This Day in Horror History: Happy Birthday Jackie Earle Haley

On this day in horror history, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Watchmen star Jackie Earle Haley was born in Northridge, California in 1961.

Haley broke into movies as a child actor in The Bad News Bears, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan.

From there he starred in Breaking Away with Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, and Daniel Stern. And Losin’ It with Tom Cruise and Shelley Long.

He kicked around the low-budget horror realm for a bit, starring in flicks such as Dollman and William Lustig’s Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence.

While his career went dormant in the 90s, he found success as a commercial director. With the recommendation of Sean Penn (Mystic River), Haley returned to acting in 2006 with All the King’s Men.

He experienced a career resurgence following his Oscar-nominated role in Little Children with Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, and Patrick Wilson.

From there he managed to snag roles in such flicks as Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation of Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s Watchmen.

Not to mention Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, that RoboCop remake, The Dark Tower with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, and James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel.

And let’s not forget Freddy Krueger in Samuel Bayer’s A Nightmare on Elm Street remake with Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, and Kyle Gallner.

He has also starred in such films as Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell, The Birth of a Nation, London Has Fallen, and Vice President Alexander H. Stephens in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln with Daniel Day-Lewis.

Most recently, I saw him play supervillain “The Terror” in Amazon’s reboot of Ben Edlund’s The Tick Peter Serafinowicz and Griffin Newman.

What’s your favorite Jackie Earle Haley movie? Hit us up and let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

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