Franklin Hardesty
Franklin in the van



Appears in:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (skeleton only)


Sally Hardesty (sister)
Lieutenant Lefty Enright (uncle)
Pam (friend)
Kirk (friend)
Jerry (friend)

Portrayed By:

Paul A. Partain

Franklin Hardesty is a character from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. He is Sally Hardesty's invalid brother and Lieutenant 'Lefty' Enright's nephew. He's constantly reminded that he can't do half the stuff his friends and sister can do due to his handicap which irritates him greatly. He is the fourth to die.

The Texas Chainsaw MassacreEdit

Franklin grew up with his sister Sally in Texas. He and his sister Sally travel with three friends, Jerry, Kirk, and Pam, to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather and investigate reports of vandalism and grave robbing. Afterwards, they decide to visit the old Hardesty family homestead. Along the way they pick up Nubbins Sawyer who slashes both himself and Franklin with a straight razor before the group forces him out of the van. While at the homestead the group abandons Franklin and heads upstairs. Franklin tries to follow but he can't due to the stairs infuriating him. He then gets a splinter from the broken door frame infuriating him alot more.


Pam and Kirk go missing after they left for a local swimming hole and it gets late. Jerry decides to look for them while Sally and Franklin stay behind at the van. It soon gets dark and Jerry hasn't returned so Sally and Franklin decide to look for him. Sally asks him for the flashlight and he refuses. After fighting, Sally storms off leaving Franklin behind. Franklin attempts to follow her while he apologizes for his behavior. Sally accepts his apology and pushes Franklin through the hilly woods while they scream for Jerry.


While looking for Jerry in the forest, Franklin hears something and tells Sally to stop but she couldn't re

Franklin's Death

Franklin's Death

Franklin's Death

act in time. The noise turns out to be Leatherface turning on his chainsaw, slashing Franklin repeatedly killing him in front of a horrified Sally .

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2Edit

His skeleton is found by "Lefty" Enright in the amusement park. The Sawyer family kept his body for 12 years.


  • Following the original series Franklin is the first to be killed by Leatherface's chainsaw.
  • Franklin is the least liked due to him using his handicap to annoy his friends.
  • Despite being a grown man he still has childish ways such as carving into the side of the van and fighting over the flashlight with Sally .
  • Franklin endures the most hardships. Falling out of his wheelchair, unable to follow his friends into his grandparents house and having his arm sliced by the hitchhiker.
  • It is debateable that Franklin unintentionally caused the death of him and his friends and the characters in the sequel, since he told Pam and Kirk about the swimming hole causing them to stumble upon the house and consequently causing their demise, which caused Jerry to look for them with no sucess and him and Sally to look for Jerry which caused his death, which was the motive of his uncle investigating the Sawyer case in the sequel. His uncle found his body and he managed to avenge his death. If he never spoke of the swimming hole the events of the first two films would have never happened.
  • He is the only one of the Victims not to see or enter the Sawyer House.
  • He is the only Victim actually killed with a chainsaw in the film.
  • In Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 his skeleton is seen in his wheelchair,he was probably staying in it since he is killed.However in the first movie his wheelchair is seen in the cannibals' house after he was killed and after The Cook captures Sally,his wheelchair is empty without Franklin in it and is assembled standing near the wall in the kitchen,and his meat is served in the dinner,in the part 2 his skeleton is intact,hinting it is a movie mistake.
  • In the game Dead by Daylight, Leatherface appears as a playable character, one of his perks, "Franklin's Demise" is a reference to the character of Franklin Hardesty, the perk's icon features an open hand above a falling flashlight. A reference to the in-game use of the perk and the events of the film.