Jack Earle Haley is an actor and filmmaker from the United States. The Bad News Bears (1976), The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), and Breaking Away (1979) were among his early roles. After many years as a producer and director of television commercials, and with the encouragement of Sean Penn, Haley returned to acting in 2006, first in Steven Zaillian’s All the King’s Men alongside Penn as Sugar Boy, his bodyguard, and then in Todd Field’s Little Children, where Haley received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a recently paroled sex offender. He noted that his preparation for the part was affected largely by his mother’s connection with his brother True, who fought a heroin addiction before passing away from an overdose. For this role, Haley was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was asked to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2007.
Haley went on to play the antihero Rorschach in Watchmen (2009), horror legend Freddy Krueger in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), and Grewishka, a cyborg criminal in Alita: Battle Angel (2019). He portrayed Odin Quincannon in Preacher’s first season (2016) and The Terror in The Tick’s first season (2016–18). He keeps up with his fans on Twitter @jackieearle, where he boasts more than 32,000 followers.