Marilyn Burns | |
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.JPG) Burns in 2012 | |
| Born | Mary Lynn Ann Burns May 7, 1949 Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | August 5, 2014 (aged 65) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1970–2014 |
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Marilyn Burns (born Mary Lynn Ann Burns;[citation needed] May 7, 1949 – August 5, 2014) was an American actress. She was known for playing Sally Hardesty in Tobe Hooper's horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which established her as a scream queen and a catalyst of the final girl trope. She was involved in two more films of its resulting franchise: a cameo in The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995) and a supporting role in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013). In 2009, she was inducted into the Horror Hall of Fame at the Phoenix Film Festival.
While in college, Burns made her film debut as a tour guide in Robert Altman's experimental comedy film Brewster McCloud (1970). She went on to play Linda Kasabian in the true crime television film Helter Skelter (1976), and appear in Hooper's horror film Eaten Alive (1977) and the science fiction film Future-Kill (1985), the latter of which was written by her Texas Chain Saw Massacre co-star Edwin Neal. Her final film, In a Madman's World (2017), was posthumously released.
Burns was found dead in her home on August 5, 2014.[1]