John Voight and Phil Rolfe. Submitted photo.
BETHEL — As local Phil Rolfe headed toward the Bethel Inn Pro Shop last Tuesday he noticed a couple getting their picture taken with someone. As he moved closer he realized that someone was actor Jon Voight.
“Man I know who that is, that’s Jon Voight from the movie Deliverance,” Rolfe said.
Rolfe’s line about Deliverance ended up being the conversation starter. As Voight was remarking on how nice the inn looked, Rolfe noticed a golf club in the actors hand and learned he was hoping to hit a bucket of golf balls at the driving range. Rolfe and Bud Brennan, who both help out at the country club, decided to join the actor and that’s when the talking really started.
They spoke a lot about Deliverance and Voight shared a few little known details about the film. When talking about one of the more notable scenes, he said while the boy playing banjo on the porch was strumming the instrument, there was another person behind him playing the actual chords. He also said late actor Burt Reynolds, who starred alongside Voight in the film, was always showing up late when it came to shooting scenes.
During their chat, Brennan and Rolfe also learned that Voight’s father was a golf teacher when he was growing up.
Despite the barrage of fun facts, Rolfe’s biggest take away from their 45-minute conversation was how down to earth Voight was.
“Just a super nice guy. Very gracious and very humble,” Rolfe said. “He was super laid back, very open and honest. It was like I was talking to my neighbor.”
“He was no in hurry to go anywhere,” Rolfe added.
Several people wound up getting their picture taken with him, as did Brennan and Rolfe. They also both got autographs on what was a day neither of the men will forget.
Voight with Bud Brennan. Submitted photo.
“I’m going to cherish that because you do not get to see people like that everyday,” Rolfe said. “It was a thrill to meet him.”
Voight never mentioned if he was staying at the inn or not, but did say he was in the area to visit Tucker Carlson, best known as a TV host for Fox News and who also has a second home in Woodstock. After that he was planning on traveling to New York for two weeks to do some filming for Ray Donovan, an American crime drama television series where Voight plays the protagonist’s father.
On top of Deliverance, the 82-year-old actor has also appeared in films such as Midnight Cowboy, Coming Home, Runaway Train and Mission: Impossible, among many more.
Voight resides in California.
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