‘Deliverance’ actor Herbert Coward, dies in car crash, aged 85

Herbert ‘Cowboy’ Coward, best known for starring in the 1972 film, Deliverance, has died.

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The 85-year-old was killed in a car crash on Wednesday alongside his passenger and girlfriend, Bertha Brooks, who was 78.

The collision happened in Haywood County, North Carolina, and also caused the death of Coward’s pet Chihuahua dog and pet squirrel.

According to People, the actor was turning onto the highway when he was hit by an oncoming vehicle, a truck driven by a 16-year-old, who was subsequently taken to hospital.

Authorities reported that neither Coward nor Brooks were wearing seatbelts, and that the other driver was apparently not speeding.

Coward’s most memorable role was in John Boorman’s thriller, Deliverance, starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox.

His memorable role as ‘Toothless Man’, one of two sadistic mountain men in the movie, involved a disturbing assault scene with Voight and Beatty’s characters.

It became the fifth-highest grossing film of 1972, and was nominated for three Oscars, three BAFTAs and five Golden Globe Awards.

In 2018, the year before his death, Reynolds revealed that he recommended Coward for the role. He told Conan O’Brien: “John Boorman, an Irish director, the best director I ever had, said, ‘Where am I gonna find these guys … the Mountain Men?’ And I said, ‘I know a guy. He can’t read and he can’t write or anything, but I’m telling you, if we can get him we got something special.’ So I said, ‘Let me bring him in. His name’s Cowboy, and you’ll see if you like him.”

Back in November last year, Voight opened up about his “disappointment” in daughter Angelina Jolie‘s “lies” about the Israel-Hamas war.

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