Burt Reynolds’ Stuntman Brother James Hooks Reynolds Dead at 83

Six months after legendary actor Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack, his brother has also died, RadarOnline reports.

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office in Florida told the outlet that James Hooks Reynolds, also known as Jimmy, died in Hollywood, Florida on Friday, March 15. He was 83.

A spokesperson for the office added that no autopsy was performed. A source told Radar that the stuntman, who was estranged from his adopted brother for years, suffered a heart attack and that the Reynolds family believes Jimmy died of a “broken heart” after being left out of Burt’s funeral last year.

A friend of Jimmy’s widow, Maria Reynolds, said that Burt’s ex-wife, Loni Anderson, “didn’t invite Jimmy to his own brother’s funeral, and it broke his heart. He never recovered.”

Following Burt’s funeral in September, Jimmy reportedly underwent knee surgery and hurt his hip. Ultimately, “he died in his wife’s arms,” according to the source. “He was so loved and will be missed.”

Two days after Reynolds was honored by friends and family on Sept. 19, 2018, Radar reported that Anderson, son Quinton and niece Nancy Lee Brown Hess held a private memorial for Burt — but left Jimmy out of the event.

“He is so sad and upset he couldn’t say goodbye alongside his family,” Jimmy’s wife Maria told the publication at the time.

Like Jimmy, Anderson also reportedly had a difficult relationship with Burt. The couple married in 1988 and divorced in 1993, with Anderson claiming years later that Burt had physically abused her. She wrote about the alleged abuse in her 1995 autobiography, My Life in High Heels, where she spoke candidly about Burt’s struggles with addiction.

“The physical abuse I always blamed on the drugs,” Anderson wrote at the time.

Maria told Radar at the time that Anderson blamed Jimmy for not protecting her; she added that Jimmy regretted not coming forward sooner about the abuse.

“Jimmy knew all Burt’s secrets, but that doesn’t mean he agreed with him or accepted all of it,” Maria said at the time.

Despite the fact that Jimmy and Burt were estranged, Maria said Jimmy was still hurt by the decision to leave him out of the private funeral. “No one at the funeral knew Burt like his brother,” Maria said. “He looks back now and, of course, apologizes. But to leave him out of the funeral is horrible. It breaks his heart.”

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