50th anniversary: Infamous 'Deliverance' actor and NC native reflects on 1972 classic

WLOS ^ | 7/25/22 | Hannah Mackenzie

[Rebelbase]

HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — The mountains of Western North Carolina have set the stage for many feature films – including the chilling 1972 classic: “Deliverance."

Several scenes from the drama/thriller were shot in the region, and some of the actors were locals. In fact, one of the movie’s most notorious characters, the ‘Toothless Man’, played by Herbert ‘Cowboy’ Coward, calls Haywood County home.

Saturday, July 30, 2022, marks the movie’s 50th anniversary, and ‘Cowboy’ took the opportunity to reflect on his acting days.

“He got a real purty mouth, ain’t he?” – it’s one of the most infamous lines from the movie, and it came from Cowboy.

[snip]Cowboy got his acting start at Ghost Town in the Sky, where he performed daily shoot-outs at the wild-west themed amusement park. It’s also where he got his nickname – but it’s likely not what you’re thinking. Cowboy helped build the park, and to his boss’ benefit, was a pro at operating bulldozers. [/snip]

[snip]His big break came thanks to then-budding actor, Burt Reynolds, who also worked at the Maggie Valley mountainside attraction.

“Burt called me and he said, 'you need to come over here, come over here and work,'” Cowboy recalled.

His “Deliverance” audition was about as rough as the character he played.

“When the producer come in and asked me, ‘is that as mad as you can act?’ when he said that, I grabbed him by collar and knocked him against the wall,” Cowboy said. “Then he said, ‘you’ve got the part!’”

Alongside Bill McKinney, Cowboy gave life to one of the most disturbing scenes in Hollywood history – leaving many with nightmares to this day.

“If you’ve ever done any prayin’ you better pray now,” Cowboy recalled another eerie line from the scene.

[Vision]

Deliverance was written by a city guy to scare city people of rural people/areas.