His relationship with the press was often rocky. A messy divorce from actress Loni Anderson led to so many regular appearances in the tabloids that Princess Diana once sent Reynolds a thank-you note for keeping her off the cover of People magazine. He once posed naked on a bearskin rug for Cosmopolitan magazine.
Who has the ability to survive? That's the game - survival.ĬOHEN: Surviving in Hollywood wasn't always easy for Burt Reynolds especially thanks to choices he made off-screen. REYNOLDS: Got the - this kid's got a brain about the size of a pea.ĬOHEN: Reynolds eventually began getting parts requiring more acting, including recurring roles in shows like "Gunsmoke." But his first big break came in 1972 with "Deliverance."ĬOHEN: The film was about four men on a canoe trip in rural Georgia that goes horribly awry. They'd say, we've got a stair fall here, about a 70-foot stair fall. REYNOLDS: Whenever they wanted to set someone on fire, you know, or.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN") Soon after, he got called for more action-oriented work, as he told "Late Night" host David Letterman in 1984. And I thought crazy was the best choice of the two.ĬOHEN: Crazy was how Reynolds landed his first role on an NBC show called "Frontiers Of Faith." The job required Reynolds to get thrown out of a window on live television. You're either a little angel, or you're crazy. Reynolds told Fresh Air his personality was defined at a young age since his father was the sheriff in their small Florida town.
But that didn't dampen his appetite for risk-taking. Those dreams were dashed by injuries, including a car crash which cost him his spleen.
Get in there (unintelligible).ĬOHEN: In real life, Reynolds wanted to be a pro athlete, attending Florida State University on a football scholarship. REYNOLDS: (As Paul Crewe) The one thing that you're going to have to remember is to protect your quarterback - me. Reporter Alex Cohen has this remembrance.ĪLEX COHEN, BYLINE: Burt Reynolds' resume included popular films like "Smokey And The Bandit," "Cannonball Run" and "The Longest Yard" about a prison football team. You must be part coon dog 'cause I've been chased by the best of them, and, son, you make them look like they're all running in slow motion.ĬORNISH: Burt Reynolds died today in Jupiter, Fla., from a heart attack. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT")īURT REYNOLDS: (As Bo Darville) Before I tell you where I am, Sheriff, there's just one thing I want to say. He was known for his self-deprecating humor, good looks and performances in films such as "Boogie Nights" and "Deliverance." Reynolds was perhaps best known as Bo Bandit Darville, a bootlegger who spends most of 1977's "Smokey And The Bandit" evading sheriff Buford T. In 2009, he underwent back surgery and a year later had quintuple bypass surgery.Burt Reynolds once said, my movies were the kind they show in prisons and airplanes because nobody can leave. The couple also adopted a son, Quinton.ĭespite his box office success, Reynolds has struggled with a host of monetary woes, having declared bankruptcy in the mid-1990s and eventually selling off his Valhalla mansion in Florida. Reynolds later married actress Loni Anderson in 1988, with the two divorcing after a few years in a volatile, financially costly split. While also having great respect for Shore's unflinching kindness, he would eventually acknowledge how much he missed Field and express remorse over not being more committed to their relationship. Reynolds was previously wed to comedienne/actress Judy Carne, and later enjoyed romance with singer Dinah Shore and his Smokey and the Bandit co-star Sally Field. After premiering at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, it earned a wider release the following year.
Reynolds also headlined The Last Movie Star, a role that hit close to home for the aging actor. He also appeared on such sitcoms as The King of Queens and My Name Is Earl, and provided voice work for Robot Chicken, American Dad! and Archer. The actor continued to take on a variety of film roles, including an Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard (2005) and a reboot of the popular 1980s show The Dukes of Hazzard (2005).