Sid Haig

Haig was born in Fresno, California to Armenian parents Roxy (Mooradian) and Haig Mosesian, an electrician. As a young man, his rapid growth interfered with his motor coordination, prompting him to take dancing lessons. At seven years old, he worked as a paid dancer in a children's Christmas show and later joined a vaudeville revival show. Haig was also a musician, playing a wide range of music styles on the drums, including swing, country, jazz, blues and rock and roll. Haig began to earn money from music, and signed a recording contract one year out of high school. Still a teenager, Haig went on to record the single "Full House" with the T-Birds in 1958, which reached No. 4 in the charts. The Pasadena Playhouse While Haig was in high school, the head of the drama department was Alice Merrill, who encouraged him to pursue an acting career. He later moved to Hollywood with longtime friend and Pasadena Playhouse roommate Stuart Margolin. ==Career==

Haig's first acting role was in a 1960 short student film titled The Host, directed by Jack Hill at UCLA. This launched Haig's more-than-four-decade acting career in over fifty films and 350 television episodes. In 1971, Haig appeared in THX 1138, the feature film directorial debut of George Lucas, as well as the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. Haig's television debut was a role in a 1962 episode of The Untouchables. He also appeared in a number of other television programs, including Batman, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, At the time, Haig was concerned that low-budget television had been detrimental to his career and, at seeing the shooting script and the short number of days dedicated for each locale, he reportedly passed on the project; he is said to have later regretted this decision. Haig later appeared as a judge in Tarantino's 1997 film Jackie Brown, a part written specifically for Haig by Tarantino. In 2003, Haig starred in Rob Zombie's debut film House of 1000 Corpses, as a psychotic clown named Captain Spaulding. The role revived Haig's acting career, earning him a "Best Supporting Actor" award in the 13th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and an induction into Fangorias Horror Hall of Fame. Haig reprised his role as Spaulding in the 2005 film ''The Devil's Rejects, a continuation of House of 1000 Corpses, in which Spaulding is portrayed as the patriarch of the murderous Firefly family. For his reprisal of the role in The Devil's Rejects, he received the award for "Best Actor" in the 15th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and shared 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. Haig was also nominated as "Best Butcher" in the Fuse/Fangoria'' Chainsaw Awards, but lost to Tobin Bell's Jigsaw from Saw II. Haig reunited with Rob Zombie for the director's 2007 Halloween remake, with Haig playing the role of cemetery caretaker Chester Chesterfield. He again reprised his role as Captain Spaulding for Zombie's 2009 animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, and appeared in Zombie's 2013 film The Lords of Salem, as well as in the films Hatchet III and Devil in My Ride. In 2019, Haig appeared as Captain Spaulding for the final time in the Rob Zombie film 3 from Hell, a sequel to House of 1000 Corpses and ''The Devil's Rejects. He posthumously appeared in the 2020 slasher film Hanukkah, as well as the 2023 film Abruptio''. == Awards ==

Sid Haig was honored with the 3rd Annual Vincent Price Award on August 10, 2019, at Hollywood Horrorfest. Created by festival founder Miles Flanagan and Vincent’s daughter Victoria Price, the award “celebrates Vincent Price’s unique artistic and iconic legacy by honoring an artist whose work has achieved equally iconic status in the horror/fantasy genres.” Later on Instagram, Haig posted, "On Saturday night August 10th I had the greatest night of my career. I was presented with the Vincent Price Award for Excellence in the Horror Genre. And to make it even more special it was presented to me by Victoria Price, Vincent Price's daughter." During the event Haig surprised everyone by disclosing he'd actually met Vincent Price in 1962 when a girlfriend invited him on set. "The film she was working on was Tales of Terror. I spent the day with Vincent Price. He was so charming and generous with the time we spent together. He gave me much more of his time than anyone could imagine. We talked about music, art and food, he was a master chef. To be able to spend that much time with him meant the world to me." The ceremony was a private, invitation-only event and fundraised for the Vincent Price Art Museum. Other award recipients include Joe Dante, Cassandra Peterson, John Landis and Rick Baker. ==Personal life==

On November 2, 2007, Haig married Susan L. Oberg. Despite his prominence in horror films and portrayal of villainous characters, Haig was a devout Roman Catholic who was described by his peers as being a gentle soul. ==Death==

In early September 2019, Haig was hospitalised after falling at his home in Thousand Oaks, California. While recovering, he contracted Aspergillus pneumonia after aspirating vomit in his sleep. ==Selected filmography==

Film Television ==References==