Billy Redden (born 1956 in Rabun County, Georgia) is an American actor best known for his role in the 1972 film Deliverance. He played Lonnie, a banjo-playing teenager of the country in north Georgia, who played the noted "Dueling Banjos" with one of the principal actors. The film was highly popular and won numerous awards.
He was discovered by director Tim Burton in 2003 working as a dishwasher-busboy at the Cookie Jar Cafe in Clayton, Georgia. Burton wanted him for a cameo (as the "banjo boy") in his movie Big Fish (2003).
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At the age of 16, this boy from Rabun County, Georgia, was the only "authentic" local to play the role of The Banjo Boy in John Boorman's disturbing hit movie Deliverance (1972). He was hand-picked from his local elementary school, largely due to his "look" (his large head, skinny body, odd-shaped eyes and moronic grin had sadly branded him a poster-child for inbreeding and mental deficiency).
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He also worked for a time giving Deliverance (1972) tours along the river where the movie was shot. Over 30 people have died on the river since the film was made. Redden said that he found it too risky and quit.
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