THE FAMOUS DUELING BANJOS SCENE 🪕🎸 FROM THE 1972 THRILLER DELIVERANCE

⁣The famous dueling banjos scene from the 1972 thriller film Deliverance. The film was shot on and around the Chattooga River in Rabun County, Georgia.

Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film directed by John Boorman, and starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox. Four Atlanta yuppies, Lewis Medlock, Ed Gentry, Bobby Trippe, and Drew Ballinger, decide to canoe down a river in the remote northern Georgia wilderness. The weekend escape turns out to be an escape from the death.

The role of the boy playing the Banjo (the banjo boy) was played by Billy Redden, a local teenager in Georgia. He was selected for a role in Deliverance from his school in Georgia by the director John Boorman. But he didn’t see much money from it and worked at a Walmart to earn his living.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nh7qkPYXo

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The banjo-playing star of the 1972 thriller film Deliverance looks unrecognizable

Billy Redden, now 66, played Lonnie, a 'backwoods mountain' boy in the movie

He now looks completely unrecognizable and has ditched showbiz

The banjo-playing teen star of the 1972 thriller film Deliverance looks unrecognizable more than five decades after the movie's release as he turns his back on showbiz.

51 years after the film hit theaters, movie lovers are still gushing over the unique character who strummed a banjo in many memorable scenes. However, he has since done his best to vanish from the spotlight and now looks shockingly different from his character.

Billy Redden, now 66, shot to fame when he was just 15 years old by portraying Lonnie, a 'backwoods mountain boy' who blew everyone away with his banjo skills.

Since the film's release, he turned his back on both Hollywood and the banjo as he now takes on a string of jobs to make ends meet and looks nothing like he did when he rose to stardom over 50 years ago.

At the time of the film, Billy wasn't a trained actor but lived in Rabun County, Georgia, which is where the movie was shot.

He was cast due to his thin figure and narrow eyes that made him look like the perfect man for the part.

The flick starred Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, and Jon Voight. The actors play four city-slicker pals who take a canoeing trip to Georgia

The flick starred Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, and Jon Voight. The actors play four city-slicker pals who take a canoeing trip to Georgia

But, now, Billy looks completely different than he once did at 15.

He was last seen sporting a short haircut, glasses, and slight scruff as he held onto his reliable banjo.

The flick starred Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, and Jon Voight. The actors play four city-slicker pals who take a canoeing trip to Georgia.

The friends are determined to take one last trip down a river, however, it quickly takes a dark turn.

Things get even more heated when the businessmen develop an attitude with the locals, prompting the character Drew to enter a musical duel with Lonnie.

Despite the scene becoming famously known as the dueling banjos, it was later revealed that Billy had to wear a special shirt that allowed someone else to stick their hands through and play the banjo during filming since Billy wasn't musically trained.

Following the release of the movie, Billy tried to hold onto his fame for a short period by organizing tourist trips down the Chattooga River, which was featured in the movie.

He played 'banjo man' in a number of other films, including Tim Burton’s 2003 hit Big Fish, Outrage: Born in Terror, Blue Collar TV, and Blastfighter.

He officially left showbiz behind in 2009 and took on other jobs such as a cook, dishwasher, and store associate at Walmart to get by.

Since his departure from the spotlight, he has done everything possible to get rid of the image tied to those in his county that came from the film.

In the 2012 documentary, The Deliverance of Rabun County, he said: 'We're not a bad people up here, we're a loving people. Rabun County is a pretty good town. It's real peaceful, not a lot of crime going on. Everybody pretty much gets along with everybody.'