Billy Redden

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Billy Redden as "Lonny"

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Billy Redden today

Billy Redden (born 1956 in Rabun County, Georgia) is an American actor best known for his role as Lonny—the "banjo kid"—in the 1972 movie Deliverance.

Redden, then sixteen, earned his role in Deliverance during a casting call at Clayton Elementary School. To add authenticity to the film, the filmmakers found Redden to fit the look of the inbred and mentally retarded banjo boy called for by the book (although Redden is neither inbred nor mentally retarded). The scene depicting Redden playing the instrumental Dueling Banjos opposite actor Ronny Cox on guitar is considered one of the most memorable scenes in cinematic history. Redden could not play the banjo or even convincingly fake playing, and thus director John Boorman had another child slip his hand through Redden's sleeve to finger the chord changes.

Redden also appeared in Tim Burton's 2003 film Big Fish. Burton was intent on getting Redden, who hadn't appeared in a film since Deliverance, to play the role of a banjo-playing welcomer in the utopian town of Spectre. Burton eventually found him in Clayton, Georgia, where Redden works as a cook and dishwasher at the Cookie Jar Café.

In 2004, Redden made a guest appearance on Blue Collar TV playing an inbred car repairman named Ray in a "Redneck Dictionary" skit, for the word "raisin bread" (Ray's-Inbred). When he was shown, he was playing a banjo.

External links

• Billy Redden at IMDb
• Blake Spurney (News Editor) (Thursday, October 7, 2004). "Another celebrity appearance for Rabun star". {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)