Sally Hardesty

Sally Hardesty was one of the central supporting cast members featured in the 1974 slasher film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. She was played by actress Marilyn Burns.

Overview
Sally Hardesty was a young woman who was born sometime in either the late 1940s or early 1950s. She was the younger sister of Franklin Hardesty and the niece of Lefty Enright. In August, 1973, Sally, Franklin and a few friends traveled through Muerto County, Texas to investigate the disturbed grave of their uncle. Their journey quickly turned into a nightmare after picking up a deranged hitchhiker, who turned out to a member of a murderous family of cannibals. One by one, the Sawyer family tormented and slaughtered each of her friends. Her brother Franklin was eviscerated by Leatherface's chainsaw right before her eyes. After being captured and beaten, Sally miraculously managed to escape, but not with her sanity intact. Sally Hardesty was the sole survivor of an incident that history would come to know as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Biography
Sally Hardesty was the sister of Franklin Hardesty. She drove out with her brother and their three friends to Muerto County to make certain that their grandfather's grave had not been desecrated during a recent rash of grave robbing incidents. While passing through town they picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a crazed lunatic. Following a bit of uncomfortable unpleasantness, they kicked the man out of their vehicle and proceeded to their grandparents' old farmhouse.

This idyllic summer afternoon soon turned into tragedy as one by one, all of Sally's friends were brutally murdered by a cannibalistic man known only as Leatherface. Sally watched in horror as her invalid brother Franklin was disemboweled by Leatherface's chainsaw. Leatherface chased Sally through the forests until she sought refuge inside a nearby gas station/bait shop. What she learned only moments later, was that the proprietor of the bait shop was related to both Leatherface and the strange hitchhiker they picked up earlier that morning. The old man clubbed Sally with a broom handle, tossed her into a gunny sack and threw her into his truck. He brought her back to the family's farmhouse where she was tied down to a dining room chair made from human remains. Each of the family members, including their ancient grandfather took turns battering Sally with a hammer. Finally however, she managed to wrangle free of her bonds and escape.

Leatherface and the hitchhiker followed after her. The hitchhiker chased her out into the road, swiping at her back with his straight razor. Fortunately for Sally, an oncoming cattle truck struck the psychotic maniac, killing him. Leatherface continued to pursue her, but Sally managed to catch a ride in the back of a motorist's pick-up truck and get away. The experience proved so frightful to her that she spent the next several years inside a mental institution.

Years later, Sally's uncle, Lefty Enright, tracked the cannibal family down in order to exact revenge for the cost they had brought upon his family.

The final fate of Sally Hardesty is unknown. She was seen years later being wheeled down a corridor on a gurney at a mental hospital.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of was created by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel.


 * The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is the first film for actress Marilyn Burns.


 * Marilyn Burns also played the role of Linda Kasabian in the 1976 biopic Helter Skelter.