The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Musician creates GoFundMe page for ‘Banjo Boy’ from ‘Deliverance’
Rabun Gap retiree earned just $500 for his iconic scene in movie.
A California bluegrass musician and fan of “Banjo Boy” Billy Redden from the Oscar-nominated movie “Deliverance” recently started a GoFundMe page to help the Georgia man, who is now 67 and suffering from medical problems.
Since March 4, the page has raised more than $16,000 from 500-plus donors.
At age 15, Redden was featured in the memorable “Dueling Banjos” scene in “Deliverance,” an action thriller in which four Atlanta men embark on what would become a deadly canoeing expedition in the North Georgia mountains.
Early in the film, the men stop at a gas station and spy Redden’s character Lonnie, who is on a nearby porch and has a stony face, pale, flat eyes and a banjo. Bobby (Ned Beatty) looks at Lonnie and disparagingly says: “Talk about genetic deficiencies — isn’t that pitiful?”
But when Drew Ballinger, played
by newcomer Ronny Cox, whips out a guitar and strums a chord, Redden quickly responds with a matching chord. They then joyfully trade riffs for several minutes. “You play a mean banjo!” Drew says with glee, then goes to shake Lonnie’s hand. But Lonnie doesn’t respond in kind, looking away instead.
The song “Dueling Banjos” landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.
“This scene enriched all who were involved ... but it did not enrich Redden,” wrote Lance Frantzich, a 33-year-old Southern California bluegrass musician and member of The Storytellers
who created the GoFundMe page.
Redden, who was raised in Clayton but now resides in Rabun Gap, only received $500 for three days work. He acted in a few other films but otherwise worked modest-paying jobs over the years including a long run at Walmart, mostly as a janitor and shopping cart collector. He has been retired for a few years and pockets just $600 a month from Social Security.
His close friend Kip Ramey said Redden pays $200 a month to rent a room and subsists on the other $400 for the rest of his expenses each month. And as he’s gotten older, medical issues have popped up.
“I’m not feeling too good,” Redden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a brief phone interview Thursday. “I’m hurting.”
“He has some lung and digestive issues, nothing severe,” Ramey added. “But he has mounting medical bills.”
For extra income, Ramey has driven Redden to a couple of fan conventions and Redden enjoyed meeting fans and taking pictures.
Knowing people care enough about him to donate money for him, Redden said, “makes me feel good.”
In an interview, Frantzich said he was inspired by Redden as a high school student when he saw the “Dueling Banjos” scene on YouTube. It was his introduction to bluegrass music, which he fell in love with. “It was such a culturally significant scene,” he said.
During the pandemic, Frantzich saw the 2003 Tim Burton fantasy drama “Big Fish,” in which Redden had a small cameo.
That compelled Frantzich to do research on Redden and he learned that Redden didn’t play the banjo in the movie. Instead, a boy hid behind him and artfully plucked the notes out for Redden.
Frantzich recently wrote about the scene on his band’s Facebook
page “and Redden has garnered much attention and interest, which inspired us to organize this campaign on behalf of Redden,” Frantzich said on the GoFundMe page.
He reached out to the Clayton Tribune newspaper, which passed him on to Ramey. Once Ramey figured out Frantzich was on the up and up, he told Redden about the GoFundMe effort and Redden gave Frantzich his blessing.
“By all accounts,” Frantzich wrote, “Billy is a kind man. Let’s all help compensate him — fairly and finally — for his vital contribution to this iconic and inspirational scene that lifted the banjo, lifted bluegrass music, lifted the careers of actors Ned Beatty, Jon Voigt, and Ronny Cox, but somehow left Billy Redden behind.”
Frantzich said reaction to the GoFundMe page from bluegrass fans has been positive: “We have been very moved by the generosity from people and success it has taken on so far.”
Frantzich has never been to Georgia and has never seen the entire “Deliverance” film, which had a major impact on the state of Georgia because actor Burt Reynolds fell in love with the state after shooting the movie, considered his breakthrough film.