UPDATE 1/25 6:40 p.m. ET
The NC State Highway Patrol confirmed to Us Weekly that Coward and Brooks, plus their dog and pet squirrel, were killed in a crash Wednesday afternoon. The accident took place in Haywood County at about 3:30 p.m. local time on U.S. 19/23 between Clyde and Canton.
According to Highway Patrol, Coward was at fault as he failed to yield to traffic. The 16-year-old also involved in the accident was driving a truck and crashed into him but didn’t have any injuries.
Original story below:
Herbert Lee “Cowboy” Coward, who was known for his role in Deliverance, died at age 85 after a car crash.
Coward was involved in a collision on Wednesday, January 24, according to local news WLOS and FOX Carolina. North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials confirmed to the outlets that Coward and his girlfriend, Bertha Brooks, and their pet Chihuahua dog and pet squirrel were killed in the crash.
The actor was reportedly turning onto the highway when he was hit by an oncoming truck, which was driven by a 16-year-old. The teenager, who was not believed to have been speeding, was later taken to the hospital. According to WLOS, authorities said Coward and Brooks were not wearing seatbelts. No charges have been filed at this time.
Coward was previously married to wife Dorothy, who died in September 2011. The couple, who exchanged vows in the ’60s, had four children together.
Before trying his hand at acting, Coward worked various labor jobs to help support his family. He was later offered a job as an outlaw gunfighter at a ghost town amusement park. While entertaining kids at the park, Coward was injured when an accident with a prop pistol caused two of his front teeth to be knocked out.
Coward’s time at the amusement park led to him meeting Burt Reynolds. The duo became friends, and Reynolds subsequently recommended Coward for the role of Toothless Man in the 1972 thriller Deliverance.
“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,'” Reynolds recalled during an interview with Conan O’Brien shortly before his 2018 death. “So I said, ‘Let me bring him in. His name’s Cowboy, and you’ll see if you like him.'”
At the time, Reynolds also shared the advice he gave to Coward on set.
“‘Cowboy, just whatever you wanna say, say it. They’ll cut it out if they don’t like it,'” Reynolds said. “He just started ad-libbing up a storm. And they kept every word he said because it was gold.”
Coward worked at a factory in North Carolina for nearly three decades after his memorable role in Deliverance. Following his performance as Toothless Man, his sole film credit was in 2007’s Ghost Town: The Movie. On the small screen, Coward scored a role in the 2013 TV series Hillbilly Blood and was featured in an episode of Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners.
