One year after horror star Sid Haig’s passing, filmmaker and frequent collaborator Rob Zombie paid tribute to the genre icon on social media. Over the course of three of Zombie’s movies, Haig portrayed the sinister clown Captain Spaulding, a character that has since become one of the horror genre’s most recognizable villains. Sadly, Haig died in September 2019, just days after the release of Zombie’s movie 3 from Hell.
Taking to Facebook on the one-year anniversary of Haig’s death, Zombie had this to say about the late actor.
“Well, today marks one year since my buddy Sid Haig left us. We did a lot of stuff together over the twenty years we were friends. He was my first and only choice for Captain Spaulding back in 1999. As sad as it was, I am so glad he got to play Spaulding one last time even if it was brief. He gave it all he had. That was March 2018. Obviously we had originally planned to do much more back then but his health made it impossible. I can only hope this role will help him live on for future generations of horror fans.”
On Instagram, Zombie also posted three photos with Haig from behind the scenes of the three different movies they had worked on together. One photo shows their first meeting for Haig’s Captain Spaulding wardrobe fitting in the year 2000, ahead of shooting for Zombie’s very first movie House of 1000 Corpses. The second picture is from the set of The Devil’s Rejects in 2005 with the two having a chat while filming. A third image, dated March 14, 2018, shows their last time together with Haig shooting his final scene as Spaulding for Zombie’s newest movie, 3 from Hell.
Haig may have made a huge name for himself in the horror genre in more recent years, but the versatile actor had previously spent decades appearing in many other movie and television roles. This includes a starring role as the villain Dragos on the classic sci-fi series Jason of Star Command. He also had roles on other big shows like The Untouchables, Batman, Star Trek, and MacGyver. Haig also had memorable roles in classic movies like Spider Baby, Beware! The Blob, and Foxy Brown, and would later appear in the Quentin Tarantino movies Jackie Brown and Kill Bill: Volume 2.
Horror fans have also been mourning the loss of Haig on the anniversary of his death. “I still can’t believe it’s been just a little over a year since we lost Sid Haig. I always said hi to him if he happened to be at a convention, and he was ALWAYS gracious and kind. Sid, you are still missed and loved by many,” noted one fan on Twitter, with many other social media posts sharing similar stories and messages of tribute. Haig left us too soon at the age of 80, but he is still very loved and won’t ever be forgotten. This news comes to us from Rob Zombie on Facebook.