This morning, the sad news broke that actor Sid Haig — best known for playing Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects and 3 From Hell — had passed away at 80 over the weekend. His death was confirmed by his wife Suzie via Instagram. "On Saturday, September 21, 2019, my light, my heart, my true love, my King, the other half of my soul, Sidney, passed from this realm on to the next," she said in a moving post.
Now, Zombie has shared his own tribute to Haig on Facebook, including some touching memories and personal photos. "Last night I received a phone call I was dreading from Bill Moseley. He told me that our friend Sid Haig had died. It was shocking but unfortunately not unexpected," Zombie wrote. "I've know for a long time how sick Sid was and what he was battling. Over the past year as I saw pictures of him still attending conventions I thought perhaps he had beat it, but last week when he returned to the hospital I feared the worst.
"Sid and I had a long talk on the day that he told me of his condition and he knew 3 From Hell would most likely be his last appearance on screen. Sadly it was. I knew it was very important to Sid that Captain Spaulding make one more round and he did. Sid's time the film is brief. He was in rough shape that day, but he gave it his all and made his scene very memorable." Haig's illness nearly derailed 3 From Hell, compelling Zombie to rewrite the movie and add the character Foxy played by Richard Brake.
"I was fan of his as a kid watching Jason of Star Command all the way through our twenty years of working together," Zombie continued. "I can still clearly remember the first time we met. It was at the Edith Head Costume building at Universal. Sid came out of the dressing room wearing a clown suit which was a few sizes too small. We said hello then we both started laughing at how ridiculous he looked in his ill-fitting suit. We would find him a much better suit.
"As we were making House Of 1000 Corpses neither of us knew he was creating a character that would live on and grow in popularity every year. Sid told me many times how thankful he was for the Captain and how that character changed his life. He had completely given up on acting and now suddenly had found a whole new audience at the age of 60. I know he was thrilled and blown away by that fact.
"The Captain is gone... but he will never be forgotten.
"Rest in Peace Sid"
