Burt Reynolds was voted the world's number one box-office star from 1978 to 1982 in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, a record he shares with Bing Crosby.
91 Facts About Burt Reynolds
2.
Burt Reynolds's family descended from Dutch, English, Scots-Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
3.
Burt Reynolds did not return to the university for almost two years.
4.
When Burt Reynolds returned to Florida State in 1957, he rejoined the football team, although his leg injured in the car accident slowed him down.
5.
Burt Reynolds was blamed, fairly or not, for the team's loss to North Carolina State on October 12,1957.
6.
Burt Reynolds cast him in the lead role based on having heard him read Shakespeare in class, leading to his winning the 1956 Florida State Drama Award for his performance.
7.
Burt Reynolds saw the opportunity as an agreeable alternative to more physically demanding summer jobs, but did not yet see acting as a possible career.
8.
Burt Reynolds had the kind of lovely personality that made you want to do something for him.
9.
Burt Reynolds was cast in Tea and Sympathy at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.
10.
Burt Reynolds was told he could not be in the film because he looked too much like Marlon Brando.
11.
Logan advised Burt Reynolds to go to Hollywood, although Burt Reynolds did not feel confident enough to do so.
12.
Burt Reynolds worked in a variety of jobs, such as waiting tables, washing dishes, driving a delivery truck and as a bouncer at the Roseland Ballroom.
13.
Burt Reynolds wrote that, while working as a dockworker, he was offered $150 to jump through a glass window on a live television show.
14.
Burt Reynolds began acting on television in the late 1950s, guest starring on shows like Flight, M Squad, Schlitz Playhouse, The Lawless Years and Pony Express.
15.
Burt Reynolds made his film debut in the low budget Angel Baby, billed fourth.
16.
Burt Reynolds followed it with a role in a war film, Armored Command.
17.
Burt Reynolds continued to guest star on shows such as Naked City, Ripcord, Everglades, Route 66, Perry Mason, and The Twilight Zone.
18.
The producers developed a new character, "halfbreed" blacksmith Quint Asper: Burt Reynolds was cast, beating over 300 other contenders.
19.
Burt Reynolds was cast in his first lead role in a film, the low-budget action film, Operation CIA.
20.
Burt Reynolds was given the title role in a TV series, Hawk, playing Native American detective John Hawk.
21.
Burt Reynolds played another Native American in the Spaghetti Western Navajo Joe shot in Spain.
22.
Burt Reynolds guest starred on Gentle Ben and made a pilot for a TV series, Lassiter, where he would have played a magazine journalist.
23.
Burt Reynolds then made a series of films in quick succession.
24.
Burt Reynolds described Fade In as "the best thing I've ever done", but it was not released for a number of years, and the director, Jud Taylor, took his name off.
25.
Burt Reynolds then starred in two TV films: Hunters Are for Killing and Run, Simon, Run.
26.
In Hunters Are for Killing, his character was originally a Native American, but Burt Reynolds requested this element be changed, feeling he had played that role too many times already, and it was not needed for the character anyway.
27.
The series was given a full-season order of 26 episodes based on the reputation of Martin and Burt Reynolds but struggled in the ratings against Hawaii Five-0 and was not renewed.
28.
Burt Reynolds was offered other TV pilots but was reluctant to play a detective again.
29.
Burt Reynolds was so popular as a guest that he was offered his own talk show but he wanted to continue as an actor.
30.
Burt Reynolds had his breakthrough role in Deliverance, directed by John Boorman, who cast him on the basis of a talk show appearance.
31.
Burt Reynolds gained notoriety around this time when he began a well-publicized relationship with Dinah Shore, who was 20 years his senior, and after he posed naked in the April 1972 issue of Cosmopolitan.
32.
Burt Reynolds returned to the stage, appearing in The Rainmaker at the Arlington.
33.
Burt Reynolds had the title role in Shamus, playing a modern-day private eye.
34.
Burt Reynolds was in The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, co-starring Sarah Miles.
35.
Burt Reynolds was meant to reunite with Boorman in Zardoz, but fell ill and was replaced by Sean Connery.
36.
Burt Reynolds made a sports comedy with Robert Aldrich, The Longest Yard which was popular.
37.
Burt Reynolds then appeared in two big-budget fiascos: At Long Last Love, a musical for Peter Bogdanovich, and Lucky Lady with Gene Hackman and Liza Minnelli.
38.
Burt Reynolds did a cameo for Mel Brooks in Silent Movie.
39.
Burt Reynolds made his directorial debut in 1976 with Gator, the sequel to White Lightning, written by Norton.
40.
Burt Reynolds was reunited with Bogdanovich for the screwball comedy, Nickelodeon, which was a commercial disappointment.
41.
Burt Reynolds had the biggest hit of his career with a car-chase film, Smokey and the Bandit, directed by Hal Needham and co-starring Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, and Sally Field.
42.
Burt Reynolds followed it with a comedy about football players, Semi-Tough, co-starring Jill Clayburgh and Kris Kristofferson and produced by David Merrick.
43.
Burt Reynolds then directed his second film, The End, a black comedy, playing a role originally written for Woody Allen.
44.
Burt Reynolds turned down the role played by Alan Alda in California Suite because he felt the part was too small.
45.
Burt Reynolds played a jewel thief in Rough Cut produced by Merrick, who fired and then rehired director Don Siegel during filming.
46.
Burt Reynolds had two huge hits with more car films directed by Needham, Smokey and the Bandit II and The Cannonball Run.
47.
Burt Reynolds starred in David Steinberg's film Paternity and directed himself in a tough action film, Sharky's Machine.
48.
In 1982, Burt Reynolds was voted the most popular star in the US for the fifth year in a row.
49.
Burt Reynolds said in 1987 that "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim" but Stroker Ace flopped.
50.
Burt Reynolds felt this was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered.
51.
Burt Reynolds returned to directing with Stick, from an Elmore Leonard novel, but it was both a critical and commercial failure.
52.
Burt Reynolds attempted a screwball comedy, Switching Channels, but it was a box-office disappointment.
53.
Burt Reynolds received excellent reviews for the caper comedy Breaking In, but the commercial reception was poor.
54.
Burt Reynolds then starred in a sitcom, Evening Shade as former Pittsburgh Steelers player Woodward "Wood" Newton.
55.
Burt Reynolds credited this role for his membership in Steeler Nation.
56.
When Evening Shade ended, Burt Reynolds played the lead in a horror film, The Maddening.
57.
Burt Reynolds was a supporting actor in Frankenstein and Me, Mad Dog Time, The Cherokee Kid, Meet Wally Sparks with Rodney Dangerfield, and Bean with Rowan Atkinson.
58.
Burt Reynolds had the lead in Raven, a straight-to-video action film.
59.
Burt Reynolds appeared as an adult film director in the hit film Boogie Nights, which was considered a comeback role for him; he received 12 acting awards and three nominations for the role, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Burt Reynolds' first and only nomination for the award.
60.
Burt Reynolds had the lead in Big City Blues and supporting roles in Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business.
61.
Burt Reynolds returned to directing with Hard Time, an action TV film starring himself.
62.
Burt Reynolds starred in the straight-to-video The Hunter's Moon, Stringer, and Waterproof.
63.
Burt Reynolds played supporting roles in Pups and Mystery, Alaska, and had the lead in The Crew alongside Richard Dreyfuss.
64.
Burt Reynolds directed The Last Producer, starring himself, and was second-billed in Renny Harlin's Driven, starring Sylvester Stallone.
65.
Burt Reynolds was in Tempted, Hotel, and The Hollywood Sign.
66.
Burt Reynolds voiced Avery Carrington in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, released in 2002.
67.
Burt Reynolds was top-billed in Snapshots with Julie Christie, Time of the Wolf, and Hard Ground, and had supporting roles in Johnson County War with Tom Berenger, and Miss Lettie and Me with Mary Tyler Moore.
68.
Burt Reynolds was in a series of supporting roles that referred to earlier performances: Without a Paddle, a riff on his role in Deliverance, The Longest Yard, a remake of his 1974 hit with Adam Sandler playing Reynolds' old role ; and The Dukes of Hazzard as Boss Hogg in a nod to his performances in 1970s car-chase films.
69.
Burt Reynolds continued to play lead roles in films such as Cloud 9, Forget About It, Deal, and A Bunch of Amateurs, and supporting parts in End Game, Grilled, Broken Bridges, In the Name of the King, Not Another Not Another Movie, and Reel Love.
70.
Burt Reynolds voiced himself as the Mayor of Steelport in Saints Row: The Third, released in 2011.
71.
Burt Reynolds voiced himself in the animated series Archer, in the episode "The Man from Jupiter".
72.
Burt Reynolds was top billed in Category 5 and Elbow Grease and could be seen in key roles in Pocket Listing, and Hollow Creek.
73.
Burt Reynolds returned to a regular role on TV in Hitting the Breaks but it only ran for ten episodes.
74.
Burt Reynolds was in Apple of My Eye and took the lead in The Last Movie Star.
75.
Burt Reynolds appeared posthumously in the 2019 film An Innocent Kiss as well as in the 2020 film Defining Moments, which includes his final performance.
76.
In May 2018, Burt Reynolds had joined the cast for Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as George Spahn, but he died before shooting his scenes and was later replaced by Bruce Dern.
77.
Burt 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".
78.
Burt Reynolds had a relationship from 1976 to 1980 with American actress Sally Field, during which time they appeared together in four films.
79.
Burt Reynolds was married to American actress Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1994.
80.
Burt Reynolds was a lifelong fan of American football, a result of his collegiate career, and was a minority owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL from 1982 to 1986.
81.
The team's name was inspired by the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy and Skoal Bandit, a primary sponsor for the team as a result of sponsoring Burt Reynolds' motor racing team.
82.
Burt Reynolds co-owned a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team, Mach 1 Racing, with Hal Needham, which ran the No 33 Skoal Bandit car with driver Harry Gant.
83.
Burt Reynolds 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.
84.
Burt Reynolds owned the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Jupiter, Florida, with a focus on training young performers looking to enter show business.
85.
Burt Reynolds operated it until 1989 and leased it until 1996.
86.
Burt Reynolds was restricted to a liquid diet and lost thirty pounds from not eating.
87.
Burt Reynolds underwent back surgery in 2009 and a quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery in February 2010.
88.
Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, on September 6,2018, at the age of 82.
89.
Burt Reynolds' body was cremated and his ashes were given to his niece, Nancy Lee Brown Hess.
90.
Burt Reynolds was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on February 11,2021.
91.
In September 2021, a bronze bust of Burt Reynolds was placed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.