Burt Reynolds, Hollywood Legend, Dies at 82

Hollywood legend and iconic actor Burt Reynolds has died at the age of 82, according to the Daily Mail.

The outlet reports that his cause of death was a heart attack, but an official coroners report will likely be forthcoming.

Reynolds began his long career in showbusiness back in the 1950s by doing stage acting. He made his Broadway debut in Look, We’ve Come Through and went on to star in plays such as Mister Roberts, alongside Charlton Heston.

He eventually made his way into television, making appearances in TV shows like Pony Express, Riverboat, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Reynolds’ first film role was in the 1961 George Hamilton-starring Angel Baby. That same year he also appeared in the war film Armored Command.

Throughout the 1960s Reynolds turned up in numerous television series, including The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, and Flipper.

While he had quite a bit under his belt already, his first major film came with the release of 1972s Deliverance, about a group of friends who set out on an excursion into the wilderness and end up getting much more than they bargained for.

In 1972 Reynolds made The Longest Yard, a movie about prison inmates who take on prison guards in a football match. That film was remade in 2005 with Reynolds turning up yet again.

A few years later, Reynolds put out Smokey and the Bandit with Sally Field co-starring. That career-defining film has gone on to be maybe his most recognizable role of all-time.

Interestingly, in March 2017 interview, Reynolds told the story of how he fought for Field to be cast in Smokey and the Bandit, arguing with producers who said she was not “sexy” enough for the role.

“I said, ‘You don’t get it. Talent is sexy… and she’s got that,’” Reynolds recalled.

Throughout the ’70s and ’80s Reynolds starred in a number of films before returning to his TV roots in the late ’80s/early ’90s with lead roles on shows like B.L. Stryker, Evening Shade, and Out of This World.

During this time he also starred in the family-comedy classic Cop & ½, about a young boy who witnesses a murder and had to work with the surly detective assigned to the case (Reynolds) to find the killer.

In 1996 Reynolds appeared opposite Demi Moore in the Striptease, which set him on a path to his comeback role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, a performance that earned him a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.

After this, Reynolds went on to star in numerous high-profile films such as Mystery, Alaska, The Crew, Without a Paddle, The Dukes of Hazzard, and In the Name of the King.

One of his final film roles was The Last Movie Star, in which he played Vic Edwards, an aging Hollywood star who was “a college football legend turned stunt double turned leading man.”

“Now, in his eighties, he’s convinced by an old friend to accept an invitation to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at a two-bit film festival in Nashville. The trip launches him on both a hilarious fish-out-of-water adventure and an unexpectedly poignant journey into his past.”

Reynolds once spoke about getting emotional during a screening of the film, revealing, “It was very close to me, this picture, because a lot of it that’s happening on-screen was happening to me.” He explained that both he and his character in the film deal with being told that they should “retire” and “get out of the business.”

He is survived by his adopted son Quinton.