This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/3/2018
On Saturday, October 18th, 2014, the MEARS Pop Culture division conducted a very limited private signing with horror movie icon Gunnar Hansen, “Leatherface” from the 1973 movie, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Although he did make the rare appearance on the horror circuit show scene, his traveling schedule had become more limited, and his agent confirmed he had never conducted a private signing. This was his first dedicated private signing and MEARS was honored to have been the host.
The movie which made him famous, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” had some special local interest since it was loosely based on Wisconsin’s first serial killer Ed Gein, the cadaver skin wearing maniac who was a grave robber and murderer from Plainsfield, WI.
Chainsaw's villain was christened as Jedidah Sawyer, who favored a chainsaw to brutalize his victims in the movie. During our private signing, Gunnar told a story which showed both his cleverness and fondness for the movie. Although his phone number was unlisted in his hometown in Maine, “Jedidah Sawyer” was a working number and if you were smart enough to have called the encrypted listing, Gunnar would have answered the phone. He told me that in over 40 years, only one fan figure it out!
As part of our dedicated effort to continue to meet with legends of TV & Film and conduct supervised autograph sessions, we contracted with the horror genre legend Gunnar Hansen. Born 1947 (currently 67 years old) in Reykjavic, Iceland, Gunnar moved to Maine when he was 5 years old. Some years later he moved to Austin, TX where he finished High School and attended the University of Texas. Shortly after finishing graduate school, Hansen auditioned for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and won the role. The character of Leatherface was brought to life by Gunnar’s own interpretation of the character. The speed, movement, and texture of the character were directly related to the movie making process. The scorching Texas heat, limited vision allowed by the ill fitted mask, small no frills budget and size of Gunnar Hansen (6’4” tall) gave life to the leatherface character.
A basic human need, Hunger, was the impetus of Leatherface’s motivation to kill. Like any of us would do, the chainsaw wielding killer needs to provide for his family. Leatherface is not seeking revenge; he is not mad, jealous, or ambitious. Victims are simply lured, killed, butchered, and eaten. With no ulterior motive, he is simply trying to provide for the family that nurtures him. Gunnar Hansen purposely kept the character void of emotion; Leatherface remained hollow and black, almost work like.
The viewer never understood the being behind the mask. What we don’t know scares us, and Leatherface remained unexplained, so we will forever be fearful of the original version of the character.
During the day, I had the honor of hanging out with Gunnar for nearly 10 hours. During that time I was able to speak to him about much of the background history of the Chainsaw Massacre movie. For instance, the boots that he wore for filming he owned for nearly 20 years after the movie wrapped. For a decade following the filming, the boots were worn for gardening and house work. After being stored in the closet and becoming moldy, Gunnar, without giving them any thought to their historic and valuable nature, simply threw them out with the trash. It is estimated they would bring $20,000 in today’s collectors market.
During the signing, Gunnar signed (100) limited edition 16x20 photos for MEARS. Each one was Accompanied by his character’s name, “Leatherface”. Mr. Hansen took great pride in the signing, Consistently providing us large, clean, bold signatures. Pens were routinely switched, insuring a high quality signature.To insure the authenticity of the signatures, MEARS will be adhering a special Gunnar Hansen hologram to each piece. The holograms are dated October 16th, 2014. This will forever memorialize the date of the signing.
In my opinion, Leatherface has entered the halls of horror royalty. He is our generation’s version of a ghoul, and even more scary than the Dracula and Frankenstein monsters that proceeded him. His style and essence is a perfect reflection of the 1970’s, and I think he is going to be remembered by horror fans for a very long time. I was very impressed with Gunnar Hansen the man, and am sorry to hear of his passing. An official Gunnar Hansen hologram accompanies this piece.