Paul Alan Partain was a born in the small town of Georgetown Texas (population 4,532) on May 5^th, 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”.