Gunnar Hansen, who terrorized moviegoers as iconic villain Leatherface in the original “Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” died Saturday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Maine, his agent said in statement. He was 68.
Hansen starred in the 1974 film that has become a horror classic and launched a series of sequels. He terrorizes a group of teens as the chain saw-wielding maniac in the film, written and directed by Tobe Hooper.
Hansen’s character is “one of the most iconic evil figures in the history of cinema,” said agent Mike Eisenstadt.
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” helped define the “slasher” subset in the horror film genre by featuring a psychopath murdering several victims in graphic and gory detail. Six sequels were made, most recently 2013’s “Texas Chainsaw 3D.”