Was Sally Hardesty a real person?

Answer 1

AnswerShe is a fictional character in the movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Even though the movie says it's "inspired by a true story", both Tobe Hooper's original 1974 film and the 2003 Marcus Nispel remake are only lightly based on the real-life murderer Ed Gein, who is suspected to have taken several victims between 1954 and 1957. Perhaps the most recognizable similarity is the film's house, whose gruesome content was similar to that found in Ed Gein's home in 1957.

Answer 2

Sally Hardesty was NOT a real person, and all of the events described in Texas Chainsaw Massacre were entirely fictional. Nothing like it has ever happened in real life- the film was inspired by the activities of psychotic farmer Ed Gein, who murdered 2 women in Indiana and is suspected of having killed 3 more between 1954 and '57. He did indeed wear the skins of his victims, disembowel them and ate some of their body parts, but shot them with a .22 calibre hunting rifle and did not use a chainsaw- he died in a mental hospital in 1991. Gein's ghoulish activities also inspired the film Psycho.

The character of Sally Hardesty was played by the actress Marilyn Burns, who is currently 65 years old.