Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, an 86-year-old Haywood County native known for his role in the film “Deliverance” died Wednesday from injuries sustained in a car wreck, the Smoky Mountain News reported.
His partner, Bertha Brooks, along with their dog and pet squirrel were also killed in the crash.
The youngest of nine children, Corward said he worked all over the United States before landing a role as a gunfighter at the old west amusement park, Ghost Town, in Maggie Valley.
Coward met Hollywood star Burt Reynolds at Ghost Town, and Reynolds recommended Coward for “Deliverance.”
“He was a real good friend to me. He called me and stuff over the years. We stayed in contact with each other. That’s what you call nice and a good friend you know,” Coward said remembering Reynolds after his death.
Coward spoke with BPR in 2019 about his acting career and the impact of “Deliverance” on the Southern Appalachian region. The movie perpetuated negative Appalachian stereotypes but also drove a boom of tourists interested in white water rafting.
“That drew a lot of people in that area and all the motels went up and it grew a lot over there. That helped that area a whole lot” Coward said.
Coward later appeared in "Ghost Town: The Movie" and "Hillbilly Blood," a TV show.
Coward was a longtime parishioner at Long’s Chapel Methodist Church which he attended regularly with an unusual guest accompanying him: one of his pet squirrel. He fashioned a leather lead for the squirrel which he often tied to his overalls. He raised the squirrels as babies first with a dropper and then with a bottle.
“I’ve got the only squirrel that goes to church at Long’s Chapel. He’s the only squirrel that does that,” Coward said.
BPR asked Coward if he thinks that after meeting him, people assume that everyone in Haywood County has a pet squirrel.
“No, just think I’m the only crazy one who does that,” Coward said.
Though his death was unexpected, Coward was prepared. During BPR’s interview at his home, Coward showed off his coffin in the living room of his home.
“You have to be good to people and nice to people – I guess I’m the only man that has got his own casket sitting in the front room there. You just have to know that when you die you have to have a casket, and you better be ready to meet the Lord,” he said.
“Everybody has to die, and that’s how people will remember you when you die, is how you treat people if you’re good to people. But after a year or two, they don’t remember you anyway, you’re dead and gone.”
No service has been announced for Coward yet, according to the Smoky Mountain News.
