Billy Redden

About Billy Redden

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

Redden, then sixteen, earned his role in Deliverance during a casting call at Clayton Elementary School in Clayton, Georgia. To add authenticity and humor 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 himself is neither. The scene depicts Redden playing the instrumental Dueling Banjos opposite actor Ronny Cox on guitar. Because Redden could not really play the banjo, another young banjo player knelt behind him and reached around his chest to reach the banjo, with Redden wearing a specially made shirt that made the man's arms appear to be his own. Additionally, the shot was filmed from angles that made it impossible to see the musician behind Redden on the porch. At the end of the scene, the script called for Redden to harden his expression towards Drew Ballinger, Cox's character; however, Redden was unable to fake dislike for Cox. To solve the problem they got Ned Beatty (whom Redden truly disliked) to step towards Redden at the close of the shot. As Beatty approached, Redden hardened his expression and looked away exactly as intended.[citation needed]

Jon Voight claimed Redden "was a boy who had a genetic imbalance – a product of his mother and his brother, I think. He was quite amazing, a very talkative fellow."