I first learned of Sid Haig when I went to to the theatre to see Rob Zombie’s directorial debut, House of 1000 Corpses in 2003. While I’m not a huge fan of horror films, I loved not only Zombie’s style (a tribute to the campy horror flicks of yore), but Haig’s character of Captain Spaulding was amazing. I HATE clowns. But I somehow saw thru the clown makeup on him. Maybe it was because it was smeared or lack of wig or not. In reality, the fact that he was able to bring a comedic edge to a savage character perhaps was it. Captain Spaulding was a psycho, but his humor made him almost likable.
His cause of death at this moment remains unclear. It appears that earlier in the month, Haig suffered a “nasty spill”, according to his wife Susan. She posted on his Instagram on the 13th that he was “winning the fight”, tho that comment has since been deleted. According to IMDB, a lung infection is listed as the cause of death.
To hear of his passing early this morning bummed me out. I liked him. I have friends that met him in person and they all said amazing things.
Back in the 70s, he had roles in Blaxplotation films like Foxy Brown and Spider Baby, and Tarentino’s Jackie Brown in 97. He also complied quite the resume within the B horror movies. And to look at his filmography, it blows my mind to think how many TV roles he was in of shows I watched as a kid like The A-Team, TJ Hoooker, The Dukes of Hazard, Quncy M.E., Charlie’s Angels and more.
But it was his meeting and relationship with Rob Zombie that brought him into my life. Not only with House of 1000 Corpses, but the sequel, The Devil’s Rejects in 2005 and most recently, the just released and final chapter in the trilogy, 3 from Hell. Zombie took to his social media today and released this statement:
Last night I received a phone call I was dreading from Bill Moseley. He told me that our friend Sid Haig had died. It was shocking but unfortunately not unexpected. I’ve know for a long time how sick Sid was and what he was battling. Over the past year as I saw pictures of him still attending conventions I thought perhaps he had beat it, but last week when he returned to the hospital I feared the worst.
Sid and I had a long talk on the day that he told me of his condition andhe knew 3 From Hell would most likely be his last appearance on screen. Sadly it was. I knew it was very important to Sid that Captain Spaulding make one more round and he did. Sid’s time the film is brief. He was in rough shape that day, but he gave it his all and made his scene very memorable.
I was fan of his as a kid watching Jason of Star Command all the way through our twenty years of working together. I can still clearly remember the first time we met. It was at the Edith Head Costume building at Universal. Sid came out of the dressing room wearing a clown suit which was a few sizes too small. We said hello then we both started laughing at how ridiculous he looked in his ill-fitting suit. We would find him a much better suit.
As we were making House Of 1000 Corpses neither of us knew he was creating a character that would live on and grow in popularity every year. Sid told me many times how thankful he was for the Captain and how that character changed his life. He had completely given up on acting and now suddenly had found a whole new audience at the age of 60. I know he was thrilled and blown away by that fact.
The Captain is gone… but he will never be forgotten.
Rest in Peace Sid
He was a towering man, in reality (standing 6’4″) and on screen. And he will be missed. I think I’ll have some ice cream in his honor tonight as he said in an unscripted line in The Devil’s Rejects
“I think I’ll get me some Tutti Fuckin’ Frutti”
Rest well, Captain
I leave you with some clips… just be mindful if you’re watching at work, or around children! These are rated R
From House of 1000 Corpses
From The Devil’s Rejects
Official trailer for 3 From Hell
