---
name: "Gunnar Hansen"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/gunnar-hansen"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "4 March 1947"
died: "7 November 2015"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T10:32:22.793698+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Gunnar Hansen

Actor. Born 4 March 1947 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Died 7 November 2015.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 4 March 1947, Reykjavik, Iceland
- **Died:** 7 November 2015
- **Also known as:** Gunner, Gunnar Milton Hansen, Leatherface

## Biography

Gunnar Milton Hansen (1947–2015) was an Icelandic-born American actor and author. He is best known for playing the cannibal killer Leatherface in *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* (1974), his first film role.

Born in Reykjavík, Iceland, Hansen moved to the United States as a child and later studied English and mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduate school he auditioned for the film while it was being shot locally and was cast in the part. He appeared in a number of later horror films, including *Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers* (1988) and *Mosquito* (1995), and wrote the nonfiction book *Chain Saw Confidential* (2013) about the making of the original film.

Hansen died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Northeast Harbor, Maine, on 7 November 2015.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* (1974), Fi1m 87, as Leatherface — [page](https://film.one/film/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre.md)

## Also known for

- *Texas Chainsaw 3D* (2013), Leatherface (archive footage)
- *Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers* (1988), The Stranger
- *Murder-Set-Pieces* (2004), Nazi Mechanic
- *E! True Hollywood Story* (1996)
- *Mosquito* (1994), Earl
- *Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre* (2009), Captain Pétur
- *Death House* (2018), Albert Kenny, Writer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/gunnar-hansen