Deliverance star Ned dies aged 83
ACTOR Ned Beatty – known for his roles in Deliverance, Network and Superman – has died at the age of 83.
He passed away on Sunday from natural causes “surrounded by his family and loved ones” at his home in Los Angeles, according to his manager.
After years working in regional theatre in the US, Beatty became a Hollywood face in 1972 when he was cast in Deliverance as Bobby Trippe, a member of a male river-boating party terrorised by backwoods thugs.
The scene in which Trippe is sexually assaulted and forced to “squeal like a pig” became the most memorable in the movie and established Beatty as a character actor whose name moviegoers may not have known, but whose face they always recognised.
Kentucky-born Beatty was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for a brief, show-stealing performance as a ruthless TV boss in 1976 film Network.
In 1978’s Superman he was seen as Lex Luthor’s bumbling assistant Otis, a character that returned in 1980’s Superman II.
He also appeared in All the President’s Men, The Front Page, Nashville, and The Big Easy, and was heard as the menacing teddy bear Lotso in Toy Story 3. A rare
leading role came when he played Irish singer Josef Locke in Hear My Song, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1992.
Once nicknamed “the busiest actor in Hollywood”, his credits included more than 150 movies and TV shows.
His final film before retirement Baggage Claim in 2013.
Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3, said it had been “a joy and an incredible honour” to work with him.
Actor Michael Des Barres said: “One of American cinema’s greatest character actors. His epic monologue in Network Will forever be etched in movie history. RIP.”
In 1992 Ned said: “For people like me, there’s a lot of, ‘I know you! I know you! What have I seen you in?’”
He is survived by his fourth wife Sandra Johnson and his eight children from previous marriages. was