Sid Haig — an icon of the horror genre who had roles in Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects and 3 From Hell — has died. Haig's wife, Susan L. Oberg, confirmed in an Instagram post that the actor had passed away over the weekend. He was 80 years old.
"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 wrote. "He has returned to the Universe, a shining star in her heavens. He was my angel, my husband, my best friend and always will be. He adored his family, his friends and his fans. This came as a shock to all of us."
While a cause of death was not confirmed, Oberg revealed on Instagram that Haig had been admitted to hospital earlier in September following an unspecified accident. A now-deleted update saw her write that Haig was "winning the fight" after a "nasty spill."
Rob Zombie also made mention of Haig's poor health in his own tribute to his late collaborator, calling his passing "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."
Born in Fresno, CA, in 1939, Haig acted and played music growing up before being encouraged to pursue an acting career. The 1960s saw Haig land roles in exploitation films from director Jack Hill, including Spider Baby, Coffy and Foxy Brown.
Haig was best known for his role as Captain Spaulding, appearing as the clown in Zombie's aforementioned trio of films. Zombie revealed in his tribute that Haig's declining health had impacted his appearance in 3 From Hell, which hit theatres earlier this month.
"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," Zombie recalled. "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."
Zombie added, "As we were making House of 1,000 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."
Haig also appeared in Jason of Star Command, Gunsmoke, Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, MacGyver, The A-Team and more.
"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 wrote. "He has returned to the Universe, a shining star in her heavens. He was my angel, my husband, my best friend and always will be. He adored his family, his friends and his fans. This came as a shock to all of us."
While a cause of death was not confirmed, Oberg revealed on Instagram that Haig had been admitted to hospital earlier in September following an unspecified accident. A now-deleted update saw her write that Haig was "winning the fight" after a "nasty spill."
Rob Zombie also made mention of Haig's poor health in his own tribute to his late collaborator, calling his passing "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."
Born in Fresno, CA, in 1939, Haig acted and played music growing up before being encouraged to pursue an acting career. The 1960s saw Haig land roles in exploitation films from director Jack Hill, including Spider Baby, Coffy and Foxy Brown.
Haig was best known for his role as Captain Spaulding, appearing as the clown in Zombie's aforementioned trio of films. Zombie revealed in his tribute that Haig's declining health had impacted his appearance in 3 From Hell, which hit theatres earlier this month.
"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," Zombie recalled. "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."
Zombie added, "As we were making House of 1,000 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."
Haig also appeared in Jason of Star Command, Gunsmoke, Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, MacGyver, The A-Team and more.