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
Ned Beatty Straight. In 1976, he appeared in "All the President's Men", "The Big Bus", "Silver Streak" and "Mikey and Nicky". In 1977, he returned to work with John Boorman in "" (1977), starring Linda Blair, and appeared in "The Final Chapter", the first episode of the television series "Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected". During 1977-78, he starred in the sitcom "Szysznyk" on CBS. In 1978, Beatty appeared in "Gray Lady Down" (1978), a drama aboard a submarine starring Charlton Heston. The film is significant chiefly for being the screen debut of Christopher Reeve, Beatty's future costar. Later that year, Beatty