CAPTAIN SPAULDING

Captain Spaulding is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. He was portrayed by Sid Haig in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects.

Captain Spaulding was born on April 13, 1918 in Ruggsville, Texas with the name Johnny Lee Johns. He spent a small part of his childhood in the Ruggsville County home for orphaned boys until being adopted by a black family. Johnny Lee would soon grow very close to his adoptive brother Charlie. Johnny Lee developed an interest in sideshow deformities and violent crime photography, foreshadowing his Captain Spaulding persona. He began his murder spree as Mr. Ding Dong a Bo-Bo using his clown character's name. Charlie would refer to him as Cutter after Johnny Lee stabbed a man to death, which he would take as his name.

Around the fall of 1947, Cutter met Mother Firefly, who at the time took the alias Eve Wilson. She already had two children of her own, Rufus and Tiny. Cutter lived with Eve Wilson, even raising their daughter Vera Ellen together. During the summer of 1965, Otis B. Driftwood, wandered into Ruggsville County. He and Otis quickly became close companions and rivals. The two would often fight for control of the family. Otis was asked to live with the family; whom Otis called The Fireflys and it was he who also nicknamed Cutter, Captain Spaulding.

At the beginning of 1968, Cutter and Charlie, began using another alias, "Wolf J. Flywheel", in the tradition of Cutter's new family's Groucho fascination. He began running an illegal moonshine business from Charlie's ranch. Cutter saw this as a way of raising money in order to build a facility which Cutter could use to share his two loves — serial murder and fried chicken — with the world.

Sometime during this period Charlie and Otis encountered each other at Charlie's ranch, now doubling as a cut price brothel. This encounter lead to hostility towards Charlie from Otis. What caused this is unclear but it is thought that Charlie was supplying local law enforcement officials with hooch and women behind Cutter's back and keeping all the proceeds.

In 1971, Captain Spaulding began his work building the now infamous road side attraction Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen. Only five years after the beginning of its construction, the museum was attracting tourists from all over the country to experience the new Dr. Satan attraction which was based on tales recounted to Cutter by Otis and Vera Ellen, now known as Angel Baby or Baby, about a local madman who ran a cult that the two were briefly members of. The Firefly family would incorporate the legend of Dr. Satan into their grisly murder spree.

The Films

In House of 1000 Corpses Spaulding is the proprietor of "Capt. Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen". Spaulding's infamous Murder Ride is the catalyst which motivates the teenagers to investigate Dr. Satan, who was featured during the ride. This later leads to the teens' encounters with the Firefly Clan and their deaths.

Captain Spaulding's role is expanded in the second film, The Devil's Rejects as his role as the patriatch of the Firefly family is revealed. After the Firefly House is raided by Sheriff Wydell and the cops, Spaulding's daughter Vera-Ellen (now called Baby) and Otis reunite with Spaulding. He takes them to his pimp brother Charlie Altamont's for refuge, but Charlie is bullied by Wydell into giving them up.

The insane sheriff takes them back to their house where he proceeds to torture them. After stapling a picture of one of Otis's victims to his chest, Wydell takes out a picture of one of Baby's victims. Spaulding tries to take credit for his daughter's crime so she won't get hurt, but his effort is in vain as he can only watch as Wydell tortures her.

Wydell takes Baby outside to kill her and lights the house on fire so Otis and Spaulding will die. It is only the last minute intervention of Tiny that saves them. As Spaulding and Baby are reunited, the two cry in each other's arms.

Later, the family drives down an open highway only to be faced by a wall of officers. Otis hands Spaulding the biggest gun (an act, according to Sid Haig and Bill Moseley, that symbolizes Otis finally handing Spaulding the reins to the family's leadership in their last moments) and they head off in one final blaze of glory before being shot to death by the police.

About Sid Haig

(born Sidney Eddie Mosesian on July 14, 1939) is an American film actor. He is best known for his work in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970's as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He is of Armenian descent.

Haig's career began somewhat by accident. As a youth, his rapid physical growth interfered with his motor coordination, prompting him to take dancing lessons. At the age of seven, he was a paid dancer in a children’s Christmas show, and later joined a vaudeville show.

Haig also displayed musical talent particularly for the drums, prompting his parents to buy him a drum set, on which he mastered a wide range of musical styles, including swing, country, jazz, blues and rock and roll. He found it easy to earn money with his music, and signed a recording contract one year out of high school. Haig went on to record the single "Full House" with the T-Birds in 1958 which shot to #4 on the charts.

When Sid was in high school, the head of the drama department was Alice Merrill, who encouraged him to pursue an acting career. Merrill was a famous Broadway actress who maintained her contacts in the business. During his senior year, a play was produced in which Alice double casted the show, to have one of her Hollywood friends assess the actors in order to select the final cast. The Hollywood contact who saw Haig perform was Dennis Morgan, a big musical comedy star from the 1940s, who chose Sid for a prominent role in the play. Two weeks later, he returned to see the show and advised Sid to continue his education in the San Fernando Valley and consider acting as a career. Two years later, Sid enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse, the school that trained such noted actors as Robert Preston, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman.

After two years of "actor’s hell" -- a grueling 7am to 11pm schedule with homework -- Haig moved to Hollywood with long time friend and Pasadena Playhouse roommate Stuart Margolin.

Haig's first acting job was in Jack Hill’s student film at UCLA titled The Host, which launched Haig's 40+ year acting career in over 50 films and 350 television shows. He became a staple in Hill's films, such as Spider Baby, Coffy and Foxy Brown (1974 film). Haig was also a regular player for producer-director Roger Corman. He appeared in George Lucas' THX-1138 and the 1970 James Bond opus Diamonds Are Forever.

His television credits include appearances in such landmark programs as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Charlie's Angels, MacGuyver and The A-Team (in which he played a motorcycle gang leader).

After forty years of playing gun-toting tough guys, his hopes of being recognized as more than competent were fading. In 1992 Haig remarked, "I’ll never play another stupid 'heavy' again, and I don’t care if that means that I never work, ever." Haig did not work in acting for five years, instead training and becoming a certified hypnotherapist. Then in 1997 Quentin Tarantino wrote the part of the judge in Jackie Brown specifically for Haig, whose acting prospects continued to improve.

In 2000, 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 13th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and induction into the Horror Hall of Fame. His image as Captain Spaulding has become iconic for the revamped horror genre, and is used to promote everything from horror conventions to film fests. Haig enjoyed further success as Spaulding in Rob Zombie’s sequel to House of 1000 Corpses, entitled The Devil's Rejects. For this film, he received the award for "best actor" in the 15th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, as well as sharing the award for "most vile villain" at the First Annual Spike TV Scream Awards with Leslie Easterbrook, Sheri Moon and Bill Moseley as The Firefly Family. He was nominated as "best butcher" in the Fuse/Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, but lost to Tobin Bell's Jigsaw from Saw II.

As of the end of 2006, Sid has several projects in various stages of production, and continues to enjoy his renewed success as an actor.

Below are links to other horror icon bios that you might be interested in.

DOCTOR SATAN (S. QUENTIN QUALE) Doctor Satan is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. He was portrayed by Walter Phelan in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He seems unrelated to a pulp magazine character of the same name from the 1930s and 1940s. Dr. Satan is one of the most enigmatic characters in the two films. The sinister physician's history has been told different ways by different people so many times that no one knows who he truly is. (Detailed Bio)

BABY "ANGEL" FIREFLY Baby is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. She was portrayed by Sheri Moon in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Baby was born September 12, 1948 in the rural community of Ruggsville County. She was born as Vera-Ellen Wilson to parents Mother Firefly and Captain Spaulding. (Detailed Bio)

OTIS DRIFTWOOD Otis B. Driftwood is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. Rob Zombie may have based Otis in part on cult leader, Charles Manson. He was portrayed by Bill Moseley in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. As revealed in The Devil's Rejects' official website, Otis B. Driftwood was born December 23, 1929. He was horribly neglected and abused by his parents, who didn't even give him a name. He later wrote that he committed his first murder at the age of 13. (Detailed Bio)

LEATHERFACE Leatherface is the main villain of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies. He is a "severely mentally retarded and severely mentally disturbed" man who wields a chainsaw and wears the skinned faces of his victims. Leatherface and his family were inspired in part by killer Ed Gein, who also wore the skin of his victims and corpses. (Detailed Bio)

CHOP TOP (ROBERT SAWYER) n the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series of films, Robert Sawyer, aka Chop Top, is Leatherface's older brother. Played by Bill Moseley, he appears in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, having been in the Vietnam War during the events of the first film. He received a machete wound in Vietnam and had a steel plate surgically implanted on his skull. (Detailed Bio)

<a href="http://serialkillercalendar.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://serialkillercalendar.com/468x60banner.gif"></a>