Marilyn Burns, Scream Queen of Horror Classic ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’, Dies at 65

Marilyn Burns, the actress best-known for her role in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, died Tuesday at her home near Houston, Texas, a rep for the actress confirmed. She was 65. “It is with sad new...
Marilyn Burns, Scream Queen of Horror Classic ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’, Dies at 65
Written by Pam Wright
  • Marilyn Burns, the actress best-known for her role in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, died Tuesday at her home near Houston, Texas, a rep for the actress confirmed. She was 65.

    “It is with sad news that I can officially confirm that actress Marilyn Burns passed away,” her manager, Chris Roe, told ABC News in a statement. “She was found unresponsive by a family member in her Houston area home. Her family thanks everyone for all their love and support, and asks for privacy at this time. Further details will be released later.”

    A cause of death will be announced following an autopsy.

    Burns played Sally Hardesty in the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one of the few characters to survive Leatherface’s gory killing spree with a chain saw.

    Burns is also known for another gruesome 1977 horror film, Eaten Alive, directed by Tobe Hooper, the same director of Chain Saw.

    As one of the best of the “scream queens”, she was a regular to horror films, including Kiss Daddy Goodbye in 1981, Future-Kill in 1985, and the Charles Manson TV movie Helter Skelter in 1976.

    Burns also made brief cameos in the 1994 and 2013 remakes of Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

    Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the actress was raised in Texas and earned a degree in drama from the University of Texas in 1971.

    Image via YouTube

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