 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Tall, bald and nearly always bearded, Sid Haig has provided hulking menace to many a low-budget exploitation film and high-priced action film. Sid Haig was born Sidney Eddie Mosesian in Fresno, California on July 14th 1939, a screaming ball of hair.
His career was somewhat of an accident. Sid was growing so fast
that he had absolutely no coordination. It was decided that he would take
dancing lessons, and that's when it all began. At the age of seven, he was
dancing for pay in a children’s Christmas Show, then a revival of a
vaudeville show - and on it went.
Sid also showed a musical inclination, particularly for the drums. So, when his parents got tired of him denting all the pots and pans in the house, they bought him a drum set. The music was in him and he took to it immediately, a born natural. First it was swing, then country, then jazz, blues and ROCK & ROLL. Sid always found it easy to make money with his music, and did very well. One year out of high school and signing a recording contract isn’t too bad. Sid went on to record the single “Full House” with the T-Birds in 1958.
However, back while he was in high school, he got bitten by the “acting bug”...
Alice Merrill was the head of the drama department at that time and gave Sid all the encouragement in the world to pursue an acting career. The clincher came in his senior year.
The way that the senior play was cast was that she would double cast
the show, then have one of her friends from Hollywood come up and pick
the final
cast.
You see, Merrill was quite famous as an actress
on Broadway and kept up her contacts in the business. When the appointed
day came the “friend” that
showed up was Dennis Morgan, a big musical comedy star from the 40s.
The
rest is history - he picked Sid for the role, then two weeks later came back
to see the show and told Sid that he should continue his education down
south and consider acting as a career path. Two years later, Sid enrolled in
the world famous Pasadena Playhouse, the school that trained such actors as
Robert Preston, Robert Young, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and so on.
After two years of “actor’s hell” - non-stop 7am to 11pm with homework thrown in just for the fun of it - it was time to move on to the big “H”, Hollywood! Sid did so with long time friend and roommate Stuart Margolin (Angel on the Rockford Files).
Sid’s first acting job was in Jack Hill’s student film at UCLA. It was called “The Host", which was released in 2004 on DVD as a companion to “Switchblade Sisters”, another Hill film. That role launched a 40-year acting career during which Haig appeared in over 50 films and 350 television shows. He has proven himself quite valuable to such filmmakers as producer Roger Corman. He also became a staple in the pictures of Jack Hill, appearing in “Spider Baby”, “Coffy”, and “Foxy Brown”. Haig's other memorable credits include George Lucas' “THX-1138”, and the 1970 James Bond opus “Diamonds are Forever” (he's one of the Slumber Brothers, and got to toss a topless Lana Wood from the window of a high-rise Vegas hotel).
Among his most significant television credits are appearances on such landmark programs as The A-Team, TJ Hooker, Dukes of Hazzard, Quincy ME, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels, Police Woman, The Rockford Files, Six Million Dollar Man, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke, Get Smart, Here’s Lucy, The Flying Nun, Daniel Boone, Star Trek, Batman and The Untouchables.
Sid has never been one to give-up on anything but after forty years of carrying a gun (except for the occasional Jack Hill or Roger Corman Film), his dreams of being recognized as a more than competent actor were fading. Then in 1992 Sid backed away and said, “I’ll never play another stupid“heavy” again, and I don’t care if that means that I never work, ever.”
This just proves that if you take a stand people will listen, for in
1997
Quentin Tarantino wrote the part of the judge in “Jackie Brown” for
Sid.
Then things got better, much better. Not necessarily more work, just better work.
Later, in 2002, Sid starred in Rob Zombie's debut film "House of 1000
Corpses". He starred as the fun loving but deadly Captain Spaulding. This
role breathed new life into Sid's acting career and earned him an award for
Best Supporting Actor in the 13th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. Captain
Spaulding has since become the icon for the new horror genre.
Sid has recently finished the filming of “The Devil's Rejects”, the follow-up to “House of 1000 Corpses” where Sid reprises his role as Captain Spaulding. The film is due out in July of 2005. Also in production is “House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim” for Lion’s Gate Films, in which Sid plays the slightly unbalanced Professor Curien. Add to that two more projects he is currently working on, and you’ve got one busy actor!
Currently Sid is working with Fly High Films on the feature length project entitled Little Big Top.
