Obituary for Jim Haynie
Jim Haynie
Feb 6, 1940 – April 3, 2021
Jim Haynie -- veteran actor of stage and screen, original manager of the Fillmore auditorium, astrologer, athlete,
carpenter, musician, golfer, father and husband who was born to ride the wave of popular American culture --has
died at the age of 81.
With a father who changed jobs every year or two, Jim’s family moved from town to town in Oklahoma and then
Ohio during Jim’s childhood. Jim – born in 1940 and the oldest of 2 boys -- learned along the way how to adapt
quickly to his new surroundings knowing that being tall for his age meant the class bully was sure to start a
fistfight. Even then, Jim wasn’t a fighter and would soon befriend the bully and bring him home along with every
stray animal he found. Jim remained the champion of the downtrodden and under-privileged. By the time Jim
reached his senior year in high school, his family had come west and settled just south of San Francisco in
Sunnyvale, California. He found his way onto the school football team and also met his future wife Janice
McKelheer there. Jim always said he fell in love with her the minute he saw her do the Tahitian hula.
Following graduation, Jim headed to UC Davis where he majored in Dramatic Art and had the great good fortune to
play the lead in 27 plays. He also was on the college football team for 4 years playing defensive end. Jim and Janice
married in 1958 after his freshman year and lived in student housing – Aggie Village – and had Mark in 1960 and
Theresa the following year. Jim juggled classes, play rehearsals, fulltime work, football practice and being a husband
and dad. As Jan said “We married very young at 18 and 19 not fully realizing what marriage entailed and unfortunately
divorced 3 years later.”
After a short stint in Los Angeles trying to find film roles but only managing to find a job at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Jim
moved north again ending up in San Francisco as the tech director of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a raucous, very
left-leaning group of actors who did pop-up performances in the parks and racked up big legal fees for performing
without a permit and including bawdy material in their shows. Bill Graham was the group’s business manager and Bill
and Jim put a concert together to raise enough money to pay the lawyers. It was a big success, featuring the new band
the Jefferson Airplane. Bill Graham realized he’d make a lot more money doing rock concerts than community theater,
so off he and Jim went to start the Fillmore in 1966.
Graham produced and Jim was the first stage manager of the venue, working with hundreds of big-name rock acts as
well as blues musicians, Motown acts and folk singers. Jim was proud he gave Carlos Santana his first job at a bigtime
venue but always said his favorite musician was the immensely talented 26 year-old soul singer Otis Redding who
would die in a plane crash later that year. Jim started playing the Baby New Year to Bill Graham’s Father Time in 1967
at the Fillmore’s traditional New Year’s Eve concert with the Grateful Dead and he continued to play the notorious
Baby New Year for the next 10 years.
After several years managing the Fillmore as it became a true rock palace, Jim led the FM Productions tour across the
nation in 1969 and then became the road manager for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band for two years. Jim did lighting
design and audio engineering for many big rock groups and later was the sound mixer at the Roy Chen Recording
Studio in San Francisco in 1973.
It was in 1969 that Jim started reading everything he could about astrology. The LA Times did an article on Jim in 1986
about how he used astrology to help define the characters he played. He was in the play “Gillette” at the La Jolla
Playhouse at the time and they quote him as saying “I’m a free spirited son-of-a-gun and always have been…I hope to
spark people’s realizations of themselves, not just the self that other people think they are, or even they might think
they are…I’m looking to contact people on that spiritual level where they wake up. I say the spiritual life is really the
only thing I care about. There is no other raison d’etre.” In later life, he would often forget people’s names but would
always remember their astrological sign. For the record, Jim was an Aquarian with Aries rising.
After doing carpentry to pay the bills and organizing the Noe Valley Carpenters Co-op, Jim decided to go back to his
original professional inclination, acting. Having been away from acting for 10 years, Jim began doing theater to get back
in the game. He was cast in “Irma La Deuce” in 1975 and then started taking acting classes given by the director Robert
Woodruff, who then cast Jim in “When you Coming Back, Red Ryder.” Jim wrote “I always loved the pure joy of coming
together to do a play!” He did 6 more plays over the next few years and then in 1980 was cast as Lee in the world
premiere of the Sam Shepard play “True West” at the Magic Theatre, again directed by Robert Woodruff. It was a big
hit and was moved to a much larger 650 seat house, Marines’ Memorial Theatre, for a long, successful run. During the
course of the play, the famous San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote of Jim “A star is born!”
In a recent review of a new staging of “True West” in New York with Ethan Hawke playing Lee, the reviewer Misha
Berson wrote that of all the productions of the play “Jim Haynie’s volatile portrait of Lee burns most brightly in my
memory. Perhaps unfairly, every other Lee I’ve seen gets measured against Haynie’s…Haynie was a primitive id oozing
menace out of every sweaty pore – but a cunning one with pathetic dreams of glory.” Jim loved playing that part and
working with Sam Shepard to hone his portrayal of Lee that stands to this day. Jim went on to be in many more plays in
San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. In 1982 at age 42 on the heels of his success in “True West”, Jim decided to
come to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. As he wrote, “It’s been an interesting and rewarding ride. Hundreds of
projects later I still love it.” He appeared in many movies including Bridges of Madison County, The Right Stuff, Country,
Pretty in Pink, The Peacemaker, Bringing Down the House, Staying Together and Men Don’t Leave among others as
well as many TV movies and series. Jim was a professional actor for over 40 years and hated to retire.
In 1988, Jim got a wonderful gift. His agent forwarded a letter to him from Andrea Miller, a daughter he’d tried to
track down earlier with no success. They adored each other from the moment they met and she became a vital
part of his life. As Jim loved to say, he had 19 spawn (3 kids, 5 grands, 11 great grands) and 2 step-fishies
(Maggie’s son and granddaughter.) Though he didn’t get to spend as much time with his children as he’d liked till
they were grown, he loved his family beyond words and was in turn treasured by each of them. All of his children
were gifts as were his grandchildren and great grandchildren!.
After 40 years of being single, Jim married Maggie Causey in 2007 in Malibu where they continued to live for the next
decade. Jim once wrote “They saved the best for last for us! How spectacular that we’re crazy in love!” Maggie, who
grew up in New Orleans, was a script supervisor in the film industry and they had much in common professionally as
well as a love of family, cooking, dancing in the kitchen, and easy laughter. They moved to Whidbey Island in 2017 – a
place which filled them with awe at its natural beauty and with the loving friends they made there. Jim loved sitting on
the deck looking out to the water and feeding apples to the deer in their yard, especially Cupcake who ate out of his
hand.
The last 4 years of his life Jim was afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia which made life difficult
but rarely dampened his spirits and never diminished his personality. He continued to try to focus on the humor and
love in each moment. He was a sweet and kind man, always with a twinkle in his eye. As one of his friends said the
day after Jim’s death, “He was the coolest cat in town, moving effortlessly through life with a knack for being in the
right place at the right time.”
What were his eccentricities you ask? Railing at Donald Trump, driving fast, breaking into song at the drop of a hat,
playing the sax, telling long stories, “organic” dancing, and wearing colorful socks and funny hats -- a funny man with
an incredibly strong drive to live and love. He was truly one of a kind.
Jim is survived by his wife Maggie Causey, his children Theresa Burns, Mark Haynie, Andrea Moe and Jesse
Causey. Six grandchildren Zachary Miller-Hogg, Quinn Haynie, James Burns, Kailena Ayers, Justine Fanning and
Cora Causey and his 11 great grandchildren.
Rest in peace, sweet man.
Feb 6, 1940 – April 3, 2021
Jim Haynie -- veteran actor of stage and screen, original manager of the Fillmore auditorium, astrologer, athlete,
carpenter, musician, golfer, father and husband who was born to ride the wave of popular American culture --has
died at the age of 81.
With a father who changed jobs every year or two, Jim’s family moved from town to town in Oklahoma and then
Ohio during Jim’s childhood. Jim – born in 1940 and the oldest of 2 boys -- learned along the way how to adapt
quickly to his new surroundings knowing that being tall for his age meant the class bully was sure to start a
fistfight. Even then, Jim wasn’t a fighter and would soon befriend the bully and bring him home along with every
stray animal he found. Jim remained the champion of the downtrodden and under-privileged. By the time Jim
reached his senior year in high school, his family had come west and settled just south of San Francisco in
Sunnyvale, California. He found his way onto the school football team and also met his future wife Janice
McKelheer there. Jim always said he fell in love with her the minute he saw her do the Tahitian hula.
Following graduation, Jim headed to UC Davis where he majored in Dramatic Art and had the great good fortune to
play the lead in 27 plays. He also was on the college football team for 4 years playing defensive end. Jim and Janice
married in 1958 after his freshman year and lived in student housing – Aggie Village – and had Mark in 1960 and
Theresa the following year. Jim juggled classes, play rehearsals, fulltime work, football practice and being a husband
and dad. As Jan said “We married very young at 18 and 19 not fully realizing what marriage entailed and unfortunately
divorced 3 years later.”
After a short stint in Los Angeles trying to find film roles but only managing to find a job at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Jim
moved north again ending up in San Francisco as the tech director of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a raucous, very
left-leaning group of actors who did pop-up performances in the parks and racked up big legal fees for performing
without a permit and including bawdy material in their shows. Bill Graham was the group’s business manager and Bill
and Jim put a concert together to raise enough money to pay the lawyers. It was a big success, featuring the new band
the Jefferson Airplane. Bill Graham realized he’d make a lot more money doing rock concerts than community theater,
so off he and Jim went to start the Fillmore in 1966.
Graham produced and Jim was the first stage manager of the venue, working with hundreds of big-name rock acts as
well as blues musicians, Motown acts and folk singers. Jim was proud he gave Carlos Santana his first job at a bigtime
venue but always said his favorite musician was the immensely talented 26 year-old soul singer Otis Redding who
would die in a plane crash later that year. Jim started playing the Baby New Year to Bill Graham’s Father Time in 1967
at the Fillmore’s traditional New Year’s Eve concert with the Grateful Dead and he continued to play the notorious
Baby New Year for the next 10 years.
After several years managing the Fillmore as it became a true rock palace, Jim led the FM Productions tour across the
nation in 1969 and then became the road manager for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band for two years. Jim did lighting
design and audio engineering for many big rock groups and later was the sound mixer at the Roy Chen Recording
Studio in San Francisco in 1973.
It was in 1969 that Jim started reading everything he could about astrology. The LA Times did an article on Jim in 1986
about how he used astrology to help define the characters he played. He was in the play “Gillette” at the La Jolla
Playhouse at the time and they quote him as saying “I’m a free spirited son-of-a-gun and always have been…I hope to
spark people’s realizations of themselves, not just the self that other people think they are, or even they might think
they are…I’m looking to contact people on that spiritual level where they wake up. I say the spiritual life is really the
only thing I care about. There is no other raison d’etre.” In later life, he would often forget people’s names but would
always remember their astrological sign. For the record, Jim was an Aquarian with Aries rising.
After doing carpentry to pay the bills and organizing the Noe Valley Carpenters Co-op, Jim decided to go back to his
original professional inclination, acting. Having been away from acting for 10 years, Jim began doing theater to get back
in the game. He was cast in “Irma La Deuce” in 1975 and then started taking acting classes given by the director Robert
Woodruff, who then cast Jim in “When you Coming Back, Red Ryder.” Jim wrote “I always loved the pure joy of coming
together to do a play!” He did 6 more plays over the next few years and then in 1980 was cast as Lee in the world
premiere of the Sam Shepard play “True West” at the Magic Theatre, again directed by Robert Woodruff. It was a big
hit and was moved to a much larger 650 seat house, Marines’ Memorial Theatre, for a long, successful run. During the
course of the play, the famous San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote of Jim “A star is born!”
In a recent review of a new staging of “True West” in New York with Ethan Hawke playing Lee, the reviewer Misha
Berson wrote that of all the productions of the play “Jim Haynie’s volatile portrait of Lee burns most brightly in my
memory. Perhaps unfairly, every other Lee I’ve seen gets measured against Haynie’s…Haynie was a primitive id oozing
menace out of every sweaty pore – but a cunning one with pathetic dreams of glory.” Jim loved playing that part and
working with Sam Shepard to hone his portrayal of Lee that stands to this day. Jim went on to be in many more plays in
San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. In 1982 at age 42 on the heels of his success in “True West”, Jim decided to
come to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. As he wrote, “It’s been an interesting and rewarding ride. Hundreds of
projects later I still love it.” He appeared in many movies including Bridges of Madison County, The Right Stuff, Country,
Pretty in Pink, The Peacemaker, Bringing Down the House, Staying Together and Men Don’t Leave among others as
well as many TV movies and series. Jim was a professional actor for over 40 years and hated to retire.
In 1988, Jim got a wonderful gift. His agent forwarded a letter to him from Andrea Miller, a daughter he’d tried to
track down earlier with no success. They adored each other from the moment they met and she became a vital
part of his life. As Jim loved to say, he had 19 spawn (3 kids, 5 grands, 11 great grands) and 2 step-fishies
(Maggie’s son and granddaughter.) Though he didn’t get to spend as much time with his children as he’d liked till
they were grown, he loved his family beyond words and was in turn treasured by each of them. All of his children
were gifts as were his grandchildren and great grandchildren!.
After 40 years of being single, Jim married Maggie Causey in 2007 in Malibu where they continued to live for the next
decade. Jim once wrote “They saved the best for last for us! How spectacular that we’re crazy in love!” Maggie, who
grew up in New Orleans, was a script supervisor in the film industry and they had much in common professionally as
well as a love of family, cooking, dancing in the kitchen, and easy laughter. They moved to Whidbey Island in 2017 – a
place which filled them with awe at its natural beauty and with the loving friends they made there. Jim loved sitting on
the deck looking out to the water and feeding apples to the deer in their yard, especially Cupcake who ate out of his
hand.
The last 4 years of his life Jim was afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia which made life difficult
but rarely dampened his spirits and never diminished his personality. He continued to try to focus on the humor and
love in each moment. He was a sweet and kind man, always with a twinkle in his eye. As one of his friends said the
day after Jim’s death, “He was the coolest cat in town, moving effortlessly through life with a knack for being in the
right place at the right time.”
What were his eccentricities you ask? Railing at Donald Trump, driving fast, breaking into song at the drop of a hat,
playing the sax, telling long stories, “organic” dancing, and wearing colorful socks and funny hats -- a funny man with
an incredibly strong drive to live and love. He was truly one of a kind.
Jim is survived by his wife Maggie Causey, his children Theresa Burns, Mark Haynie, Andrea Moe and Jesse
Causey. Six grandchildren Zachary Miller-Hogg, Quinn Haynie, James Burns, Kailena Ayers, Justine Fanning and
Cora Causey and his 11 great grandchildren.
Rest in peace, sweet man.