Gunnar Hansen, ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ Star, Dies At 68

Gunnar Hansen, who starred as villain Leatherface in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre film, died Saturday. He was 68.

Gunnar Hansen Dies

Hansen passed away at his home in Maine following a battle with pancreatic cancer, his agent, Mike Eisenstadt, confirmed. Eisenstadt also noted that Hansen’s Leatherface character “is one of the most iconic evil figures in the history of cinema.”

In the 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre film, Leatherface is the chain-saw wielding cannibal that hunts the group of friends who had hoped to spend a fun weekend at one of their grandfather’s homes.

In 2013, Hansen relived the days on the set of the cult classic horror film for his book, Chain Saw Confidential. The book gave movie fans a look at what was going on behind-the-scenes of the low-budget slasher flick. Hansen had written a number of other non-fiction and fiction books in his career as an author.

Following the success of Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Hansen took some time away from the movie industry, but eventually worked steadily as an actor. Among his film credits are Campfire Tales, Mosquito, The Deepening, Gimme Skelter and Texas Chainsaw 3D. At the time of his death, Hansen had three movies in production – The Gathering, Midnight and Death House, which he also wrote.