The True Story of Leatherface of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Ed Gein

Like most of America I have been enthralled with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie since I was about ten years old. Like most others I believed it was true and spent many a dark night trying to convince friends of this. We all ended up with nightmares and hearts that felt like they would beat out of our chests. Anyway, even as an adult I find that my fascination with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has not waned, nor as Hollywood’s apparently. In my life time there have been quite a few takes on the wildly popular The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as many others movie characters modeled after the real man behind the movie, Ed Gein.

Yes, there was a man who did many of the things that Thomas Hewitt (Leather Face) did in the Movie, but instead of Texas, he lived in Wisconsin. Sadly, cheese is not the only thing Wisconsin is known for. Wisconsin is the home of the real Texas Chainsaw Massacre, better known as Ed Gein. Ed Gein is one of America’s most well known and gruesome serial killers. He did not use a chainsaw, but relied on a gun to kill his victims. 

Ed Gein was born in 1906. He lived until 1984 and was a real person. Although found not guilty by reason of insanity, Ed Gein murdered at least two women. The deaths occurred in the early 1950s, a time most of us associate with poodle skirts and bubble gum. He was raised by a deeply religious mother and an absent alcoholic father. His first murder may have been his only brother, but that can not be proven.

The first Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie was release in 1974 and instantly became a cult hit. I like to think of it as The Blair Witch Project of its day. 

While Leatherface chased young thin hippies in Texas, the real Leather Face, Ed Gein, killed women who were much older and most certainly not hippies.