Bill McKinney(1931-2011)
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Bill McKinney, the movie and television character actor who was one of
the great on-screen villains, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on
September 12, 1931. He had an unsettled life as a child, moving 12
times before joining the Navy at the age of 19 during the Korean War.
Once, when his family moved from Tennessee to Georgia, he was beaten by
a local gang and thrown into a creek for the offense of being from the
Volunteer State.
In his four years on active duty in the Navy, McKinney served two years
on a mine sweeper in Korean waters. He was also stationed at Port
Hueneme in Ventura County, California, and he would journey to nearby
Los Angeles while on liberty from his ship. During his years in the
Navy, McKinney decided he wanted to be an actor and would make it his
life if he survived the Korean War.
Discharged in Long Beach, California, in 1954, McKinney settled in
southern California. He attended acting school at the famous Pasadena
Playhouse in 1957, and his classmates included
Dustin Hoffman and
Mako. McKinney supported himself as an
arborist, trimming and taking down trees, a job he continued into the
1970s, when he was appearing in major films. McKinney has had a
life-long love affair with trees since he was a child.
After his time at the Pasadena Playhouse, McKinney was admitted to
Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. He made his
movie debut in the exploitation picture,
She Freak (1967), and was busy on
television, making his debut in 1968 on
The Monkees (1965) and attracting
attention as "Lobo" on
Alias Smith and Jones (1971).
But it was as the Mountain Man in
John Boorman's
Deliverance (1972), a movie nominated
for Best Picture of 1972 at the Academy Awards, that brought McKinney
widespread attention and solidified his reputation as one of moviedom's
all-time most heinous screen villains.
In his autobiography, McKinney's
Deliverance (1972) co-star,
Burt Reynolds (whose character
dispatches The Mountain Man with an arrow in the back) said of
McKinney, "I thought he was a little bent. I used to get up at five in
the morning and see him running nude through the golf course while the
sprinklers watered the grass...."
McKinney denies this, and also disputes Reynolds contention that he was
overly enthusiastic playing the infamous scene where his character
buggers Ned Beatty.
"He always played sickos", Reynolds said of McKinney, "but he played
them well. With my dark sense of humor, I was kind of amused by him....
McKinney turned out to be a pretty good guy who just took the method
way too far".
McKinney told Maxim magazine in an interview honoring him and his
Mountain Man partner 'Herbert "Cowboy" Coward' as the #1 screen
villains of all time that Reynolds' stories were untrue. "If you lose
control on a movie set", McKinney told Maxim, "it's not acting, it's
indulgence".
McKinney's wild-and-reckless screen persona and penchant for on-screen
villainy attracted offers from A-list directors, which is a testament
to his professionalism. He began appearing in films directed by top
directors: Sam Peckinpah's
Junior Bonner (1972),
John Huston's
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972),
Peter Yates's
For Pete's Sake (1974) and, most
chillingly, as the assassin in
Alan J. Pakula's
The Parallax View (1974). (One
director who did not hire him was
Stanley Kubrick, who had
considered him for the role of the Marine drill instructor in
Full Metal Jacket (1987) but
demurred as he thought he came across as too scary after screening
"Deliverance".)
McKinney also appeared in the classic TV movie,
The Execution of Private Slovik (1974),
while guest-starring on some of the top TV shows, including
He'll Never See Daylight (1975)
and Columbo (1971).
It was on the set working for a new director, who would go on to win an
Oscar that McKinney made a fateful connection. He played the aptly
named "Crazy Driver" in
Michael Cimino's
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974),
starring Clint Eastwood. McKinney became
part of the Eastwood stock company and enjoyed one of his best roles as
the commander of the Red Legs in
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976),
under the direction of Eastwood, himself. McKinney appeared in another
six Eastwood films from
The Gauntlet (1977) to
Pink Cadillac (1989), when the
Eastwood stock company disbanded, and had another terrific turn in
Eastwood's well-reviewed
Bronco Billy (1980), this time
playing a member of Bronco Billy's circus, a character that was neither
crazy, demented or odd.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976),
which Orson Welles praised as an extremely
well-directed film at a time when respectable critics did not associate
Clint Eastwood with art, let alone
craftsmanship, and
Bronco Billy (1980), which was a hit
with the critics but not with Eastwood fans, established the laconic
superstar's reputation as a director, and McKinney was in both films.
In the
mid-'70s, McKinney also was a memorable misanthrope as 'Ron Howard''s
employer who is done in by
John Wayne's
The Shootist (1976) in the eponymous
film directed by Don Siegel, Eastwood's
mentor. Other memorable movies that McKinney has appeared in during his
career include the initial Rambo film,
First Blood (1982),
Against All Odds (1984),
Heart Like a Wheel (1983),
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
and The Green Mile (1999).
He never retired, continuing to act into his late seventies. He also
performed as a singer and recorded a CD, "Love Songs from Antry",
featuring Sinatra-like numbers and some country & western tunes.
Bill McKinney died on December 1, 2011 in Van Nuys, California from
cancer of the esophagus. He was 80 years old.
the great on-screen villains, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on
September 12, 1931. He had an unsettled life as a child, moving 12
times before joining the Navy at the age of 19 during the Korean War.
Once, when his family moved from Tennessee to Georgia, he was beaten by
a local gang and thrown into a creek for the offense of being from the
Volunteer State.
In his four years on active duty in the Navy, McKinney served two years
on a mine sweeper in Korean waters. He was also stationed at Port
Hueneme in Ventura County, California, and he would journey to nearby
Los Angeles while on liberty from his ship. During his years in the
Navy, McKinney decided he wanted to be an actor and would make it his
life if he survived the Korean War.
Discharged in Long Beach, California, in 1954, McKinney settled in
southern California. He attended acting school at the famous Pasadena
Playhouse in 1957, and his classmates included
Dustin Hoffman and
Mako. McKinney supported himself as an
arborist, trimming and taking down trees, a job he continued into the
1970s, when he was appearing in major films. McKinney has had a
life-long love affair with trees since he was a child.
After his time at the Pasadena Playhouse, McKinney was admitted to
Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. He made his
movie debut in the exploitation picture,
She Freak (1967), and was busy on
television, making his debut in 1968 on
The Monkees (1965) and attracting
attention as "Lobo" on
Alias Smith and Jones (1971).
But it was as the Mountain Man in
John Boorman's
Deliverance (1972), a movie nominated
for Best Picture of 1972 at the Academy Awards, that brought McKinney
widespread attention and solidified his reputation as one of moviedom's
all-time most heinous screen villains.
In his autobiography, McKinney's
Deliverance (1972) co-star,
Burt Reynolds (whose character
dispatches The Mountain Man with an arrow in the back) said of
McKinney, "I thought he was a little bent. I used to get up at five in
the morning and see him running nude through the golf course while the
sprinklers watered the grass...."
McKinney denies this, and also disputes Reynolds contention that he was
overly enthusiastic playing the infamous scene where his character
buggers Ned Beatty.
"He always played sickos", Reynolds said of McKinney, "but he played
them well. With my dark sense of humor, I was kind of amused by him....
McKinney turned out to be a pretty good guy who just took the method
way too far".
McKinney told Maxim magazine in an interview honoring him and his
Mountain Man partner 'Herbert "Cowboy" Coward' as the #1 screen
villains of all time that Reynolds' stories were untrue. "If you lose
control on a movie set", McKinney told Maxim, "it's not acting, it's
indulgence".
McKinney's wild-and-reckless screen persona and penchant for on-screen
villainy attracted offers from A-list directors, which is a testament
to his professionalism. He began appearing in films directed by top
directors: Sam Peckinpah's
Junior Bonner (1972),
John Huston's
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972),
Peter Yates's
For Pete's Sake (1974) and, most
chillingly, as the assassin in
Alan J. Pakula's
The Parallax View (1974). (One
director who did not hire him was
Stanley Kubrick, who had
considered him for the role of the Marine drill instructor in
Full Metal Jacket (1987) but
demurred as he thought he came across as too scary after screening
"Deliverance".)
McKinney also appeared in the classic TV movie,
The Execution of Private Slovik (1974),
while guest-starring on some of the top TV shows, including
He'll Never See Daylight (1975)
and Columbo (1971).
It was on the set working for a new director, who would go on to win an
Oscar that McKinney made a fateful connection. He played the aptly
named "Crazy Driver" in
Michael Cimino's
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974),
starring Clint Eastwood. McKinney became
part of the Eastwood stock company and enjoyed one of his best roles as
the commander of the Red Legs in
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976),
under the direction of Eastwood, himself. McKinney appeared in another
six Eastwood films from
The Gauntlet (1977) to
Pink Cadillac (1989), when the
Eastwood stock company disbanded, and had another terrific turn in
Eastwood's well-reviewed
Bronco Billy (1980), this time
playing a member of Bronco Billy's circus, a character that was neither
crazy, demented or odd.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976),
which Orson Welles praised as an extremely
well-directed film at a time when respectable critics did not associate
Clint Eastwood with art, let alone
craftsmanship, and
Bronco Billy (1980), which was a hit
with the critics but not with Eastwood fans, established the laconic
superstar's reputation as a director, and McKinney was in both films.
In the
mid-'70s, McKinney also was a memorable misanthrope as 'Ron Howard''s
employer who is done in by
John Wayne's
The Shootist (1976) in the eponymous
film directed by Don Siegel, Eastwood's
mentor. Other memorable movies that McKinney has appeared in during his
career include the initial Rambo film,
First Blood (1982),
Against All Odds (1984),
Heart Like a Wheel (1983),
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
and The Green Mile (1999).
He never retired, continuing to act into his late seventies. He also
performed as a singer and recorded a CD, "Love Songs from Antry",
featuring Sinatra-like numbers and some country & western tunes.
Bill McKinney died on December 1, 2011 in Van Nuys, California from
cancer of the esophagus. He was 80 years old.