Gunnar Hansen, Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface, Has Passed Away

Actor Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has passed away at age 68, The Independent reports.

Hansen's agent confirmed that he passed away at his home in Maine.

Hansen was born in Iceland, but moved to Maine when he was 5 and lived there for most of his life -- with a stayover in Texas, where he attended high school and college.

After graduate school, he auditioned for a role in Texas Chainsaw Massacre and ended up playing Leatherface -- an iconic and terrifying role which would stick with him for the rest of his life. The character was a crazy loner who wore a mask of human flesh and chased his victims with a chainsaw.

Hansen would go on to become an icon in the horror community himself, appearing in dozens of films including a number of Texas Chainsaw sequels, spinoffs and spoofs.