People magazine and Life magazine publish the same story in different words about the Bush/Rice meeting, that makes one of them less merit worthy. Oh and the day after September 11th 2001, didn't every newspaper in the whole fucking country have the same story in different words.
I am glad this story is here, because I don't read entertainment weekly. If it is in different words, doesn't that make it original?

Oh, fuck this noise. It's been forever since we've had a member-submitted piece and I'm goddamn happy to see one.

It's good story, people seem to enjoy it, and the technical writing aspects are on point.

I remember when that movie came out back in the day..yes I have just carbon dated myself. As for Wil Wheaton above...some of us geeks are screwed, because as long as we live we'll never forget you god damnit!

Well done, Shelly.

+1