November 7 marks 11 years since Gunnar Hansen’s death. The original Leatherface followed his role in 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with years devoted largely to writing.
His books included the travel title ‘Islands at the Edge of Time’ and ‘Chain Saw Confidential’, his 2013 memoir about making the horror film.
Born in ReykjavÃk, Iceland, Hansen moved to the United States at 5 and grew up in Maine and Austin, Texas. At the University of Texas at Austin, he studied English and mathematics before pursuing graduate studies in English and Scandinavian Studies.
His jobs included computer operator and bar bouncer, and he’d done theater before auditioning for director Tobe Hooper in 1973. Hansen was still finishing graduate school when he landed the role in Hooper’s low-budget production near Austin.
He later returned to acting, with appearances in Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers in 1988 and Texas Chainsaw 3D in 2013, while continuing to write.
He spent many years living in Maine and died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Northeast Harbor on November 7, 2015. He was 68.
His ashes were scattered in the ocean.
