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Mary Lynn Ann Burns (born July 5, 1950), better known as Marilyn Burns, is an American actress, best known for her roles in the horror cult films The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and Eaten Alive (1977). She is also known for portraying Linda Kasabian in the three time Emmy nominatied miniseries Helter Skelter (1976). Burns was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and raised in Houston, Texas. She always had an interest in the arts. During seventh grade, she appeared in a musical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1970, she made her first film appearance in the Robert Altman movie... MORE

Mary Lynn Ann Burns (born July 5, 1950), better known as Marilyn Burns, is an American actress, best known for her roles in the horror cult films The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and Eaten Alive (1977). She is also known for portraying Linda Kasabian in the three time Emmy nominatied miniseries Helter Skelter (1976). Burns was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and raised in Houston, Texas. She always had an interest in the arts. During seventh grade, she appeared in a musical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1970, she made her first film appearance in the Robert Altman movie Brewster McCloud (1970). Burns attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from there with a degree in Drama in 1971. Burns was cast in Lovin' Molly (1974) but was replaced by Susan Sarandon. Burns stayed on as a stand-in for Saradon and Blythe Danner. She also had a small part in George Roy Hill's The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), where she helped cast some of the film's extras. In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Burns, in her first lead role, played Sally Hardesty, a teenager who travels with her brother and some friends to the cemetery where her grandfather is buried to investigate reports LESS