The Icelandic Gunnar Hansen has passed away from of pancreatic cancer at his home in Maine, U.S. The actor was best known for this role in the original 1974 version of the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. With his role of Leatherface, Hansen created one of the great horror movie icons, up there with Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th), Freddie Kruger (Nightmare On Elm Street), Ghostface (Scream), and other notable screen villains.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was directed by Tobe Hooper. The premise to the film is simple: hapless teenagers and police officers who wander too close to a dilapidated home are brutally murdered by a chainsaw wielding maniac dubbed “Leatherface.” The reason the character is so-named is because he wears a mask fashioned out of human skin. The film arguably kicked off the slasher genre of horror movies.
The character of Leatherface was based on the real-life figure Ed Gein. Gein was a cannibalistic killer responsible for the grisly murders of several people in the 1950s.
Remarkably, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was Hansen’s first movie after graduate school. Hearing about the movie he auditioned and was successful.
Hansen was not only an actor. According to The Independent, he featured in 28 films, although none reached the success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As well as movies, Hansen worked as a magazine editor, wrote several screenplays, books and documentaries. One book, titled Chain Saw Confidential, describes the making of the movie.
