Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and '80s.[3][4] He became well known in television series such asGunsmoke (1962–1965),Hawk (1966) andDan August (1970–1971). He had leading roles in films such asNavajo Joe (1966), and100 Rifles (1969), and his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock inDeliverance (1972).
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. was born on February 11, 1936, to Burton Milo Reynolds Sr. and Harriet Fernette "Fern" (née Miller).[10] His family descended fromDutch, English,Scots-Irish and Scottish ancestry. Reynolds also claimed someCherokee and Italian ancestry.[11][12]
During his career, Reynolds often claimed to have been born inWaycross, Georgia, although in 2015, he stated that he was actually born inLansing, Michigan.[13] In his autobiography, he stated that Lansing is where his family lived when his father wasdrafted into theUnited States Army.[14][15]
Reynolds, his mother, and his sister joined his father atFort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where they subsequently lived for two years. When his father was sent to Europe, the family relocated toLake City, Michigan, where his mother had been raised.[16] In 1946, the family relocated toRiviera Beach, Florida, where in sixth grade, Reynolds began a lifelong close friendship withDick Howser.[17] Reynolds's father eventually became chief of police of Riviera Beach, which is adjacent to the north end ofWest Palm Beach, Florida.
His nickname in Riviera Beach was "Buddy".[18] (The childhood nicknames ofMarlon Brando, thesuperstar actor whom Reynolds was said to resemble and with whom he feuded, were "Bud" and "Buddy".)[19]
While at Florida State, Reynolds roomed with future college football coach, broadcaster, and analystLee Corso, and also became a brother of thePhi Delta Theta fraternity.[24]He earned his first start of the 1954 football season at right halfback in FSU's inaugural victory of the season against theUniversity of Louisville.[25] Reynolds tallied a one-yard touchdown in the game. Despite suffering a separated shoulder in the middle of the season,[26] Reynolds finished his freshman season with 16 carries for 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 76 yards, returned five punts, and had an interception on defense.[27]
In 1955, Reynolds was slated to start in the backfield for the Seminoles (8–4 in 1954), but suffered torn cartilage in his right knee during preseason workouts. After testing the injured knee in a "B" game versus Georgia Tech, Reynolds realized he could not make cuts like he once did and left school.[28] "I knew then I was finished as a football player," he toldThe Palm Beach Post. A week later, Reynolds underwent a knee operation at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach. His surgeon predicted he could resume his playing career the following year.[29]Two months later, Reynolds, then 19, was critically injured in an automobile accident on State Road A1A, suffering internal injuries, including a ruptured spleen, after colliding with a stalled truck.[30] The driver of the truck fled the scene, according to the newspaper report. Reynolds said he lost a prized wristwatch from the 1955 Sun Bowl game in the crash, which left his vehicle totaled.[31]
Reynolds did not return to the Florida State campus for almost two years.[32] To keep up with his studies, he enrolled atPalm Beach Junior College (PBJC) in neighboringLake Park in early 1956.[33] When Reynolds returned to Florida State in 1957, he rejoined the football team as a backup halfback, but was hampered by lingering injuries from the car accident. In an away game against Boston College in late September, Reynolds averaged four yards on three carries and caught two passes. He was blamed, fairly or not, for the team's loss toNorth Carolina State University on October 12, 1957. Immediately after the game, he told his teammates that he was done with football.[32] Convinced that his playing days were over, Reynolds returned home and got engaged to Jean Hayden, a former beauty queen fromJacksonville, Florida, who was attending FSU.[34] The couple never wed. Hayden, a speech major in college, wed FSU grad and Navy veteran Edwin Watson Richardson Jr., a car dealer in Tallahassee, in 1959.[35]
During his spring term at PBJC in 1956, Reynolds enrolled in an English class taught byWatson B. Duncan III. Duncan encouraged Reynolds to try out for a school play he was directing,Outward Bound. He cast Reynolds in a main role based on having heard him read Shakespeare in class. Reynolds' performance earned him a best actor award at the 1956 PBJC Drama Awards.[36] "I read two words and they gave me a lead," he later said.[37] In his autobiography, he referred to Duncan as his mentor and the most influential person of his life.[38]
The drama award Reynolds won in junior college included a scholarship to the Hyde Park Playhouse, asummer stock theater inHyde Park, New York. Reynolds considered the opportunity as an agreeable alternative to more physically demanding summer jobs, but did not yet consider acting as a possible career. While working there, Reynolds metJoanne Woodward, who helped him find an agent.
"I don't think I ever actually saw him perform," said Woodward. "I knew him as this cute, shy, attractive boy. He had the kind of lovely personality that made you want to do something for him."[37] He was cast inTea and Sympathy at theNeighborhood Playhouse in New York City. After his Broadway debut inLook, We've Come Through, he received favorable reviews for his performance and went on tour with the cast, driving the bus as well as appearing on stage.[39] After the tour, Reynolds returned to New York City and enrolled in acting classes, along withFrank Gifford,Carol Lawrence,Red Buttons, andJan Murray. "I was a working actor for two years before I finally took my first real acting class (withWynn Handman at the Neighborhood Playhouse)," he said. "It was a lot of technique, truth, moment-to-moment, how to listen, improv."[37]
After a botched improvisation in acting class, Reynolds briefly considered returning to Florida, but in December 1956, he was cast in a supporting role in a revival ofMister Roberts at theNew York City Center, in whichCharlton Heston played the starring role andOrson Bean played Ensign Pulver.[40] After the play closed, directorJohn Forsythe arranged a movie audition withJoshua Logan for Reynolds. The movie wasSayonara (1957). Reynolds was told that he could not be in the movie because he looked too much like Marlon Brando. Logan advised Reynolds to go toHollywood, although Reynolds did not feel confident enough to do so.[41] (Another source says that Reynolds did a screen test after studio talent agentLew Wasserman saw the effect that Reynolds had on secretaries in his office, but the test was unsuccessful.[42])
Reynolds worked in a variety of jobs, such as waiting tables, washing dishes, driving a delivery truck, and as abouncer at theRoseland Ballroom. He wrote that while working as adockworker, he was offered $150 to jump through a glass window on a live television show.[43]
Reynolds began acting for television during the late 1950s, with guest roles on shows such asFlight,M Squad,Schlitz Playhouse,The Lawless Years, andPony Express. He signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios.[44] "I don't care whether he can act or not," said Wasserman. "Anyone who has this effect on women deserves a break."[42]
Reynolds's first big opportunity came when he was cast alongsideDarren McGavin, who was the main actor of the television seriesRiverboat (1959–61), playing Ben Frazer, the boat'spilot. According to a contemporary report, Reynolds was considered "a double for Marlon Brando".[42] The show played for two seasons, but Reynolds quit after only 20 episodes, claiming that he got along with neither McGavin nor the executive producer, and that he had "a stupid part".[45] Reynolds subsequently said that he "couldn't get a job. I didn't have a very good reputation. You just don't walk out on a network television series."[44]
Reynolds starred in the low-budget filmAngel Baby (1961). He followed it with a role in a war filmArmored Command (1961). "It was the one picture thatHoward Keel didn't sing on," reminisced Reynolds. "That was a terrible mistake."[46]
In 1961, he returned toBroadway to appear inLook, We've Come Through, directed byJosé Quintero, but it lasted only five performances.[47]
In 1962,Dennis Weaver wanted to quit the cast ofGunsmoke, one of the top-rated shows in the country. The producers developed a new character, "half-breed"blacksmith Quint Asper. Reynolds was cast, chosen over 300 other contenders. He announced that he would stay on the show "until it ends. I think it's a terrible mistake for an actor to leave a series in the middle of it."[45] Reynolds leftGunsmoke in 1965. He later said that being in that show was "the happiest period of my life. I hated to leave that show, but I felt I had served my apprenticeship and there wasn't room for two leading men."[44]
Reynolds was given the title role of a TV series,Hawk (1966–67), playing Native American detective John Hawk. It ran for 17 episodes before being cancelled.[49]
He played another Native American in thespaghetti Western filmNavajo Joe (1966), which was filmed in Spain. He said, "It wasn't my favorite picture." He later said, "I had two expressions—mad and madder."[50]
He guest-starred inGentle Ben, and made a pilot for a TV series,Lassiter, in which he would have played a magazine journalist. It did not develop into a series.[51]
Reynolds made a series of movies in quick succession:Shark! (1969), filmed in Mexico, was directed bySam Fuller, who removed his name from it, after which its release was held up for a number of years. Reynolds describedFade In as "the best thing I've ever done",[52] but it was not released for a number of years, and off of which directorJud Taylor took his name.Impasse (1969) was a war movie filmed in the Philippines. Reynolds plays the title role inSam Whiskey (1969), a comic Western written byWilliam W. Norton, which Reynolds later said was "way ahead of its time. I was playing light comedy and nobody cared."[46]
Reynolds starred withJim Brown andRaquel Welch in another Western,100 Rifles (1969). He said, "I spent the entire time refereeing fights between Jim Brown and Raquel Welch."[53]
In a 1969 interview, Reynolds expressed interest in playing roles like the John Garfield part inThe Postman Always Rings Twice, but no one gave him the opportunity. "Instead, the producer hands me a script and says 'I know it's not there now kid, but I know we can make it work.'"[52]
Reynolds declined the leading role for the filmM*A*S*H (1970), which went toElliott Gould. He starred in the filmSkullduggery (1970), filmed in Jamaica. He joked that after making "those wonderful, forgettable pictures... I suddenly realized I was as hot asLeo Gorcey."[54]
Reynolds featured in two television films:Hunters Are for Killing (1970) andRun, Simon, Run (1970). In the former, his character was originally a Native American, but Reynolds requested that this element be changed, feeling that he had played the persona too many times already, and that it was not needed for the character, anyway.[55]
Reynolds played the title character in the police television dramaDan August (1970–71), produced byQuinn Martin. Reynolds had previously guest-starred in two episodes of Martin's productionThe F.B.I.[56] The series was given a full-season order of 26 episodes, based on the reputation of Martin and Reynolds, but it struggled in the ratings againstHawaii Five-0 and was not renewed.[54]
After the cancelation of the series, Reynolds appeared in his first stage play in six years; a production ofThe Tender Trap at Arlington Park Theatre. He was offered other TV pilots, but was reluctant to play a detective again.
Around this time, he had become well known as a charismatic talk-show guest, starting with an appearance onThe Merv Griffin Show. He made jokes at his own expense, calling himself America's most "well-known unknown", who made the kind of movies "they show in airplanes or prisons or anywhere else the people can't get out". He proved enormously popular and was frequently asked back byGriffin andJohnny Carson; he even guest-hostedThe Tonight Show.[37] He was so popular as a guest that he was offered his own talk show, but he wanted to continue as an actor.[58]
He later said that his talk-show appearances were "the best thing that ever happened to me. They changed everything drastically overnight. I spent 10 years looking virile, saying, 'Put up your hands.' After the Carson, Griffin,Frost,Dinah's show, suddenly I have a personality."[59]
"I realized that people liked me, that I was enough," said Reynolds. "So if I could transfer that character—the irreverent, self-deprecating side of me, my favorite side of me—onto the screen, I could have a big career."[60]
Reynolds was considered for the role ofSonny Corleone inThe Godfather, butFrancis Ford Coppola's desire to castJames Caan in the part prevailed. Talk arose that Reynolds's participation was vetoed by Marlon Brando, who had a lack of respect for him.[61] Brando denied that he played a role in thwarting the casting of Reynolds, saying in a January 1979Playboy interview that Coppola would not have cast Reynolds in the part.Reynolds later claimed that he declined the role of Sonny. (The GodfatherproducerAlbert S. Ruddy later producedThe Cannonball Run andCannonball Run II, two Reynolds movie successes during the 1980s.)
The Brando-Reynolds feud became Hollywood legend. Reynolds said that he could not understand Brando's enmity toward him. In a 2015 interview withThe Guardian, Reynolds said, "He was a strange man. He didn't like me at all." He did not consciously imitate Brando, nor act like him, nor try to look like him; he even grew a mustache so that people would stop saying that he looked like Brando.[62]
When he was finally introduced to Brando, Reynolds said that he told him that he was the finest actor in the world. Brando replied, "I wish I could say the same for you."[62]
Reynolds had a major role in the movieDeliverance, directed byJohn Boorman, who cast him on the basis of a talk-show appearance. "It's the first time I haven't had a script withPaul Newman andRobert Redford's fingerprints all over it," Reynolds joked. "The producers actually came to me first."[58]
"I've waited 15 years to do a really good movie," he said in 1972. "I made so many bad pictures. I was never able to turn anyone down. The greatest curse in Hollywood is to be a well-known unknown."[63]
Around this time, Reynolds also gained notoriety when he began a well-publicized relationship withDinah Shore, who was 20 years his senior, and after he posed nude in the April 1972 issue ofCosmopolitan.[64][65] Reynolds said that he posed forCosmopolitan for "a kick. I have a strange sense of humor," and because he knew thatDeliverance was about to be released.[63] He later expressed regret for posing forCosmopolitan.[66]Deliverance was a commercial and critical success, which along with talk-show appearances, helped establish Reynolds as a majormovie actor. "The night of the Academy Awards, I counted a half-dozen Burt Reynolds jokes," he later said. "I had become a household name, the most talked-about star at the award show."[37]
Reynolds had the title role ofShamus (1973), playing a private detective. The movie drew lackluster reviews, but nonetheless became a box-office success. Reynolds described it as "not a bad film, kind of cute".[46] He also was inThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973), co-featuringSarah Miles. The film was a minor success, perhaps best remembered for the scandal of Miles's lover, an aspiring screenwriter, dying by suicide during the filming.[46]
Reynolds meant to reunite with Boorman inZardoz, but fell ill and was replaced bySean Connery.[68]
Another turning point in Reynolds's career came when he made the light-hearted car-chase film written by William W. Norton,White Lightning (1973). Reynolds later called it "the beginning of a whole series of films made in the South, about the South, and for the South... you could make back the cost of the negative just in Memphis alone. Anything outside of that was just gravy."[46] Car-chase movies became Reynolds's most profitable genre. At the end of 1973, Reynolds was voted into the list of the 10 most-popular movie actors in the US at number four. He stayed on that list until 1984.[citation needed]
He made a sports comedy withRobert Aldrich,The Longest Yard (1974), which was popular. Aldrich later said, "I think that on occasion, he's a much better actor than he's given credit for. Not always; sometimes he acts like a caricature of himself."[69]
Toward the end of his life, Reynolds revealed that he declined the role ofHan Solo inStar Wars.[70] Reynolds toldBusiness Insider in 2016, "I just didn't want to play that kind of role at the time. ...Now I regret it. I wish I would have done it."[71]
Reynolds made his directorial debut in 1976 withGator, the sequel toWhite Lightning, written by Norton.[72] "I waited 20 years to do it [directing] and I enjoyed it more than anything I've ever done in this business," he said after filming. "And I happen to think it's what I do best."[73]
He was reunited with Bogdanovich for the comedyNickelodeon (1976), which was a commercial disappointment. Aldrich later commented, "Bogdanovich can get him to do the telephone book! Anybody else has to persuade him to do something. He's fascinated by Bogdanovich. I can't understand it."[69] He turned down the part ofClark Gable inGable and Lombard.[74]
"My ability as an actor gets a little better every time," he said about this time. "I'm very prolific in the amount of films I make—two-and-a-half or three a year—and when I look at any picture I do now compared toDeliverance, it's miles above what I was doing then. But when you're doing films that are somewhat similar to each other, as I've been doing, people take it for granted."[74]
"I'd rather direct than act. I'd rather do that than anything. It's the second-best sensation I've ever had." He added thatDavid Merrick had offered to produce two movies that Reynolds would direct without having to act in them.[74]
Reynolds tried a change of pace withStarting Over (1979), a romantic comedy, co-starring Jill Clayburgh andCandice Bergen. The film is co-written and produced byJames L. Brooks. Reynolds plays a jewel thief inRough Cut (1980) produced by Merrick, who fired and rehired directorDon Siegel during filming.
The only thing I really enjoy is this business, and I think my audience knows that. I've never been able to figure out exactly who that audience is. I know there have been a few pictures even my mother didn't go see, but there's always been an audience for them. I guess it is because they always know that I give it 100 percent, and good or bad, there's going to be quite a lot of me in that picture. That's what they're looking for. I don't have any pretensions about wanting to be Hamlet. I would just like to be the best Burt Reynolds around.[76]
James L. Brooks wrote the role of astronaut Garrett Breedlove inTerms of Endearment (1983) with Reynolds in mind. However, Reynolds refused the role, and instead starred in another car-chase comedyStroker Ace (1983), directed by Needham. TheEndearment part went toJack Nicholson, who won anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Reynolds said in 1987, "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim," butStroker Ace failed.[77] Reynolds admitted that refusing the role was a mistake.
I regret that one most of all because it was a real acting part.... I wish I would have done it, and thinking back now, it was really a stupid decision, but I made a lot of stupid decisions in that period. It must have been my stupid period.[78]
In 1983, an unnamed producer said that while Reynolds's salaries would not decrease because ofStroker Ace's failure, "if two or three more such pictures don't work, people will just stop putting him in that kind of movie and that's the kind of film for which he gets paid the most".[79] Reynolds felt that it was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered. "That's where I lost them," he said of his fans.[77]
Getting to the top has turned out to be a hell of a lot more fun than staying there. I've gotTom Selleck crawling up my back. I'm in my late 40s. I realize I have four or five more years where I can play certain kinds of parts and get away with it. That's why I'm leaning more and more toward directing and producing. I don't want to be stumbling around town doingGabby Hayes parts a few years from now. I'd like to pick and choose and maybe go work for a perfume factory like Mr.Cary Grant, and look wonderful with everybody saying, 'Gee, I wish he hadn't retired'.[76]
Cannonball Run II (1984), directed by Needham, brought in some money, but only half of the original.City Heat (1984), which teamed Reynolds andClint Eastwood, was mildly popular, but was considered a major critical and box-office disappointment. Reynolds was injured badly during filming when he was hit in the jaw with a real chair instead of a breakaway prop, causing him excruciating chronic pain, as well as a sharp weight loss that resulted in rumors circulating for years that he hadAIDS.[77]
Reynolds returned to directing withStick (1985), from anElmore Leonard novel, but it was both a critical and commercial failure. So, too, were three other action movies that he made:Heat (1986), based on a novel byWilliam Goldman,Malone (1987), andRent-a-Cop (1987) with Liza Minnelli.[77] He later said that he didHeat andMalone "because there were so many rumors about me [having AIDS]. I had to get out and be seen."[80]
In 1987, Reynolds teamed withBert Convy to co-produce the game showWin, Lose or Draw for their production company Burt and Bert Productions. The show was based on "sketch pad charades", a game that he often played with his friends in his living room in Jupiter.Vicki Lawrence hosted the daytime version forNBC, while Convy hosted the syndicated version until 1989, when he quit to host3rd Degree, also created by Reynolds and Convy.[citation needed]
Reynolds starred inSwitching Channels (1988), a remake of the comedyThe Front Page. It was a box-office bomb. Even more poorly received wasPhysical Evidence (1989), directed byMichael Crichton. Reynolds received excellent reviews for the caper comedyBreaking In (1989), but the commercial reception was poor.[81] The moderately successful animated filmAll Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), in which Reynolds voiced Charlie B. Barkin, was one of his few successes at the time.[82]"When I was doing very well," he said at the time, "I wasn't conscious I was doing very well, but I became very conscious when I wasn't doing very well. The atmosphere changed."[80]
Reynolds returned to television with thedetective series withB.L. Stryker (1989–90). It ran two seasons, during which time Reynolds played a supporting part inModern Love (1990).
Reynolds starred in the situation comedy television series,Evening Shade (1990–94) as formerPittsburgh Steelers player Woodward "Wood" Newton. The series was a considerable success, with 98 episodes over four seasons. This role earned him aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Reynolds credited this role for his membership inSteeler Nation. During his tenure onEvening Shade, Reynolds played in other projects, starting with a cameo inThe Player (1992) (playing himself complaining about people in Hollywood).
AfterEvening Shade ended in 1994, Reynolds played the lead in a horror movie,The Maddening (1995). He gradually became more of a character actor, though; he had major support roles inCitizen Ruth (1996), an early work fromAlexander Payne, andStriptease (1996) withDemi Moore. Reynolds had to audition forStriptease. The movie's producer later said, "To be honest, we were not enthusiastic at first. There was the hair and his reputation, but we were curious... At the first audition, on the first day, Burt had to take off histoupee in front of six or seven people. It was tough for him, but he did it. It was a very, very humbling thing to do, but by the end of the audition, it was really clear that Burt was the guy."[86] "I knew I could play him," said Reynolds. "I could make him likable and dangerous. There are very few people who can do that. I always played likable and dangerous. I had a persona. Unfortunately, my persona became bigger than my acting."[86] Reynolds accepted a salary of $350,000;[citation needed] lower than what he had been paid earlier in his career.[87]" Reynolds got the role and earned some strong reviews for his performance, and the film was successful at the box office although it was panned by critics.[86] Reynolds based his performance as Congressman Dilbeck on politicians he knew from his youth, as his father was a police chief and prominent local Republican.[88]
In 1996, Reynolds' agent said "Regarding Burt, there's a split between the executives in town who are under 40 and those who are over 40. The younger executives are more open to Burt because they grew up lovingDeliverance. But the older executives remember how crazy he was, and they are less receptive."[86] He also hosted segments for the Encore Action premium cable network during the late 1990s and 2000s.
Reynolds played a porn film director in the successful filmBoogie Nights (1997), which was considered a comeback role for him. He received 12 acting awards and three nominations for the role, including a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Reynolds' first and only nomination for the award. Despite the acclaim, Reynolds disliked working on the film, particularly not getting along with writer-directorPaul Thomas Anderson, and reportedly dismissed his agent for recommending it.[89]Boogie Nights co-starWilliam H. Macy stated in an interview that Reynolds was clueless about the film and had become out of touch with the film industry due to his age.[90]
Reynolds was offered a role in Anderson's third film,Magnolia (1999), but he declined it.[9][91] In 2012, he clarified he did not hateBoogie Nights itself and called it "extraordinary", saying his opinion of the film has nothing to do with his relationship with Anderson.[92] In his second autobiography,But Enough About Me (2015), Reynolds attempted to come to terms with his difficult nature. In a 2015GQ interview, he said that his problem with Anderson was a matter of their differing personalities:[93]
I think mostly because he was young and full of himself. Every shot we did, it was like the first time [that shot had ever been done]. I remember the first shot we did inBoogie Nights, where I drive the car to Grauman's Theater. After he said, "Isn't that amazing?" And I named five pictures that had the same kind of shot. It wasn't original. But if you have to steal, steal from the best.
Despite his Oscar nomination forBoogie Nights and a new appreciation of his acting talent bymovie critics, Reynolds failed to return to theA list; while work was plentiful, prestige projects were lacking.[94]
Reynolds returned to directing withHard Time (1998), an action TV movie featuring himself. It resulted in two sequels, which he did not direct,Hard Time: The Premonition (1999) andHard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999) (the latter directed by Hal Needham).
He was in a series of supporting roles that referred to earlier performances:Without a Paddle (2004), a riff on his role inDeliverance,The Longest Yard (2005), a remake of his 1974 success withAdam Sandler playing Reynolds' old role (while Reynolds played theMichael Conrad part from the original); andThe Dukes of Hazzard (2005) asBoss Hogg as a reference to his performances in 1970s car-chase movies.[96]
He had a guest role in an episode ofBurn Notice, "Past and Future Tense" (2010). Reynolds voiced himself as the mayor of Steelport inSaints Row: The Third, released in 2011. Players can recruit Reynolds as a "homie", depending on their in-game choices. Reynolds also voiced himself in the animated seriesArcher, in the episode "The Man from Jupiter" (2012). The character of Sterling Archer was largely inspired by Burt Reynolds.
He was top billed inCategory 5 (2014) andElbow Grease (2016) and could be seen in key roles inPocket Listing (2016), andHollow Creek (2015). He returned to a regular role on TV inHitting the Breaks (2016), but it only ran for 10 episodes. He was inApple of My Eye (2016) and took the lead inThe Last Movie Star (2017).
Reynolds was credited as the author of a 1972 mass-marketpaperback bookHot Line: The Letters I Get...And Write! that featured seminude "beefcake" photos of the actor, playing up his image as a male sex symbol. He also published two autobiographies,My Life in 1994 andBut Enough About Me in 2015.
Reynolds co-authored the 1997 children's book,Barkley Unleashed: A Pirate's Tail, a "whimsical tale [that] illustrates the importance of perseverance, the wonders of friendship and the power of imagination".[100]
In 1973, Reynolds released the country/easy listening albumAsk Me What I Am. He also sang in two movie musicals:At Long Last Love (1975) andThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).[101]
Reynolds in college "was so good-looking, I used him as bait," college roommateLee Corso recalled. "He'd walk across campus and bring back two girls, one beautiful and one ugly; I got the ugly girl. His ugly girlfriends were better than anyone I could get on my own."[102]
Reynolds was married to English actressJudy Carne from 1963 to 1965. He lived with actressMiko Mayama from 1968 to 1971.[103] American singer-actressDinah Shore (20 years his senior) and he were in a relationship from early 1971 until 1975.[104] In the mid-1970s, Reynolds briefly dated singerTammy Wynette.[105]
He had a relationship from 1976 to 1980 (then off-and-on until 1982) with American actressSally Field,[106][107] during which time they appeared together in four films. In 2016, he regarded Field as the love of his life.[108]
Reynolds was married to American actressLoni Anderson from 1988 to 1994. They had an adopted son, Quinton.[109][110] Anderson and he separated after he became infatuated with a cocktail waitress, Pam Seals, with whom he later traded lawsuits, which were settled out of court.[8]
A lifelong fan ofAmerican football, he once toldJohnny Carson onThe Tonight Show he would rather have played in theNFL than win anOscar. Reynolds was a minority owner of theTampa Bay Bandits of theUSFL from 1982 to 1986.[111][112] The team's name was inspired by theSmokey and the Bandit trilogy andSkoal Bandit, a primary sponsor for the team as a result of also sponsoring Reynolds' motor-racing team.[113]
He also owned the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Jupiter, Florida, with an emphasis on training young performers trying to enter show business.[117] The theater opened in 1979 and was later renamed the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theater. Reynolds operated it until 1989 and leased it until 1996. It had a series of ownership changes until becoming theMaltz Jupiter Theatre in 2004.[118]
In 1984, he opened a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, named Burt & Jacks, which he co-owned with Jack Jackson.[119] The restaurant was defunct at the time of his death.[120]
Partnering withKillen Music Group ownerBuddy Killen, Reynolds invested inPo' Folks, a chain of country-cooking, family-style restaurants located in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.[120] The chain, which was named after aBill Anderson song, along with subsequent Killen-Reynolds investment in another Southern restaurant chain, failed.[18]
During the height of his movie career, Reynolds made as much as $10 million a year (roughly equivalent to $48,200,000 in 2024), but he proved to be a poor businessman. Along with music industry executiveBuddy Killen, who produced his 1973country and western/easy listeningalbumAsk Me What I Am, Reynolds invested inPo' Folks, a Southern regional restaurant chain named after aBill Anderson song. As Po' Folks failed, Reynolds and Killen invested in another regional chain, Daisy's Diner, which also failed. Reynolds had invested the capital as an individual, not as a corporate investment, and was responsible personally for the liabilities when Po' Folks and the Daisy's Diner failed. In all, his investments in therestaurant industry resulted in losses of $20 million.[18]
Reynolds suffered a steep decrease of his career earnings after the cancellation ofEvening Shade, as his popularity waned due to bad publicity from his divorce from Loni Anderson, which becametabloid fodder. His decrease of earnings as an actor plus the great expense of his divorce settlement, child support, and alimony payments to Anderson caused a cash depletion by the mid-1990s.[18]
CBS, the network that producedEvening Shade and managed the program's syndication, sued him for failing to repay a $3.7 million loan in 1996.[18] Subsequently, he filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy, due in part to an extravagant lifestyle, a divorce from Anderson, and failed investments in restaurant chains.[121][122] Reynolds emerged from bankruptcy two years later.[8] During his bankruptcy proceedings, Reynolds listed $6.65 million in assets against debts totaling $11.2 million.[18]
On August 16, 2011,Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation filed foreclosure papers, claiming Reynolds owed US$1.2 million on his home inHobe Sound, Florida.[123]
Until its sale during bankruptcy,[124] he owned the Burt Reynolds Ranch, where scenes forSmokey and the Bandit were filmed and which once had a petting zoo. In April 2014, the 153-acre (62 ha) rural property was rezoned for residential use and thePalm Beach County school system was empowered to sell it, which it did to residential developerK. Hovnanian Homes.[125]
Reynolds suffered fromhypoglycemia, which he discussed publicly onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[126][127] During his numerous appearances onThe Tonight Show, Reynolds also told Johnny Carson that he suffered fromanxiety.
TheStuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures awarded the Richard "Diamond" Farnsworth Award to Reynolds in 2015.[127]Richard Farnsworth was a stunt man who made the transition into a successful acting career. Having performed stunts early during his career, the debilitating health problems of an aging stunt man was central to the storyline of Reynolds' 1978 movieHooper, which is subtitled on the poster "The Greatest Stuntman Alive." Reynolds, who said he was a card-carrying member of thestunt performers guild, often performed his own stunts in movies, such as the fall over the waterfall inDeliverance, where he injured hiscoccyx.[126] He also had to be operated on for ahernia that resulted from a fight scene inThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.[127]
His worst on-set injury occurred while filmingCity Heat in 1984; Reynolds was struck in the face with a metal chair on the first day of filming, which resulted intemporomandibular joint dysfunction. He was restricted to a liquid diet and lost 30 pounds from not eating. Thepainkillers he was prescribed resulted in addiction, which lasted several years.
Reynolds died of a heart attack at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, on September 6, 2018, at the age of 82.[128][129] His ex-wife Loni Anderson and their son Quinton held a private memorial service for Reynolds at a funeral home inNorth Palm Beach, Florida, on September 20. Those in attendance includedSally Field,[130] FSU coachBobby Bowden, friendLee Corso, and quarterbackDoug Flutie.[131] Reynolds' body was cremated and his ashes were given to his niece, Nancy Lee Brown Hess.[132] He was subsequently interred atHollywood Forever Cemetery on February 11, 2021.[133] In September of that year, a bronze bust of Reynolds was placed at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.[134]
On the day of Reynolds' death,Antenna TV, which broadcastsThe Tonight Show nightly, broadcast an episode ofThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from February 11, 1982, featuring an interview and aThis Is Your Life-style skit with Reynolds. The local media in Atlanta and elsewhere in the state noted on their television news programs that evening that he was the first to make major movies inGeorgia, all of which were successful, which helped make the state one of the top filming locations in the country.[135][136][137][138] TheFlorida State football team honored Reynolds with helmet decals reading "BAN ONE", in the design and style of the license plate of the Trans Am fromSmokey and the Bandit, plus Reynolds' signature, worn for the rest of the 2018 season.[139] His niece, Nancy Lee Hess, produced a 2020 biography and documentary about Reynolds titledI Am Burt Reynolds.[140][141][142]
During the height of his career, Reynolds was considered a malesex symbol and icon of American masculinity. Stephen Dalton wrote inThe Hollywood Reporter that Reynolds "always seemed to embody an uncomplicated, undiluted, effortlessly likable strain of American masculinity that was driven much more by sunny mischief than angsty machismo."[3] Reynolds's roles were often defined by his larger-than-life physicality and masculinity, contrasted with juvenile but self-aware humor.[1] Though he was not considered a serious dramatic actor during his heyday, his later career was defined by performances that often referenced his own reputation, creating what Dalton called "sophisticated, soulful performances".[3]
Michael Chiklis has credited Reynolds for rescuing his acting career when Reynolds hired him for a role inB.L. Stryker after Chiklis was "blackballed" for his involvement in portrayingJohn Belushi in the movieWired (1989). Chiklis said that Reynolds knew what Chiklis was going through because he "grew up during theMcCarthy era and didn't believe in blackballing."[143]
Reynolds wonGolden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series-Musical or Comedy forEvening Shade in 1992, and as Best Supporting Actor inBoogie Nights in 1998. He also was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Television Series-Drama forDan August in 1971, as Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy forThe Longest Yard in 1975 and as Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical/Comedy forStarting Over in 1980. He also received Best Actor in a TV series nominations forEvening Shade in 1991 and 1993.[144]
Reynolds won fourPeople's Choice Awards, as Favorite Motion Picture Actor and Favorite All-Around Male in 1983, as Favorite Motion Picture Actor (tied withClint Eastwood) in 1984, and as Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series in 1991.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in 1981 and later endorsed the construction of a new performing arts facility in Sarasota, Florida.[145]
Sasha Gabor,adult filmstar who was alookalike of Burt Reynolds (as well as ofSean Connery), portraying him (respectively both) in numerous pornographic parody films, includingTracey and the Bandit (1987) andBoogie Knights (1998). (Gabor's first credited acting gig was in a non-pornographic role, playing the character "Burt Reynolds" in theHarper Valley PTA episode "Svengali of the Valley" during Season 2 of the TV series in 1982.)
^B. DRUMMOND AYRES Jr (November 1, 1975). "'Good Ole Boy' Stars in Dixie Film-Making Boom".The New York Times. p. 31.
^Sterritt, David (February 9, 1976). "Two stars talk about films—and life: 'Public is most important' At the bottom line . . ".The Christian Science Monitor. p. 17.
^abcdMcBride, Joseph; Riley, Brooks. "'The End' is just the beginning".Film Comment. Vol. 14, no. 3 (May/Jun 1978). New York. pp. 16–21.
^Lindsey, Robert (January 15, 1978). "'I'm a Star in Spite of My Movies': Burt Reynolds".The New York Times. p. D11.
^Kane, M. (May 22, 2005). "Keep On Truckin' – Burt Reynolds is still the hottest man in Hollywood (No, really). Reynolds Rolls – The superstud of the '70s is back on top with eight films this year."New York Post.
