Sid Haig

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Sid Haig
Sid Haig at the Texas Frightmare Weekend.
Born
Sidney Eddie Mosesian
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)

Sid Haig Սիտ Հայկ (born Sidney Eddie Mosesian,Սիտնի Էտի Մոսեսիան on July 14, 1939) is an American film actor. He is best known for his work in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970's as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He is of Armenian descent.

The Early years

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 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.

After two years of "actor’s hell" -- a grueling 7am to 11pm schedule with homework -- Haig moved to Hollywood with long time friend and Pasadena Playhouse roommate Stuart Margolin.

Getting into the acting business

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 1970 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

His television credits include appearances in such landmark programs as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Charlie's Angels, MacGuyver and The A-Team (in which he played a motorcycle gang leader).

Post 1990s and today

After forty years of playing gun-toting tough guys, his hopes of being recognized as a more than competent actor were fading. In 1992 Haig remarked, "I’ll never play another stupid 'heavy' again, and I don’t care if that means that I never work, ever." Haig did not work in acting for five years, instead training and becoming a certified Hypnotherapist. 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, and is used to promote everything from horror conventions to film fests. Haig enjoyed further success as Spaulding in Rob 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.

As of the end of 2006, Haig has several projects in various stages of production, and continues to enjoy his renewed success as an actor.

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Notes

- Haig's first noteworthy role was in the Lon Chaney Jr. feature Spider Baby, which was filmed in 1964.

- In 1997, Haig reunited with Pam Grier in the Quentin Tarantino film, Jackie Brown. Grier reportedly laughed out loud when she saw that Haig, who had played thugs opposite her in 5 previous 1970s blaxploitation films, was now playing a judge. (Grier had not been told that her old castmate would be in the film, so she was a more than a bit surprised).

- Haig designed a great deal of the wardrobe for the 1973 film Wonder Women (aka The Deadly and the Beautiful), which landed him a fashion show of his personal designs in the Philippines, where Wonder Women and several other of Haig's films from that decade were shot.

- In one of his latest movies, Brotherhood of Blood, Haig plays the role of vampire leader Pashek. After almost 45 years in film, it was the first time he had ever played a vampire.

- Haig is a certified Hypnotherapist and practices in Simi Valley, California.

- As of 2006, Haig has pledged to donate a percentage of his convention/appearance income to two charities: Habitat for Humanity and the North Shore Animal League of America.

- In August of 2006, Haig formed his own corporation called The Haig Group, Inc.

- In the summer of 2007, Haig will make his feature film Directorial debut with the psychological thriller, Wittenberg, in which he also stars.

Filmography

External links

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