He represented the word "raisin bread" (as in "Ray's inbred"). In 2004, Redden made a guest appearance on Blue Collar TV, playing a car repairman named Ray in a "Redneck Dictionary" skit. Burton located Redden in Clayton, where he was part-owner of the Cookie Jar Café, and also worked as a cook and dishwasher. Burton was intent on getting Redden, as he wanted him to play the role of a banjo-playing "welcomer" in the utopian town of Spectre. Redden next appeared in Tim Burton's 2003 film Big Fish. The film was recorded in and around Clayton, Georgia, and many people recall it as a mixture of Deliverance and First Blood. The hidden banjo player was shown playing in the bar-fingered " clawhammer" style, while the banjo heard on the soundtrack was played in three-finger " Earl Scruggs" style, using finger picks.Īfter Deliverance, Redden was cast in Lamberto Bava's 1984 film Blastfighter. The scene was then shot with carefully chosen camera angles to conceal the player, whose arms were slipped around Redden's waist to play the tune. Boorman felt that Redden's skinny frame, large head, and almond-shaped eyes made him the natural choice to play the part of an " inbred from the back woods." Because Redden could not play the banjo, he wore a special shirt that allowed a real banjo player to hide behind him. He portrayed a banjo-playing "local" in the film's famous "dueling banjos" scene. Stalmaster recommended Redden to director John Boorman-though Redden was not an albino child, as Boorman had requested-and Redden was cast. Career Īt the age of fifteen, he was discovered by Lynn Stalmaster, who was scouting for the movie Deliverance. Redden was born in Rabun County, Georgia, on October 13, 1956. He played Lonnie, a banjo-playing teenager in north Georgia, who played the noted " Dueling Banjos" with Drew Ballinger ( Ronny Cox). Billy Redden (born 1956) is an American actor, best known for his role as a backwoods mountain boy in the 1972 film Deliverance.
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