Gunnar Hansen, the actor who played Leatherface in 1974's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Maine on Saturday. He was 68.
His agent, Mike Eisenstadt, told
The Associated Press that Hansen's chain-saw toting Leatherface was "one of the most iconic evil figures in the history of cinema."
An Iceland native who moved to the United States at age five, according to
Entertainment Weekly, Hansen studied at the University of Texas where many writers of the legendary horror film were based. Despite the commercial success of the movie, Hansen said he saw little money from it.
"We made virtually no money," Hansen told Entertainment Weekly in 2013. "My shooting salary worked out to two dollars an hour."
Even though he had limited vision because of wearing the mask, he said he was required to shoot with a working chainsaw.
"Anytime Leatherface was cutting on anything it had teeth," said Hanson. "It was very dangerous. I had no idea how dangerous it was until later, after the movie came out, when I was living in the woods and chopping up wood to heat the house."
TMZ said Hansen reprised the Leatherface role throughout the years, playing "The Master" in 1988's "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" and in 2009 in "Reykjavik What Watching Massacre."
Hansen appeared in 28 films along with writing documentaries, books and screenplays after taking the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" role out of graduate school.
The movie itself has been remade six times, according to
Us Weekly, including the latest in 2013, "Texas Chainsaw 3D."
Gunnar's book "Chain Saw Confidential" in 2013, discussed what happened behind the scenes when the movie was made. He also wrote and published "Islands at the Edge of Time," about his journey to the barrier islands between Texas and North Carolina.
Many fans expressed their condolences on Twitter.
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