Herbert Coward death: Deliverance actor Herbert ‘Cowboy’ Coward reportedly killed in a car crash aged 85

Herbert ‘Cowboy’ Coward, best known as the ‘Toothless Man’ in Deliverance, has reportedly died in a car crash. He was 85.

Multiple outlets, including local media, reported the actor was killed Wednesday alongside his girlfriend Bertha Brooks and their pet Chihuahua and squirrel on a western North Carolina highway.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials reportedly confirmed the news to WLOS

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Officials told the local TV station the crash occurred after Coward left a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon.

The couple and their two pets were then reportedly hit by an oncoming pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old, who authorities revealed was not speeding.

Coward and his partner were reportedly not wearing seatbelts and died at the scene.

According to WLOS, authorities revealed no charges have been filed.

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Coward was known for his small but memorable role as the ‘Toothless Man’ in the 1972 thriller Deliverance, in which he delivered the legendary line, “He got a real pretty mouth, ain’t he?”

During an interview with Conan, Burt Reynolds, who starred as Lewis Medlock in the film, revealed Coward improvised a lot of his material in that iconic scene.

“I told Cowboy, ‘You can say whatever you want, if they don’t like it they’ll cut it ou’t,” Reynolds told the talk show host.

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“Well he just started ad-libbing up a storm and they kept every word because it was gold.”

In the same interview, Reynolds revealed he recommended Haywood County native Coward, who he met working at the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park, for the role of the mountain man to director John Boorman.

“I said, ‘I know a guy, he can’t read and he can’t write or anything, but I’m telling ya, if we can get him, we got something special’,” the actor said. 

“We did improvise a whole lot and it was brutal stuff,” Coward revealed in a 45th anniversary interview.

“Bill [McKinney] was asking me what we should do with him [Ned Beatty’s character, Bobby] and I said, ‘Make him squeal like a pig. Make him squeal like Pa’s old pig’,” he said.

“Then I told that ol’ boy he’s got a ‘purty’ mouth, so that was my line people remember.”

After starring in the film, Coward went on to have a role in the 2007 film Ghost Town: The Movie about the amusement park he worked at where he reportedly got his nickname ‘Cowboy’ and lost his front teeth while performing a stunt with a pistol.

Coward did not appear in many other acting roles after his breakout gig. Instead, the Haywood Country local, who was the last of nine children, lived at home with his pets.