Grandpa Sawyer


Grandpa Sawyer
Continuity:	Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Notability:	Minor character
Type:	Cannibal
Gender:	Male
Race:	Human
Location:	Muerto County, Texas
Associations:	Sawyer family
Relatives:	See family
Status:	Deceased
Born:	1849 ^[1]
Died:	1986
First:	Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The
Final:	Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The
Actor:	John Dugan Ken Evert Grayson Victor Schimacher Eduard Parsehyan

Grandpa Sawyer is a fictional cannibal and a minor character featured in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. He made two appearances in the franchise, beginning with the original 1974 classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre where he was played by actor John Dugan. The character also appeared in the film's 1986 sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, only this time he was portrayed by actor Ken Evert. Actor Eduard Parsehyan played a slightly younger version of Grandpa in the 2017 film Leatherface.

Biography[]

If grandson Drayton Sawyer is to be believed, Grandpa Sawyer was born somewhere in Texas in the year 1849. He was a major figure in the meat industry and could allegedly kill a cow with a single blow to the head from a hammer. At some point, Grandpa began working for the Atlas Rendering Company. Every Spring, the company would throw a barbecue party in his honor. As time went on however, Atlas found itself progressing with advancements in modern practices. They turned from the old tried and true methods in favor of automation, herding cattle into electrified cages and using cold-steel chutes. Air-powered guns took the place of old tack hammers. Grandpa could not stomach these changes to the industry. It turned his stomach, and with it came great shame. He simply couldn't stomach it any longer. One day he simply stopped going to work. ^[2]

Grandpa Sawyer married and raised a family, all of whom were raised in the old traditional methods of the slaughter industry. Little is known about his immediate children, but his three grandchildren - all males, inherited the family business. At some point in their lives, all of the Sawyer family members embraced the unfavorable act of cannibalism. As Grandpa continued to grow older however, he maintained his long life on a strict liquid diet.

Grandpa Sawyer was still alive in 1973, though he was extremely infirm and decrepit and seemingly had little left in the way of mental faculties. He couldn't move about on his own very well, and it took supreme effort simply to stand. His grandchildren, Drayton, Bubba and Nubbins brought him to the dinner table on the night they had captured a young blonde-haired woman named Sally Hardesty. They leaned the bound girl over a metal tub and handed Grandpa a hammer, enticing him to give her a whack. He limply wielded the tool, and only through sheer luck was he able to even make contact with her. Sally managed to escape however, so Grandpa was denied the pleasure of tasting whatever she could have provided him. ^[3]

Thirteen years later, Grandpa was miraculously still alive at the age of 137, but looked like little more than a withered corpse. The family had relocated to an underground cavern undearneath an abandoned amusement park. This time around, the chosen entree was a radio DJ named Vanita "Stretch" Brock. Bubba and another sibling named "Chop-Top" fetched Grandpa and his custom-made rocking chair (which was made out of human bones) and sat him at the dinner table. As with Sally, Grandpa gave a hearty effort to club the bound Vanita Brock over the head with a hammer. He usually missed or dropped the hammer, but did succeed in hitting her once, causing a bat laceration across her head. He then dipped the end of a coat hanger into the bloody wound and began licking at it. During this macabre affair, a former Texas Ranger named Boude "Lefty" Enright raided the cavern, seeking to put a stop this evil family. He freed Stretch and got into a chainsaw duel with Bubba "Leatherface" Sawyer. Grandpa mustered all of his reserves to stand up and threw the hammer at Lefty, but it actually struck Leatherface in the head.

Drayton Sawyer, seeing that their time was likely coming to an end, withdrew a hand grenade (or as he called it, a "Fuck-You Charlie") from the corpse of Nubbins Sawyer and pulled the pin. Grandpa Sawyer died in the ensuing explosion. ^[4]

Notes & Trivia[]

The character of Grandpa Sawyer was created by director Tobe Hooper and writer Kim Henkel. The character was expanded upon by writer L.M. Kit Carson.

Grandpa's actual first name is never provided in any of the films.

A pastiche of the original Grandpa character is seen in the 1994 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. This character, who bears no connection to the original character, is played by actor Grayson Victor Schimacher.

There is no direct counterpart to Grandpa in the remake series. The closest thing to him is old Monty Hewitt, played by Terrence Evans, who appeared in the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as the prequel film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

It is unknown whether Grandpa holds to the same psychopathic tendencies as the rest of the Sawyer family. Given his age, he is actually the most harmless amongst them. However, it is also likely that he may have committed numerous murders and/or acts of cannibalism in his youth.

In the credits for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the character is credited as "Grandfather".

Family[]

It is believed by many that the Sawyers may be inbred. There is no concrete evidence of any sort of incest in the family lineage, though the exact relationship between each member is subject to interpretation.

Drayton Sawyer: Grandson; oldest of the Sawyer siblings and head of the household.
Nubbins Sawyer: Grandson; also known as the Hitchhiker.
Chop-Top Sawyer: Grandson; Twin brother to Nubbins.
Bubba Sawyer: Grandson; Youngest of four siblings. Also known as Leatherface.
Mama Sawyer: Daughter or daughter-in-law; Nothing is known of this woman save that her remains were kept in a rocking chair in the Sawyer farmhouse.
Great-Grandma Sawyer: Mother or mother-in-law; a large woman whose rotting remains were kept by the Sawyer family and moved to their underground sanctuary.

External Links[]

References[]

↑ Drayton Sawyer states that Grandpa is 137-years-old at the time of his death in 1973. As this is a very unrealistic age for someone who is not supernatural, it is just as likely that Drayton may have been lying. He is a nutter after all.
↑ Revealed by Drayton Sawyer to Vanita Brock in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
↑ Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974)
↑ Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The (1986)

[1] Drayton Sawyer states that Grandpa is 137-years-old at the time of his death in 1973. As this is a very unrealistic age for someone who is not supernatural, it is just as likely that Drayton may have been lying. He is a nutter after all.

[2] Revealed by Drayton Sawyer to Vanita Brock in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

[3] Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974)

[4] Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The (1986)

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