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Portrait of a sore loser: Tom Peeples (played by Ed Begley Jr.) rushes Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) with an axe after his rooster lost a fight to Mansfield's. According to author Charles Willeford's priceless memoir Cockfighter: The Story Of A Shooting, Begley had a very jarring experience in San Francisco immediately prior to flying to Georgia to perform in this film.
Begley, investigating a foul odor near his apartment, made a gruesome discovery. He found the dismembered body of a woman who had been wrapped in butcher paper and left in the garbage. Begley reported the murder, and was interviewed by police, who, according to Willeford, briefly considered him a suspect before clearing him.
Here's a great passage about Begley from the Willeford memoir that displays the droll humor that characterizes his tone throughout the book.
Ed Begley Jr. flew in from the West Coast this evening. A tall shaggy-haired blond, he bears no resemblance whatsoever to his father. He is about six-two or -three, with thick yellow hair, and wears gold-rimmed MacNamara glasses. He is funny in a witty way, and his timing is excellent when he tells a story. He has a night club act, and has been performing it in San Francisco. It must be very good. He doesn't do stand-up comedy, he said, but sets a scene then performs all of the parts. He told us a story about the three legless amputees who played the short robots in the Bruce Dern film Silent Running. During the wrap-up party for the film, Ed said that the three amputees got drunk and sang "The Way We Were." This would be a better story if it were true, but it still isn't bad.