LEATHERFACE (BUBBA SAWYER / THOMAS HEWITT)

Leatherface is the main villain of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies. He is "severely mentally retarded and severely mentally disturbed", wields a chainsaw and wears the skinned faces of his victims. Leatherface lives with a psychotic, often abusive family and engages in acts of cannibalism with them. Leatherface and his family were inspired in part by killer Ed Gein, who also wore the skin of his victims and corpses.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The character was originally played by Gunnar Hansen. His real name is unknown, although older brother Chop Top calls him "Bubba" in the second movie.

In the original film, Leatherface is never seen without one of his human-flesh masks on. The reason for this is unknown. He differs from other movie killers in that he is not so much sadistic or evil; he is mentally retarded and most of the time he only does what his family tells him to do. Hansen has stated that Leatherface is "completely under the control of his family. He'll do whatever they tell him to do. He's a little bit afraid of them." [5] Tobe Hooper has argued on the documentary The Shocking Truth that Leatherface is a 'big baby' and kills in self-defense because he feels threatened, pointing out that in the first film Leatherface was actually frightened at all the new people entering his house.

The people Leatherface kills are later made into barbecue and chili, which are sold by his much older brother, Drayton Sawyer. Aside from Leatherface and Drayton, the Sawyer clan includes his two brothers, Nubbins and Chop Top, as well as Grandpa and Grandma (real names unknown).

Leatherface is known to wear different masks; they have been dubbed "the Killing Mask", "Grandmother Mask" and "Pretty Woman Mask." In an interview with Gunnar Hansen, about Leatherface's masks, he says, "the reason he wore a mask, according to Tobe and Kim, was that the mask really determined his personality. Who he wanted to be that day determined what mask he put on. So, when the Cook comes home, with Sally, Leatherface is wearing the 'Old Lady' mask and he's wearing an apron and carrying a wooden spoon – he wants to be domestic, helpful in the kitchen. At dinner he wears a different face -- the 'Pretty Woman,' which has make up." In another interview, he added "The idea of the mask is that there is no personality under the mask. That was the idea in talking with Tobe and Kim. When they created the character, they said he has to put on masks to express himself because he himself can't do it. ... The way we tried to create him, there is nothing under the mask, which is what makes him so frightening."

Sequels

Prior to the 2003 remake, there were three sequels to the Tobe Hooper original. With the exception of the first sequel, they were mostly in their own continuity each featuring Leatherface with a different family.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 is a direct sequel to the 1974 classic, but it is very different in tone, more campy and over the top than the original. Tobe Hooper said on The Shocking Truth that he wanted to expand on the dark comedy in the original film, an element that he felt no one truly picked up on. In this film, Leatherface develops a "crush" on one of his victims, and in one scene, skins off the face of her friend and places it on her.

The third entry to the series, titled Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III takes place in its own continuity. The filmmakers attempted to make the series darker and grittier as with the original, but interventions from the MPAA quashed their vision and had them tone it down and change the ending. An uncut version was released in 2003. Leatherface has a daughter in this film, possibly from a rape.

Leatherface appeared one more time in the third sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. In this version, Leatherface is inexplicably not a cannibal but is instead involved in a government conspiracy in league with aliens. He is also a yelping transvestite throughout most of the film. Although the film had a devoted fanbase, most horror fans and purists of the original consider it the worst film in the entire franchise.

Remake and prequel

A remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in 2003. Its success greenlit a prequel that was released in 2006, which delved into the origins of Leatherface and his sadistic and cannibalistic family.

Here, Leatherface's real name is Thomas Hewitt. His mother died giving birth to him at the meat factory where she worked, and Thomas was left to die in a dumpster. Luda Mae Hewitt found him and took him home to raise him. Says producer Brad Fuller, "The Hewitts raise Leatherface as their own. But in a lot of ways, Thomas Hewitt is more like a pet than a member of the family. At the same time, they do love and admire one another, albeit in peculiar and unusual ways."

Leatherface in this continuity suffers from a facial disfigurement and skin disease that ate away most of his nose. Due to this disfigurement, Hewitt was horribly treated by his peers as a child. He wore a small leather mask to cover up this deformity, and worked at the same meat factory his birth mother did. After health inspectors closed the factory down, Hewitt was ordered to leave. When Hewitt didn't, his boss bullied him by calling him a 'retard' and a 'dumb animal'. Hewitt killed his boss with a sledgehammer, and later discovered a chainsaw in the factory for later use. When Winston Hoyt, the local sheriff, tried apprehending him, Thomas's uncle Charlie came to his aid by killing the sheriff and later assuming his identity.

Thomas would later make a mask out of human skin by slicing off the face of one of his victims after killing him.

Although Leatherface is still manipulated by his family here, they are at least somewhat more caring for him and less abusive than they were in the classic. His mother is fiercely protective over her son and her disgust with the teenagers is partially due to the cruelty that Leatherface suffered from his peers. Says Terrence Evans, who played Leatherface's uncle Old Monty, "I think there was a chance Thomas' life could have been different. But the teasing he suffered, coupled with a bad temper, and following Hoyt around like a puppy dog, left room for Hoyt to get absolute control."

At the climax of the remake, his chainsaw arm was chopped off with a meat cleaver by Erin Hardesty, but he managed to survive the attack. He escaped after police discovered his ranch house and found the remains of thirty-three people.

Andrew Bryniarski, who played Leatherface in the remake, states that "In my estimation, Leatherface is like a beaten dog — he was ostracized and ridiculed, and treated harshly by his peers. The psychological damage they inflicted was immense … there’s no chance for him."

Below are links to other horror icon bios that you might be interested in.

CHOP TOP (ROBERT SAWYER) n the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series of films, Robert Sawyer, aka Chop Top, is Leatherface's older brother. Played by Bill Moseley, he appears in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, having been in the Vietnam War during the events of the first film. He received a machete wound in Vietnam and had a steel plate surgically implanted on his skull. (Detailed Bio)

OTIS DRIFTWOOD Otis B. Driftwood is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. Rob Zombie may have based Otis in part on cult leader, Charles Manson. He was portrayed by Bill Moseley in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. As revealed in The Devil's Rejects' official website, Otis B. Driftwood was born December 23, 1929. He was horribly neglected and abused by his parents, who didn't even give him a name. He later wrote that he committed his first murder at the age of 13. (Detailed Bio)

DOCTOR SATAN (S. QUENTIN QUALE) Doctor Satan is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. He was portrayed by Walter Phelan in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He seems unrelated to a pulp magazine character of the same name from the 1930s and 1940s. Dr. Satan is one of the most enigmatic characters in the two films. The sinister physician's history has been told different ways by different people so many times that no one knows who he truly is. (Detailed Bio)

BABY "ANGEL" FIREFLY Baby is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. She was portrayed by Sheri Moon in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Baby was born September 12, 1948 in the rural community of Ruggsville County. She was born as Vera-Ellen Wilson to parents Mother Firefly and Captain Spaulding. (Detailed Bio)

CAPTAIN SPAULDING (JOHNNY LEE JOHNS) is a fictional character created by Rob Zombie. He was portrayed by Sid Haig in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Rob Zombie may have based this charecter on John Wayne Gacy. Captain Spaulding was born on April 13, 1918 in Ruggsville, Texas with the name Johnny Lee Johns. He spent a small part of his childhood in the Ruggsville County home for orphaned boys until being adopted by a black family. Johnny Lee would soon grow very close to his adoptive brother Charlie. (Detailed Bio)

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