After appearing in two more films in the 1970s (Race with the Devil as Cal Mather and Rolling Thunder as the brother-in-law), Partain had stopped acting by 1978. Partain started appearing in movies again in the 1990s, starting with a cameo in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), the third sequel to the 1974 original. One of his other roles in the 1990s was that of the Militia of Texas Minister in the 1997 movie Burying Lana.
Partain was born in Austin, Texas. He served in the United States Navy in the Vietnam War, and on his return to the U.S., started working at an electronics Manufacturing plant during the day, and at a dinner theater at night. In the fall of 1972, Partain found out he had been laid off from the plant, and while at the theater where he worked, was asked to audition for the part of Willy in the 1974 Sidney Lumet film Lovin' Molly, by the theater Director there. Through the help of this Director, Partain got the role and his acting career was begun.
Partain died from cancer on January 28, 2005 in Austin, Texas.
