Paul Alan Partain (November 22, 1946 â€" January 28, 2005) was an
American actor, perhaps best known for his role in the original The
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) as the wheelchair-using Franklin
Hardesty.Partain was born in Austin, Texas. He served in the United
States Navy in the Vietnam War, and on his return to the U.S., started
working at an electronics manufacturing plant during the day, and at a
dinner theater at night. In the fall of 1972, Partain found out he had
been laid off from the plant, and while at the theater where he
worked, was asked to audition for the part of Willy in the 1974 Sidney
Lumet film Lovin' Molly, by the theater director there. Through the
help of this director, Partain got the role and his acting career
began.The director got Partain his next movie role as well, by
pointing Kim Henkel, the screenwriter and producer of The Texas Chain
Saw Massacre, toward Partain. Partain originally read for the part of
the hitchhiker, but the film's director, Tobe Hooper, was not
impressed. Hooper had Partain read for Franklin and cast him in that
part instead.After appearing in two more films in the 1970s (Race with
the Devil as Cal Mather and Rolling Thunder as the brother-in-law),
Partain had stopped acting by 1978. Partain started appearing in
movies again in the 1990s, starting with a cameo in Texas Chainsaw
Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), the third sequel to the 1974
original. One of his other roles in the 1990s was that of the Militia
of Texas Minister in the 1997 movie Burying Lana.
American actor, perhaps best known for his role in the original The
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) as the wheelchair-using Franklin
Hardesty.Partain was born in Austin, Texas. He served in the United
States Navy in the Vietnam War, and on his return to the U.S., started
working at an electronics manufacturing plant during the day, and at a
dinner theater at night. In the fall of 1972, Partain found out he had
been laid off from the plant, and while at the theater where he
worked, was asked to audition for the part of Willy in the 1974 Sidney
Lumet film Lovin' Molly, by the theater director there. Through the
help of this director, Partain got the role and his acting career
began.The director got Partain his next movie role as well, by
pointing Kim Henkel, the screenwriter and producer of The Texas Chain
Saw Massacre, toward Partain. Partain originally read for the part of
the hitchhiker, but the film's director, Tobe Hooper, was not
impressed. Hooper had Partain read for Franklin and cast him in that
part instead.After appearing in two more films in the 1970s (Race with
the Devil as Cal Mather and Rolling Thunder as the brother-in-law),
Partain had stopped acting by 1978. Partain started appearing in
movies again in the 1990s, starting with a cameo in Texas Chainsaw
Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), the third sequel to the 1974
original. One of his other roles in the 1990s was that of the Militia
of Texas Minister in the 1997 movie Burying Lana.
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