Deliverance to play Lewis Medlock. Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Ed, while both Donald Sutherland and Charlton Heston turned down the role of Lewis. Other actors who were attached to the project included Robert Redford, Henry Fonda, George C. Scott and Warren Beatty. The film is infamous for cutting costs by not insuring the production and having the actors perform their own stunts (most notably, Jon Voight climbed the cliff himself). In one scene, the stunt coordinator decided that a scene showing a canoe with a dummy of Burt Reynolds in it looked phony; he said it looked
Burt Reynolds the character. Reynolds played the title character in police drama "Dan August" (1970–71), produced by Quinn Martin. The series was given a full-season order of 26 episodes based on the reputation of Martin and Reynolds but struggled in the ratings against "Hawaii 5-0" and was not renewed. Albert R. Broccoli asked Reynolds to play James Bond, but he turned that role down, saying "An American can't play James Bond. It just can't be done." Following the series' cancellation, Reynolds did his first stage play in six years, a production of "The Tender Trap" at Arlington Park Theatre. He was offered