Gunnar Hansen, masked by “The slaughter of Texas” – La Prensa Grafica

According to his agent, Hansen died at his home in Maine (the US) due to pancreatic cancer. He was 68.

Gunnar Hansen, the legendary evil iconic horror film “The slaughter of Texas” 1974 died Saturday at age 68, his agent confirmed today Mike Eisenstadt in a statement. According to Eisenstadt, Hansen died at his home in Maine (the US) due to pancreatic cancer.

Hansen, born in Iceland, moved to the US five years of age. After graduating from Texas, Hansen testing for the shooting of the film directed by Tobe Hopper in Austin and landed the role of Leatherface, the villain of the film unbalanced masked chasing his victims with a chain saw was presented.

In the film, Leatherface attacks a group of young people traveling to the field in Texas to visit the grave of relatives.

The film had a budget of $ 140.000 and grossed over $ 30 million in the US and became one of the classic horror film thanks to its graphic and explicit scenes of violence.

After the success, the actor tried to make a career in the world of literature and the journalism, before eventually returning to the cinema in the late 1980s where he played numerous sequels and versions of “The slaughter of Texas”.

Eisenstadt described the character of Leatherface as one “evil most iconic the history of cinema. “

 In 2013, Hansen published his book “Chain Saw Confidential”, which offered a portrait of how was the shooting of the legendary film.