James Nash Siedow (June 12, 1920 – November 20, 2003) was an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, best known for his role of Drayton "The Cook" Sawyer in ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...

'' and its sequel ''

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (also known as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2'') is a 1986 American black comedy slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper. It is a sequel to ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', also directed and co-written by Ho ...

''.

Life and career

Siedow was born in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

. He began acting in his high school drama class, and later on, moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he started appearing in theatre productions. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Siedow served with the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, and after the war, Siedow moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and started doing radio work. In September 1946, he met and married an actress named Ruth, his wife up to his death. They had three children. They moved to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

soon after their marriage where Siedow continued acting, creating one of Houston's original local community theatres. He directed Houston's first production of ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

'' by

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...

. In 1971, Siedow appeared in his first movie, an obscure one titled ''The Windsplitter'', playing a character named Mr Smith. He followed this with his most famous role as

Drayton Sawyer This is a list of characters that appear in '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' horror film franchise. Cast overview Continuity A (1974–1995) Platinum Dunes continuity (2003–2006) Continuity B (1974, 2013–2017) Killer families T ...

in the

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

'' in 1974. His other movie roles were as Howard Ives in the TV movie ''Red Alert'' in 1977, an unnamed role in the 1980 movie ''Hotwire'', and as Drayton Sawyer, again, in ''

'', the sequel to ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''.

Death

Siedow died in Houston from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

complications in 2003, at the age of 83.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siedow, Jim 1920 births 2003 deaths Male actors from Wyoming American male film actors United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Deaths from emphysema People from Cheyenne, Wyoming United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American male actors