Sid Haig: Difference between revisions

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-'''Sid Haig''' '''Սիտ Հայկ''' (born '''Sidney Eddie Mosesian''','''Սիտնի Էտի Մոսեսիան''' on [[July 14]], [[1939]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[film]] [[actor]] of [[Armenians|Armenian]] descent. He is best known for his work in [[Jack Hill|Jack Hill's]] [[blaxploitation]] [[film]]s of the 1970's as well as his role as [[Captain Spaulding (Rob Zombie)|Captain Spaulding]] in [[Rob Zombie|Rob Zombie's]] [[horror film|horror]] films ''[[House of 1000 Corpses]]'' and ''[[The Devil's Rejects]]''.
-==The Early years==
-Haig's career began in his 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 an inclination towards playing the [[drums]], prompting his parents to buy him a drum set, on which he explored a wide range of musical styles, including [[swing]], [[country]], [[jazz]], [[blues]] and  [[rock and roll]]. He was able to earn money with his music signing 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 noted [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] actress who maintained her contacts in the business. During his senior year, a play was produced in which Merrill double cast the show, so she could have one of her Hollywood friends assess all the actors in order to select the final cast. The Hollywood contact who saw Haig perform was [[Dennis Morgan]], a noted musical comedy performer from the 1940s, who chose Sid for a lead 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 (actor)|Robert Preston]], [[Gene Hackman]] and [[Dustin Hoffman]].
-After two years of a grueling 7am to 11pm schedule <i>with homework</i> -- 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-45-year acting career of over 50 films and 350 television episodes. He became a staple in Hill's films, such as ''[[Spider Baby]]'', ''[[Coffy]]'' and ''[[Foxy Brown (1974 film)|Foxy Brown]]''. Haig was also a regular player for producer-director [[Roger Corman]]. He appeared in  [[George Lucas]]' ''[[THX-1138]]'' and the [[1971]] [[James Bond]] film ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]''.
-His television credits include appearances in such well-known 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 being typecast, 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 [[Hypnotherapy|Hypnotherapist]]. Then, in [[1997]], [[Quentin Tarantino]] wrote the part of the judge in ''[[Jackie Brown]]'' specifically for Haig.  Haig was back to work as an actor.
-In [[2000]], Haig starred as Captain Spaulding in [[Rob Zombie]]'s debut film ''[[House of 1000 Corpses]].''<ref name="Zombie">{{cite news |url= http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1615213,00.html |title= On Set with Rob Zombie |work= [[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date= 26 April, 2007 |author= Rebecca Winters Keegan |quote= Zombie's first movie, ''[[House of 1000 Corpses]],'' revived the career of balding, acne-scarred bad guy Sid Haig. }}</ref>  This role revived Haig's acting career, earning him a "Best Supporting Actor" award in the 13th Annual [[Fangoria (magazine)|Fangoria]] Chainsaw Awards, and an induction into the Horror Hall of Fame. His image as [[Captain Spaulding (Rob Zombie)|Captain Spaulding]] is used to promote everything from [[horror film|horror]] conventions to film fests. Haig reprised his role as [[Captain Spaulding (Rob Zombie)|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 (magazine)|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 Zombie|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 Killer|Jigsaw]] from ''[[Saw II]]''.
-Haig continues to work as an actor and director today.
 ==Filmography==
 *''Wittenberg'' (2007) - Dr. Dorian (attached)