 The horror
world lost an icon when Paul A
Partain died on January 27th
2005 at age 58 after along and
courageous bout with cancer. Fans
knew him as the wheelchair bound
Franklin in the original Tobe
Hooper classic ‘Texas
Chainsaw Massacre’
(1974) -- in fact, he was the
only one in the movie to actually
be killed by Leatherface’s
chainsaw. Paul Alan Partain
was a born in the small town of
Georgetown Texas (population
4,532) on May 5th,
1947 and had a deep love of
acting. He served in the Navy
during Vietnam and afterwards
worked primarily (and
extensively) on stage until
landing his first film role. He
was cast as Willy in Sidney
Lumet’s 1974 film
‘Lovin Molly’ with
Anthony Perkins and Blythe Danner
(whose double in the film was,
ironically, Paul’s TCM
sister --- Yup, Sally Hardesty
herself, Miss Marilyn Burns!
Burns was especially needed
because Danner had just given
birth to her daughter Gwyneth
Paltrow!). Next came the film
role that would bring Paul his
greatest taste of
fame…’The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre’.
The young actor really embraced
the role of Franklin –
taking the character full
throttle, making him
unforgettable, and all but
stealing the movie.
He
appeared in the TCM
related flicks. He (sort of)
appeared as the wheelchair bound
corpse of Franklin in ‘The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre II’.
He actually did have a cameo in
the ‘Texas Chainsaw
Massacre: The Next Generation’
with then unknown Texans Renee
Zellweger and Matthew
McConaughey. In fact, three of
the original cast members show up
in the latter movie – John
(Grandpa in the original) was the
reporter who interviews survivor
Zellweger, and Paul played a
hospital orderly who pushes
Marilyn Burns by on a stretcher.
Paul loved his work in the TCM
films and was always especially
grateful, courteous, and
appreciative of his loyal fans.
In
addition he made several other
movies. He was Cal in the car
chase/horror flick ‘Race
with The Devil’
(1975) starring Peter Fonda,
Warren Oates, and Loretta Swit --
about two vacationing couples who
are hunted by witches after
witnessing a satanic sacrifice.
Talk about a rotten vacation!
Before his death, he planned to
be in ‘The Forest
Prime Evil’ with
original TCM
cast mates Gunner
“Leatherface” Hansen
and oh-so-creepy Edwin Neal (who
was that horrifying hitchhiker).
Additional roles include the
Kevin Spacey movie ‘The
Life of David Gale’
(2003), another Peter Fonda flick
‘Outlaw Blues’
(1977), and ‘Rolling
Thunder’ (1977)
with William Devane and Tommy Lee
Jones.
Paul A.
Partain made his living primarily
in sales for Zenith Electronics
Corp. as a regional sales manager
based in Austin, TX. He was a
happy and kind man who loved
dancing, music, and reading --
but his greatest love would
always be acting which he said,
“filled his soul”.
|
