Sam Haile was born in London in 1909. He studied at the Clapham School of Art and at the Royal College of Art under William Staite Murray.

After a brief spell as pottery instructor at Liecester College of Art he returned to London to teach, sharing a workshop with Margaret Rey.

In 1938 he married Marianne de Trey and the following year moved to America where he taught at New York State College of Ceramics and the College of Architecture, University of Michigan. He returned to England in 1944.

After serving in the army he worked at Bulmers Brickyard, the pottery set up by Mary Gibson-Horrocks at Sudbury, Suffolk. In 1947 he moved to Shinner's Bridge, South Devon, and a year later was killed in a road accident.

His slip decoration, brushed and trailed, and sense of form are considered exceptional,