“Deliverance” Actor Ned Beatty Dies at 83
FILE – In this Oct. 17, 2003, file photo, actor Ned Beatty poses at New York’s Music Box Theatre where he plays the role of Big Daddy in a new production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” (AP Photo/Gino Domenico, File)
Ned Beatty, the indelible character actor whose first film role as a genial vacationer raped by a backwoodsman in 1972′s “Deliverance” launched him on a long, prolific and accomplished career, has died. He was 83.
Beatty’s manager, Deborah Miller, said he died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by friends and loved ones.
COVERAGE FROM CBS NEWS
COVERAGE FROM ABC NEWS
After years in regional theater, Beatty was cast in “Deliverance” as Bobby Trippe, the happy-go-lucky member of a male river-boating party terrorized by backwoods thugs.
The scene in which Trippe is brutalized became the most memorable in the movie and established Beatty as an actor whose name moviegoers may not have known but whose face they always recognized.
Beatty received an Oscar nomination for his role in the 1976 film “Network.” He also appeared in “Superman,” “All The President’s Men” and “Nashville.”
On TV, he played John Goodman’s father on “Roseanne” and as a detective on “Homicide” Life On The Streets.”
In all, he had more than 150 TV and movie credits during his career.
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
