September 2019 brought with it the tragic passing of actor and genre cinema icon Sid Haig, who many probably know best for playing Captain Spaulding from 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses and 2005’s The Devil’s Rejects. Of course, in the series’ trilogy-closer, the recent 3 From Hell, the psychotic clown returned and made one last appearance, though we didn’t see too much of him, as Haig had a very reduced role in the pic.
Still, it’s nice that he was able to be involved in some capacity as it serves as one of his final performances and now, a year after he left us, director Rob Zombie, who helmed the aforementioned trilogy, has paid tribute to his friend, sharing the following about him on social media:
“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.”
As Zombie says, and like we noted above, it was nice to get to see Haig bring Spaulding to life one final time. And undoubtedly, it’ll be the role he’s always most remembered for. But as fans will know, the actor had a long, long career that encompassed a whole number of popular genre movies, from Kill Bill: Volume 2 to Bone Tomahawk and many, many others. Indeed, he was a true fan favorite and an icon of horror, one who is still missed dearly.
But let’s not forget that while 3 From Hell may have been Sid Haig‘s last performance as Spaulding, it wasn’t his last performance period. According to IMDb, the actor has two films that have yet to be released, meaning we can at least look forward to more of his work in the near future, while we’ll always have his countless memorable roles to revisit, ensuring his impact on the world of cinema will never be forgotten.
