Jonathan Haze death: Actor known for original The Little Shop of Horrors dies aged 95

Actor played Seymour, who grew a human blood-seeking plant, in cult classic The Little Shop of Horrors

Jonathan Haze in 1960 horror comedy The Little Shop of Horrors (The Filmgroup/Santa Clara Productions)

Jonathan Haze, best known for his iconic role as Seymour in the cult classic 1960 horror comedy The Little Shop of Horrors, has died. He was 95.

His daughter, Rebecca Haze, confirmed to Deadline that he died on Saturday (2 November) at his home of natural causes.

Haze was known for his frequent collaborations with Little Shop of Horrors director Roger Corman, who died himself at 98 earlier this year in May.

Born on 1 April 1929 in Pittsburgh, Haze started out by working the stage for his cousin, jazz drummer Buddy Rich, and then worked two years as stage manager for entertainer Josephine Baker.

He made it to Los Angeles a few years later, where he was discovered working in a gas station by Wyott Ordung, who cast him in the 1954 filmMonster from the Ocean Floor, which Corman produced.

“There’s a part for you, a Mexican,” Corman said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “But you’ll have to grow a moustache. You’ll also have to bring your own costumes, do your own stunts, and you won’t be paid overtime. You still want it?”

In the same year, Haze was also cast in a small role in The Fast and the Furious, and then starred in the 1955 western Five Guns West, starring John Lund and Dorothy Malone, as Billy Candy.

After this, Haze went on to star in nearly 20 films directed by Corman, including Apache Woman and Day the World Ended in 1955, Gunslinger, The Oklahoma Woman, It Conquered the World, and Swamp Women in 1956, Naked Paradise, Not of This Earth, Rock All Night, Carnival Rock, and The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent in 1957. His last project with Corman was in 1999, when he showed up for a cameo in television series The Phantom Eye, and credited as Detective #1.

His acting career spanned five decades, with 41 roles to his name between 1954-2010.

In his most well-known role in Little Shop of Horrors, both produced and directed by Corman, Haze stars as Seymour Krelboined, a florist who grows a potted plant he names Audrey II, who grows to require human blood to thrive. As Audrey II grows, so does its demands, giving the film its iconic catchphrase: “Feed me, Seymour.”

Jack Nicholson and Jonathan Haze in The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) (The Filmgroup/Santa Clara Productions)

Speaking at a fan event in 2001, Haze shared that he got paid $400 for the film, and that filming wasn’t particularly easy.

“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. It was insane,” Haze said. “We were shooting actually on Skid Row, using real bums as extras. We would pay them 10 cents a walk-through.”

Little Shop of Horrors went on to be adapted for the Off-Broadway musical of the same title in 1982, and was later produced in West End as well as a 2003-04 Broadway revival. The stage musical adaptation in turn inspired the 1986 film musical, starring Rick Moranis as Seymour and directed by Frank Oz.

Besides acting, Haze wrote the 1962’s screenplay for the science fiction comedy film Invasion of the Star Creatures, and also worked in production in several films.

Haze is survived by his daughters Rebecca and Deedee, three grandchildren, and a great-grandson.