‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre III’ director Jeff Burr dead at 60

Jeff Burr, horror director responsible for directing hit franchises like Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master, Pumpkinhead and Stepfather died at the age of 60.

The director passed away on Tuesday from a stroke, according to his friend, actor Eric Spudic.

Burr was chosen to direct New Line’s Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) after being shortlisted from some other candidates. The R-rated film bagged an astonishing $5.8 million on a $2 million budget.

After that, he directed Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993) and Puppet Master 4 (1993), Puppet Master 5 (1994) and Puppet Master: Blitzkrieg Massacre (2018).

He also co-wrote and directed the World War II drama Straight Into Darkness (2004), with other films like Eddie Presley (1992) starring Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Campbell for asylum attendants.

Born in Aurora, Ohio, on July 18, 1963, Burr was raised in Dalton, Ga. He dropped out of USC in the third year with fellow director Kevin Meyer to wrap up their American civil war short Divided We Fall.

He debuted as a feature-length director with 1987’s From a Whisper to a Scream, starring Vincent Price, Clu Gulager and Terry Kiser.