Sid Haig Biography

Summary

"Sid Haig" (born July 14, 1939) is an American film actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects". He has appeared in many television programs including "Batman", "Star Trek", "Mission: Impossible", "Gunsmoke", "Buck Rogers", "The Fall Guy", and "MacGyver".

Biography

Early life

Haig was born "Sidney Eddy Mosesian" in Fresno, California and was raised in an Armenian American community. His father, Haig Mosesian, was an electrician. Haig's career began somewhat by accident. As a youth, his rapid physical growth interfered with his motor coordination, prompting him to take dancing lessons. At the age of seven, he was a paid dancer in a children's Christmas show, and later joined a vaudeville revival show.

Haig also displayed musical talent particularly for the drums, prompting his parents to buy him a drum set, on which he mastered a wide range of musical styles, including swing, country, jazz, blues and rock and roll. He found it easy to earn money with his music, and signed a recording contract one year out of high school. Haig went on to record the single 'Full House' with the T-Birds in 1958 which shot to #4 on the charts.

The Pasadena Playhouse

When Sid was in high school, the head of the drama department was Alice Merrill, who encouraged him to pursue an acting career. Merrill was a famous Broadway actress who maintained her contacts in the business. During his senior year, a play was produced in which Merrill double cast the show, to have one of her Hollywood friends assess the actors in order to select the final cast. The Hollywood contact who saw Haig perform was Dennis Morgan, a big musical comedy star from the 1940s, who chose Sid for a prominent role in the play. Two weeks later, he returned to see the show and advised Sid to continue his education in the San Fernando Valley and consider acting as a career. Two years later, Sid enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse, the school that trained such noted actors as Robert Preston, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. Haig later moved to Hollywood with long time friend and Pasadena Playhouse roommate Stuart Margolin.

Acting career

Haig's first acting job was in Jack Hill's student film at UCLA titled "The Host", which launched Haig's more-than-40-year acting career in over 50 films and 350 television episodes. He became a staple in Hill's films, such as "Spider Baby", "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown". Haig was also a regular player for producer-director Roger Corman. He appeared in George Lucas' "THX-1138" and the 1971 James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever". His television credits include appearances in such programs as "Gunsmoke", "Mission: Impossible", "Charlie's Angels", "Jason of Star Command", "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "MacGyver" and "The A-Team" and Emergency!(in which he played a motorcycle gang leader).

Sid Haig retired in 1992 on account of getting typecast: 'I just didn't want to play stupid heavies anymore. They just kept giving me the same parts but just putting different clothes on me. It was stupid, and I resented it, and I wouldn't have anything to do with it'. Haig did not work in acting for five years, instead training and becoming a certified Hypnotherapist. During this time he was offered the role of Marsellus Wallas (later to be played by Ving Rhames) in "Pulp Fiction", Quentin Tarantino's second film. At the time, Sid was concerned that low budget television had been ruining his career and at seeing the shooting script and the short number of days dedicated for each location he passed on the project. This is something that he's always regretted. Then, in 1997, Quentin Tarantino wrote the part of the judge in "Jackie Brown" specifically for Haig, whose acting prospects continued to improve.

In 2000, Haig starred in Rob Zombie's debut film "House of 1000 Corpses", as Captain Spaulding. The role revived Haig's acting career, earning him a 'Best Supporting Actor' award in the 13th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and induction into the Horror Hall of Fame. His image as Captain Spaulding has become iconic in today's horror genre. Haig reprised his role as Spaulding in Zombie's sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses", entitled "The Devil's Rejects". For this film, he received the award for 'Best Actor' in the 15th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, as well as sharing the award for 'Most Vile Villain' at the First Annual Spike TV Scream Awards with Leslie Easterbrook, Sheri Moon and Bill Moseley as The Firefly Family. He was also nominated as 'Best Butcher' in the Fuse/Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, but lost to Tobin Bell's Jigsaw from "Saw II".

Recently, Sid Haig reunited with Rob Zombie once again, albeit briefly, in the director's "Halloween" remake, in the role of cemetery caretaker Chester Chesterfield. Sid Haig has also confirmed that he will reprise the role of Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's new animated film "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto".