Jack Haley home was heart of Tin Man’s family life
The family home of Jack Haley, who played the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz,” has come on the market at $3,599,000.
Haley raised his two children in the Spanish-style house, which sits in the flats of Beverly Hills. The two-story home, built in 1926, has living, family and dining rooms, a kitchen with a breakfast area and pantry, a sun room, a den, an office, four bedrooms and four bathrooms in 4,889 square feet. The song-and-dance man bought the house in 1941 for $26,000.
“He never had a mortgage,” said grandson Barry Bregman, who recalled the home as the center of family and social gatherings. “I spent every weekend of my life in that house.”
Bregman remembered in the late 1950s when Haley bought one of the first color television sets in the area and had a huge party to watch the 1939 movie classic.
Although his grandfather was adept at using an oil can in the film, he was not a do-it-yourselfer when it came to the house. “He was magic with real estate but not handy with a hammer,” Bregman said.
After Haley retired from show business, he and comedian Jackie Gleason formed the Kramden Investment Co. and bought and sold commercial and residential real estate.
As a child, Bregman capitalized on his grandfather’s house being a regular stop on star tours. “I pitched a lemonade stand there,” he said. Bregman moved into the house in the early ‘70s with his mother, Gloria, who lived there until her death this year.
Haley died in 1979 at age 80.
Kristina Long and Sharona Davidian of Sotheby’s International Realty’s Sunset office have the listing.
