Ed Guinn, a native Texan born in San Antonio, had the unique experience of growing up throughout the United States. He played a key role in the development of the Austin music scene as a contemporary and friend of Janis Joplin in the early 1960s. Later, as a member of the Band Conqueroo, alongside the 13th Floor Elevators, he helped create the psychedelic sound that became synonymous with many popular bands in San Francisco in the late 1960s.
Mr. Guinn returned to Austin with his family and embarked on a 30-year career in music composition and production. As a partner in Lonestar Recording and Guinn Brown Production, he collaborated with Bob Burns, the art director on Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to score several of Burns’ productions. He also scored dozens of films and short pieces for the Texas Department of Public Safety and the California DPS for seatbelt awareness programs in the 1980s.
In addition to music production, he and his brother-in-law, Antonious Maria Kramer, owned and operated a freight trucking company, Black Maria Trucking. This connection led to his casting as the truck driver in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. His prior work with Bob Burns and the script’s requirement for a truck made it a natural fit.
Following TCM in 1974, he was offered a cameo in Texas Chainsaw Massacre II as a bell ringer and chili cook-off judge. He later had a small walk-on role in “Butcher Boys” and made several appearances in other independent films, including “Deviant Behavior” and a reunion with the late Marilyn Burns, a fellow survivor from Texas Chainsaw Massacre ’74, in the 2014 release “Sacrament.”
After closing his music production company, he co-founded a software company that specialized in database development for large service companies such as Emerson Process, Schlumberger, and IBM.
Mr. Guinn now focuses primarily on personal appearances at film and horror conventions in the US and Europe, as well as bird watching.
