Sid Haig
In 2003, Haig starred in Rob Zombie's debut film "House of 1000 Corpses", as Captain Spaulding. The role revived Haig's acting career, earning him a "Best Supporting Actor" award in the thirteenth Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and induction into the Horror Hall of Fame. His image as Captain Spaulding has become iconic in today's horror genre. Haig reprised his role as Spaulding in Zombie’s sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses", entitled "The Devil's Rejects"
List of Rob Zombie characters
Rob Zombie described Spaulding on the commentary for "House of 1000 Corpses" as a "lovable asshole" and wanted to make the character's motivations and connection to the Firefly family ambiguous. Because Spaulding never interacts or talks to any members of the murderous Firefly family, it is never fully explained in the movie at just how much Spaulding knows about the family; if he is in league with them, or if he is just a murderous vigilante unconnected to the Firefly clan (in the film's opening scene, he shoots and kills two burglars attempting to rob his store). Although, in one of the final scenes in the film, Spaulding is shown driving a car in which Otis Driftwood is hiding in the backseat ready to claim another victim. He is described in the script for "Corpses" as a "crusty looking old man in a filthy clown suit and smeared make-up". He has the words "LOVE" and "HATE" tattooed on his knuckles, a reference to the character Reverend Harry Powell from "Night of the Hunter". Just as several characters from the series are named after characters from the Marx Brothers films, Spaulding is named for Groucho Marx's character from "Animal Crackers".