A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!
Name: Sid Haig
Age: was 80
Occupation: actor
Last Seen: in the Great Beyond
Awarded For: being a true friend to Hollywood
-Age: was 80
Occupation: actor
Last Seen: in the Great Beyond
Awarded For: being a true friend to Hollywood
As Gary Lewis once sang, "Everybody Loves a Clown".
For ages, clowns have entertained the masses, especially children. Of course, there's Bozo the Clown, who was created in the 1940s by Disney animator and original voice of Goofy, Pinto Colvig. Eventually, he ended up in the hands of Larry Harmon, who marketed individual versions of the famous clown to several hundred TV stations in the mid-20th century. Obviously, the most-famous version was from WGN out of Chicago. Here in Grand Rapids, WZZM-TV had the distinction of having the last local Bozo in the United States.
There was Koko the Clown, created by Max Fleischer in the 1910s. He was created to showcase his then-state-of-the-art invention called the rotoscope. That contraption allowed animators to create life-like cartoons by tracing over live images. Koko and his sidekick Bimbo would later co-star with Betty Boop in the 1930s. Ironically, the aforementioned Pinto Colvig worked for Fleischer in the late 30s.
But yes, not all clowns are filled with love and kindness. And yes, most clowns scare the shit out of children instead of entertaining them. Not all clowns give kids a toy for throwing a ping pong ball into a bucket. Yes, I'm referring to Binky the Clown from Garfield and Friends, Krusty the Klown from The Simpsons, the Killer Klowns from Outer Space and yes, Pennywise.
And then there's Captain Spaulding. No, not Groucho Marx's character from the 1930 film "Animal Crackers", but the sinister clown from Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" franchise. Sid Haig gave perfection to the mass murderer and patriarch to the Firefly family, played by Sheri Moon and Bill Moseley. It was the role that he was born for, decades after his career even began.
Born Sidney Mosesian in 1939, Sid's career skyrocketed because of a growth spurt he experienced as a teen. It affected his motor skills, so his parents put him in a dance school. In the end, he expanded into acting and even becoming a musician. As a matter of fact, he even had a hit on the pop charts in 1958 as a drummer with a band called the T-Birds called "Full House", which peaked at #4.
Sid - who got his stage name after his father, Haig Mosesian - first acted in a 1960 short film for Jack Hill, a man whom he had a deep association with in the 60s and 70s. He appeared in his blaxploitation films, such as "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown", both starring Pam Grier. His films included "Che!" and "The Don is Dead" both from director Richard Fleischer (Max's son, ironically), George Lucas' "THX 1138", the James Bond flick "Diamonds Are Forever" and many films for American International.
His TV credits included Batman, The Dukes of Hazzard and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, his biggest TV role. In second place was the late 70s Filmation-produced children's series Jason of Star Command, where he played the evil villain Dragos.
By the early 90s, Haig was tired of acting. Most of his roles were forgettable Arab villains, given his Armenian heritage. He ended up becoming a hypnotherapist, but thanks to some folks who grew up watching his films, they saw the potential he had that other producers didn't.
In 1997, he made a comeback as a judge in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown" starring Pam Grier. However, another comeback was in the wings all because of a Zombie named Rob.
In 2003, the rocker gave Haig his best-known role of Captain Spaulding. As a young boy, the former Robert Cummings and his younger brother Michael - aka Spider One from Powerman 5000 - loved him on Jason of Star Command. So, it made sense for him to reboot his career even further. Evenmore, Captain Spaulding was Haig's best-known role.
"House of 1000 Corpses" was trashed by critics, but did well with audiences, enough for a sequel, "The Devil's Rejects". 'Rejects' did much better with critics and both films would go on to become cult favorites. Haig was now in his 60s and finally had the film role that would define him.
Recently, it was announced that Zombie would be making the third part in the series, "3 From Hell". However, while filming, Haig fell ill and was only able to be in part of the film. Last month at home, Haig had a fall and was rushed to the hospital. He developed a lung infection and on Saturday, he passed away at the age of 80.
Many paid tribute to Haig, including his widow, who posted a picture of her holding his hand for the last time. Rob Zombie broke the news of his death on social media.
Sadly, Haig was severely underrated throughout his career and definitely needed more attention. I've heard that off camera, he was a super guy and well-liked. Yes, he was an asshole when he was a clown, but at least it was a role he'll forever be known for.
Sid, say hi to Lugosi and Karloff for us.
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Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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