Character actor Sid Haig, who describes himself as "tall, bald and nearly always bearded", was born Sidney Eddie Mosesian on July 14, 1939, in Frenso, California. Haig specialized in playing heavies in low-budget exploitation movies from the 1960s through the 1980s, occasionally appearing in bit parts in big-budget action films such as Diamonds Are Forever, in which he told Sean Connery's James Bond, "I got a brother" (Bond was undercover, transferring a cache of diamonds to Las Vegas inside the corpse of his "brother" and had been picked up by a hearse full of black-suited mobsters -- The Slumber Brothers -- who had hatted up to escort him to the mortuary). "Small world," responded Connery/Bond to Haig's revelation. And it IS a small world, as Quentin Tarantino revived Haig's moribund movie career by casting him as the judge in Jackie Brown, a clever in-joke as Haig had co-starred with "Jackie Brown" star Pam Grier in six movies, including such blaxploitation classics as Coffy and Foxy Brown. "Jackie Brown" resurrected both his and Grier's careers, with Haig achieving cult film superstar status as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and its sequel, The Devil's Rejects.

The 6'4" Haig left the Armenian community of Fresno behind when he moved to southern California to attend the Pasadena Playhouse in the years 1959-61. His roommate at acting school was Stuart Margolin, who would establish himself as a character actor on TV in The Rockford Files and in such films as Kelly's Heroes, The Stone Killer and Blake Edwards' S.O.B.. Haig's journey to becoming an actor was serendipitous, as his parents decided that dancing lessons would help their rapidly growing son re-learn some of the coordination he had lost after a growth spurt. By the age of seven Haig was a professional, dancing in a children's Christmas show and subsequently acquiring other professional acting gigs. His parents bought him a drum set when he began displaying a musical inclination, and he became a professional in that field, too, making money as a musician (in fact, he can be seen in the 1965 "Beach Party" ripoff movie Beach Ball as the drummer in The Righteous Brothers' back-up band). Signed to a recording contract at the age of 19, Haig and his band, The T-Birds, cut a successful single, "Full House," in 1958. However, he was still infected by the "acting bug," having been encouraged by the head of his high school drama department to pursue an acting career. The teacher's friend, movie star Dennis Morgan, also encouraged Sid to become an actor and suggested that he attend acting school in southern California. Sid took the advice and enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse, one of the premier acting schools in the country.

After appearing in a 30-minute student film (The Host, directed by UCLA film school student Jack Hill--who later cast Haig in eight more of his movies, including the aforementioned "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown," from 1968 through 1974)--Haig's professional career began in 1960. He eventually racked up appearances in over 50 films (including the classics Point Blank and THX 1138 as well as such notorious bombs as Che! and C.C. and Company) and over 350 television credits, including appearances in such memorable series as Batman, Charlie's Angels, Get Smart, Gunsmoke, Here's Lucy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible, The Rockford Files (reunited with old roomie Margolin) and Star Trek. In 1992 Haig's career stalled when he decided to resist typecasting by Hollywood. He said, "I'll never play another stupid heavy again, and I don't care if that means that I never work, ever." He went through a five-year acting drought until "Jackie Brown", and he finally achieved recognition as an actor 40 years after his career started with "House of 1,000 Corpses."


Attended the Pasadena Playhouse 1959-1961. Roommate of Stuart Margolin. Drummer for the late 1950s band The T-Birds, who released the single "Full House". As of 2006, Haig donates 10% of his profits from conventions and appearances to charity. The donations are split between Habitat for Humanity International and the North Shore Animal League of America.