Jonathan Haze, who starred as Seymour Krelborn in the original The Little Shop of Horrors, has died at 95. His daughter Rebecca Haze reported that the actor died on Saturday in his Los Angeles home.
Haze worked with filmmaker Roger Corman on two dozen films, including Little Shop of Horrors. He also starred in films such as The Fast and the Furious, Monster From the Ocean Floor, and The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. He served as an assistant director on Corman’s The Born Losers in 1967.
“All the interior scenes in the movie were done in two days, they were like 20-hour days, and then we went out on the streets and did three nights with a second unit, with a totally different crew,” Haze said about the production of Little Shop of Horrors. “It was insane.”
Actress Jackie Joseph, who played Audrey in Little Shop, said Haze “had practically all the pressure on him” during the film’s production.
“I don’t think any of us would have been as successful if he hadn’t been on top of what he was doing,” Joseph said. “It’s funny to think of ‘professionalism’ when you think of something as dopey as Little Shop, but there definitely were professionals on that stage.”
Haze, born Jack Aaron Schachter, was born in Pittsburgh on April 1, 1929. He served for two years as the stage manager for Josephine Baker before hitchhiking to Los Angeles, where he would meet Corman.
Haze wrote the screenplay for the film Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962). He also acted as a production manager and producer on various projects.
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