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Deliverance actor Bill McKinney died Thursday from cancer of the esophagus, according to his Facebook page.

McKinney, who was 80 when he passed away, was best known for his role as a twisted mountain man who assaulted Ned Beatty's character in 1972's Deliverance. During the scene – which Entertainment Weekly calls "one of the most unsettling scenes ever put on film" – McKinney's character orders his victim to "squeal like a pig."

McKinney had a varied and long career, with parts in television and in films with major stars including Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Clint Eastwood and The Parallax View with Warren Beatty.

He also had roles in in First Blood, Back to the Future Part III and The Green Mile. In 2010, he appeared in How Do You Know.

"An avid smoker for 25 years of his younger life, he died of cancer of the esophagus," the Facebook announcement reads, going on to reveal that only recently the actor "continued to work on his biography with his writing partner. Hopefully 2012 will bring a publisher for the wild ride his life was.

He is survived by son Clinton, along with several ex-wives."