Biography
This page uses content from the Gunnar Hansen biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Gunnar Hansen (c. March 4, 1947 in Iceland-c.) is an actor best known for playing Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).
Was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, and moved to the United States when he was five. He lived in Maine until age eleven, when his family moved to Texas, where he attended both Austin High School and the University of Texas at Austin. He majored in English and mathematics as an undergraduate, and then went to graduate school in Scandinavian Studies and English.
His first job out of high school was as a computer operator, before he started doing theater work during college. He also was a football player during high school, and for a while a bar bouncer. In 1973, just after finishing graduate school, Hansen heard that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was being filmed in Austin and decided to try out. He got the part of Leatherface the masked killer in the movie and made movie history.
The movie went on to become a cult classic, but Hansen decided not to continue acting (not before appearing in a cheap horror movie titled The Demon Lover, though), instead choosing to pursue a writing career. So, in 1975, Hansen after one more year of graduate school, moved back to Maine and started writing.
After working, for a while, writing (and occasionally editing) for magazines and writing books, Hansen got back in to acting in 1987, appearing in the trashy and cheesy horror spoof Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, and has since appeared in 20 films of about the same quality (the possible exception being the 2006 film Swarm of the Snakehead). Hansen's new acting career, though, is a side project and he continues to write books. He has written some film scripts too and now writes and directs documentary films.
He was recently asked to reprise the role of Leatherface in the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which he declined, claiming that he was insulted by the idea of the original 1974 film being remade.
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