I wouldn’t have known who Sid Haig was if it weren’t for director Quentin Tarantino, that brought Sid Haig back into a mainstream film in 1997 with the film Jackie Brown. This was mostly in homage to the numerous Blaxploitation films he had starred in with Pam Grier under the direction of Jack Hill (ie. The Big Doll House, Coffy, and Foxy Brown). Tarantino had chosen to star Pam Grier in Jackie Brown, and Sid Haig’s presence as a judge gave a further nod to their films together in the 60’s and 70’s. Tarentino would utilize him again in Kill Bill Volume 2.
Since then, Haig has been as busy in films as he’s ever been. His new director of choice appears to be Rob Zombie and he’s been cast in several of his films of late: The Devil’s Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses, and Halloween. In essence, over time he’s become somewhat of a low budget horror legend.
But apparently he’s not so busy that he can’t appear at autograph shows. The first one where I saw him was at the Hollywood Show in Burbank on April 2, 2011. I’d see him later at the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention in Chicago on Sunday, August 14, 2011. But I went ahead and grabbed my autographed picture at the former.
Not surprisingly, he wasn’t the friendliest guy in the world. Although he wasn’t charging extra for a picture with him, he would only agree to pose from behind the table while he was sitting down. When I asked which photo on the tables (he had tons of pictures) was his favorite, he said “I don’t know. Just pick whichever one you want.” So I did. I dropped down my $20, got the signed picture, posed for a photo with him, and then bid farewell to Sid Haig. I can’t see any reason that we’ll ever have reason to speak again.
Celebrities of the Spring 2011 Hollywood Show will continue…
handsome devil since way back!
Eric Hubble
October 21st, 2011