Joseph Edwin Neal Jr. (born July 12, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the hitchhiker in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and has been a voice talent, appearing on screen and off, including three voices in Wii's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and three voices in the DC Universe Online game; those of Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Harvey Bullock. Neal set a record of doing 26 different voices in the only completely unedited version of all 103 episodes of Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets), which included the lead villain Berg Katse.

Early life and career

Neal, after high school, studied at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. While there, he auditioned for the role of the Hitchhiker in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and got it. He has said that, when auditioning, he acted as an eccentric relative of his. The movie gained major popularity over the years and went on to become a cult classic Neal still continues to act. His most notable roles since The Texas Chain Saw Massacre were playing the Mercer interrogator in Oliver Stone's JFK, and one of Big Chuck's Henchmen in the 1993 movie My Boyfriend's Back. He has also done voice work, for films, games, and cartoons. Neal annually tours worldwide making many public appearances as "The Hitchhiker" at horror conventions and related gatherings.

Honors

Neal was inducted into the "Hollywood Horror Hall of Fame" in 1993 alongside Vincent Price, and owns one of the world's largest movie poster collections, from the year 1900 to the present day. He received a Bronze Star for Valor during his service in Vietnam in 1969.

Filmography

Film

Anime

Video games

Voice Work