Bill McKinney is mostly known as the sadistic hillbilly in Deliverance, but he had a successful acting career that went way beyond that film.
He appeared in seven movies with Clint Eastwood, which include The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet and Every Which Way but Loose, as well as having roles in many popular films of the time like Junior Bonner, The Parallax View, The Shootist, First Blood, Against All Odds and The Green Mile.
He was one of those actors whose parts were often smaller than the supporting ones and yet he always managed to deliver a strong, memorable performance. He had a presence that demanded notice and even though most people never knew his name, they paid attention when he was on the screen.
Bill McKinney worked through his long film career virtually unnoticed by the general public. He was a wonderful actor who had the ability to not only carry a scene, but to also make the leading actor go unnoticed while he did it.
He appeared in seven movies with Clint Eastwood, which include The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet and Every Which Way but Loose, as well as having roles in many popular films of the time like Junior Bonner, The Parallax View, The Shootist, First Blood, Against All Odds and The Green Mile.
He was one of those actors whose parts were often smaller than the supporting ones and yet he always managed to deliver a strong, memorable performance. He had a presence that demanded notice and even though most people never knew his name, they paid attention when he was on the screen.
Bill McKinney worked through his long film career virtually unnoticed by the general public. He was a wonderful actor who had the ability to not only carry a scene, but to also make the leading actor go unnoticed while he did it.
Bill McKinney was also in "The Shootist" with John Wayne and Ron Howard. In the 1972 movie "Deliverance", he, along with Herbert "Cowboy" Coward, have the infamous scene where they brutally rape Ned Beatty. I've always referred to them as "Purdy Mouth" and "Squeal". "Purty Mouth" is played by Coward while McKinney plays "Squeal". I've actually been to Cowboy Coward's hometown of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, and saw the outside of the Western theme park where he once worked. Coward only did one other film after "Deliverance" and that was "Dean Teaster's Ghost Town:The Movie" from 2007. That film was based on a character that Cowboy sometimes played at the legendary Ghost Town In The Sky named Harmon Teaster. Cowboy also played "Cowboy" and "Pappy" along with playing Harmon Teaster and was also featured on the shows "Moonshiners" and "Hillbilly Blood". As for McKinney, he would go on to appear in "The Outlaw Josey Wales" as well as other films. He also appeard with Cowboy in "Ghost Town" as Victor Burkett. So the next time you go to Maggie Valley, or even if it's your first time there, and you hear banjos, keep paddling. 'Cause chances are, the ghost of Bill McKinney will teach you how to squeal while Cowboy walks up to you and says with that toothless, hillbilly grin, "You sure got a purty mouth!" RIP Bill McKinney.
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