BILL MCKINNEY
Bill McKinney
- MCMLXXVI WARNER BROS. INC.
- (Bill McKinney in The Outlaw Josey Wales, 1976)
Biography
BIO
Bill McKinney was born William Denison McKinney in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1931. He joined the Navy at the age of 19 and served on a minesweeper during the Korean War.
After the war, McKinney moved to Los Angeles intending to become an actor. He supported himself as a tree-trimmer while he performed at the Pasadena Playhouse and later honed his skills at the Actors Studio.
McKinney made his film debut in 1962, at the age of 31, for Sherwood Productions and first made his mark in the role of Mountain Man in Deliverance (1972). He first appeared with Clint Eastwood in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) and went on to appear another six films with him through 1989.
His final film appearance was in 2011.
McKinney was married twice:
- Felicity Bach, 1956-1957, divorced;
- Jenell Booth, 1967-1968, divorced;
A longtime smoker, he died of esophageal cancer in San Fernando, California, in 2011, at the age of 80.
Additional biographical information is available at: 
