The horror entertainment world was shocked to its core over the weekend. Sadly, beloved horror icon Sid Haig passed away at the age of 80 in Los Angeles on September 21st, 2019. Haig, known for his extremely approachable fashion and love for his fans, leaves a huge hole in the horror cinema world.
Haig was born July 14, 1939 in Fresno, California. Throughout his life, Sid found himself performing on stage, the silver screen and even music albums. In 1958, at the age of 19, he recorded a song with the band The T-Birds. The song reached the number #4 position on the charts.
During college he met renowned exploitation director Jack Hill who cast Haig in his student film The Host at UCLA. This began a working relationship between Haig and Jack Hill who saw them team up for such classics as Spider Baby, Coffy and Foxy Brown.
Haig worked as a successful actor from 1960 to around 1992. This period saw him star in several high profile films and tv series such as THX 1138, Diamonds are Forever, The A- Team and Macgyver. Haig grew tired of being typecast and took a break from acting until 1997 when he returned, playing the character of a judge in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic Jackie Brown.
Haig is probably best known for his collaboration with director Rob Zombie as the loveable psychopath, Captain Spaulding. Haig first brought the foul mouthed, hilarious and cold blooded part time clown to life in Zombie’s 2003 film House of a 1,000 Corpses. He later went on to reprise this role 2 more times in fan favorite The Devil’s Rejects and the recently released 3 From Hell.
The term icon is used very loosely these days, but Sid Haig was a true icon to horror and cult film fans everywhere. His illustrious career cements this status. Sid Haig, you may be gone but you will never be forgotten. I am grateful that Haig’s performances will forever be immortalized on film, and as long we remember someone they are never truly gone.
On a personal note, I met Sid Haig at a convention right after the release of The Devil’s Rejects. Out of all the people I have talked to in the horror celeb community, Sid was one of the nicest and most humble people I have ever met. He treated fans like they were old friends and always seemed to take a few extra minutes to talk to all who wished to speak to him. Godspeed Sid Haig, until we all meet again.
