- Born
- Died
- Birth nameBurton Leon Reynolds Jr.
- Nickname
- Buddy
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Enduring, strong-featured, and genial star of US cinema, Burt Reynolds started off in T.V. westerns in the 1960s and then carved his name into 1970s/1980s popular culture, as a sex symbol (posing nearly naked for "Cosmopolitan" magazine), and on-screen as both a rugged action figure and then as a wisecracking, Southern type of "good ol' boy."
Burton Leon Reynolds was born in Lansing, Michigan. He was the son of Harriette Fernette "Fern" (Miller) and Burton Milo Reynolds, who was in the army. After World War II, his family moved to Riviera Beach, Florida, where his father was chief of police, and where Burt excelled as an athlete and played with Florida State University. He became an All Star Southern Conference halfback (and was earmarked by the Baltimore Colts) before a knee injury and a car accident ended his football career. Midway through college he dropped out and headed to New York with aspirations of becoming an actor. There he worked in restaurants and clubs while pulling the odd TV spot or theatre role.
He was spotted in a New York City production of "Mister Roberts," signed to a TV contract, and eventually had recurring roles in such shows as Gunsmoke (1955), Riverboat (1959) and his own series, Hawk (1966).
Reynolds continued to appear in undemanding western roles, often playing a character of half Native American descent, in films such as Navajo Joe (1966), 100 Rifles (1969) and Sam Whiskey (1969). However, it was his tough-guy performance as macho Lewis Medlock in the John Boorman backwoods nightmare Deliverance (1972) that really stamped him as a bona-fide star. Reynolds' popularity continued to soar with his appearance as a no-nonsense private investigator in Shamus (1973) and in the Woody Allen comedy Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972). Building further on his image as a Southern boy who outsmarts the local lawmen, Reynolds packed fans into theaters to see him in White Lightning (1973), The Longest Yard (1974), W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) and Gator (1976).
At this time, ex-stuntman and longtime Reynolds buddy Hal Needham came to him with a "road film" script. It turned out to be the incredibly popular Smokey and the Bandit (1977) with Sally Field and Jerry Reed, which took in over $100 million at the box office. That film's success was followed by Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). Reynolds also appeared alongside Kris Kristofferson in the hit football film Semi-Tough (1977), with friend Dom DeLuise in the black comedy The End (1978) (which Reynolds directed), in the stunt-laden buddy film Hooper (1978) and then in the self-indulgent, star-packed road race flick The Cannonball Run (1981).
The early 1980s started off well with a strong performance in the violent police film Sharky's Machine (1981), which he also directed, and he starred with Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and with fellow macho superstar Clint Eastwood in the coolly received City Heat (1984). However, other projects such as Stroker Ace (1983), Stick (1985) and Paternity (1981) failed to catch fire with fans and Reynolds quickly found himself falling out of popularity with movie audiences. In the late 1980s he appeared in only a handful of films, mostly below average, before television came to the rescue and he shone again in two very popular TV shows, B.L. Stryker (1989) and Evening Shade (1990), for which he won an Emmy. In 1988, Burt and his then-wife, actress Loni Anderson, had a son, Quinton A. Reynolds (aka Quinton Anderson Reynolds), whom they adopted.
He was back on screen, but still the roles weren't grabbing the public's attention, until his terrific performance as a drunken politician in the otherwise woeful Striptease (1996) and then another tremendous showing as a charming, porn director in Boogie Nights (1997), which scored him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Like the phoenix from the ashes, Reynolds resurrected his popularity and, in the process, gathered a new generation of young fans, many of whom had been unfamiliar with his 1970s film roles. He then put in entertaining work in Pups (1999), Mystery, Alaska (1999), Driven (2001) and Time of the Wolf (2002). Definitely one of Hollywood's most resilient stars, Reynolds continually surprised all with his ability to weather both personal and career hurdles and his almost 60 years in front of the cameras were testament to his staying ability, his acting talent and his appeal to film audiences.
Burt Reynolds died of cardiac arrest on September 6, 2018, in Jupiter, Florida, U.S. He was eighty two.- IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44
- SpousesLoni Anderson(April 29, 1988 - June 17, 1994) (divorced, 1 child)Judy Carne(June 28, 1963 - July 9, 1965) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsBurton Milo ReynoldsFern H. Reynolds (Miller)
- Deep stern voice
- Rebellious but likeable characters
- Moustache
- Had a relationship with Sally Field for many years, but she refused his numerous proposals, and they eventually broke up. He said that she was a positive influence on him and, in fact, was the love of his life.
- He was considered for Harrison Ford's roles in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Blade Runner (1982).
- Attended Elizabeth Taylor's "Commitment to Life" fund-raiser for AIDS research on 19 September 1985, where Burt Lancaster read Rock Hudson's statement announcing he had been diagnosed with AIDS. At one point Reynolds was booed when he read a telegram of support from President Ronald Reagan. Reynolds summed up the frustration of the lack of AIDS awareness when he angrily said, "If this were a benefit for cancer, reporters wouldn't be asking stupid questions like, 'Why are you here?'.".
- Met one of his heroes, Spencer Tracy, while filming Riverboat (1959). Tracy was filming Inherit the Wind (1960) on the same lot and Reynolds used to watch him walk from the set to his trailer everyday. After a while, Tracy finally turned to him and said, "Come on, kid." For the next several weeks the two would meet and talk about sports and, every once in a while, acting.
- Turned down the role of John McClane in Die Hard (1988). It went to Bruce Willis.
- [on Paul Thomas Anderson] Most filmmakers today have no sense of the history of our business, but he knows every shot John Ford made. And he doesn't lack for confidence. He really knew which shots he wanted to make. I remember the first shot in Boogie Nights (1997), which is one of the longest shots in history. And I, being the irascible old type I am sometimes, said, 'Have you timed this? Is this longer than Citizen Kane (1941) ?' And he said, 'Oh, yes. It's three seconds longer'."
- [on young filmmakers] Having done 300 television shows and almost 60 movies, I'm tired of having guys who are younger than some sandwiches I've had telling me to turn left at the couch. There's no appreciation of actors and no sense of history.
- [on Sally Field] I haven't seen her in 10 years and I'd like to very much. Because I'd like to tell her in person what I didn't know then. That is, how incredibly unselfish she was in terms of the time she spent with me. You know, inside that little body of hers is one of the strongest people I've ever met. What I didn't ever appreciate enough, until I had Quinton, was what it means to have a child and say to somebody else, "I'll be with you", away from my child. And now I know what an incredible gift that was.
- [on Bill McKinney, with whom he worked in Deliverance (1972)] I thought the [he] was a little bent. I used to get up at five in the morning and see him running nude through the golf course while the sprinklers watered the grass. A strange dude, he moved to L.A. after "Deliverance" and worked in a lot of pictures of Clint Eastwood. He always played sickos, but he played them well. With my dark sense of humor, I was kind of amused by him. But as we got closer to the rape scene, I caught him staring at Ned Beatty in an odd, unnerving way. Ned would see it, and look away.
- [on the rape scene in Deliverance (1972)] The day before we shot the scene I noticed [Bill McKinney] hovering beside Ned [Ned Beatty] and sat down between them. I wanted him to see I was Ned's friend. No different than in the script. Then I asked him how he planned to handle the rape scene. McKinney turned out to be a pretty good guy who just took "The Method" way too far. Staring straight at Ned, he whispered, "I've always wanted to try that. Always have." Ned shouted, "John! Oh, John!". In his brilliance, [John Boorman] reassured Ned but also brought in several additional cameras, knowing Ned wasn't going to give him a second, third or fourth take. Ned was only going to do the brutal scene once. When it came down to shooting it, [Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward] and McKinney were hands-down brilliant. Scared the shit out of everybody who saw the movie. People crawled out of the theater. None of that creepy "squeal, piggy, piggy" stuff was in the script. But McKinney, I swear to God, really wanted to hump Ned. And I think he was going to. He had it up and he was going to bang him. It's the first and only time I have ever seen camera operators turn their heads away. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I ran into the scene, dove on McKinney, and pulled him off. Boorman, hot on my tracks, helped hold him down. Ned, who was crying from both rage and fear, found a big stick and started beating him on the head. Half a dozen guys grabbed Ned and pulled him away. We separated the two of them and let things cool off.
- Striptease (1996) - $200,000
- Malone (1987) - $3,000,000
- Heat (1987) - $4,000,000
- Stick (1985) - $4,000,000
- City Heat (1984) - $4,000,000
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