Banjo Boy from Deliverance FOUND
Speaking of folks in the backwoods pickin' and grinnin'....
I saw this story drop into my email mailbox and just KNEW I'd soon have an opportunity to share it with y'all....
From the link:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
Here's the content....
Stranger #4 in the 100 Strangers Project: This is Billy Redden, better known as Lonnie the Banjo Kid from Deliverance. Let me explain how this came to pass. I was in Toccoa with my girlfriend, Brandy, we were standing in line at Quincy's buffet (there are lots of buffets in Toccoa for some reason) and we started chattin up the guy behind us about Tallula Falls and The Gorge because I wanted to take some nature shots. He offhandedly asked us if we were aware that parts of Deliverance was filmed up there and he believed that the Banjo Kid still lived there. My eyes bugged and jaw dropped as I immediately thought of adding him to my strangers project. Brandy immediately knew that the nature pics were out the window as he would be the best stranger ever! Who hasn't heard of or seen that unforgettable scene of Lonnie playing 'Dueling Banjos' with Ronnie Cox or seen tshirts with 'Paddle Faster I hear Banjo's playin'? Deliverance is an iconic movie and this scene with Billy Redden was a large part of that, that is why I had to meet this man. The internet told me that he was likely still an employee of Walmart in Raburn county. Off and on I tried to call that Walmart and ask about Billy but no one that answered the phone seemed to know a Billy. On our last day in Toccoa I was prepared to go to Raburn county and just start looking and asking around for him when I called Walmart one last time. The lady asked me if I'd like her to page Billy ! Minutes later I'm talking to the Banjo Kid.... I briefly explained the project and asked him if he wouldn't mind if I drove up to meet him and take his picture. He was very nice and agreed to let me come up. I was ecstatic! I immediately started calling video stores and thrift stores looking for a copy of the movie or a poster or anything I could have him sign. No luck and I was running out of time. Picked up Brandy from her conference and we headed north. We walked into Walmart and the first two employees we asked about Billy said that they thought he was gone for the day.. aaagghhhhh! We went to customer service and they paged him for me at Brandy's insistence. Waiting patiently and checking and rechecking my camera settings I saw him come down an aisle toward us.. Billy was about as sweet as he could be. He has a shy demeanor and not overly talkative but he did tell me about the 40th anniversary of the movie that he attended in June and that he was just 13 when he filmed that movie. I took a few portraits of him as I explained that I tried unsuccessfully to find something for him to sign that day, he told me to 'cmon'. We walked back thru walmart together as Brandy took candid shots of us the entire time. On our stroll he told me that he has actually been in 3 movies now. Deliverance of course, Big Fish by Tim Burton, and a lesser known movie called Outrage that went direct to DVD. We arrived at the electronics section and he asked the lady behind the counter where his movie was. We found it and it was marked down to $7. He said "that's a good deal" with a smile on his face. I unwrapped the movie and he signed the disc and the outer jacket for me. He also told me that he didn't want to get fired and needed to get back to unloading the truck. We said goodbye and now I have my pictures and this story for the rest of my life. Next time someone says "this feels like Deliverance country" while driving through the mountains I will respond with " Did I ever tell you about the time I met the Banjo Kid?"
This picture is #04 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the <a href="
http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/">100 Strangers Flickr Group page</a>
