Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds was an actor and director best known for his roles in Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance and Boogie Nights. Reynolds was raised in Riviera Beach, Florida, and attended Florida State University on a football scholarship. After a knee injury ended his athletic career, he studied at Palm Beach Junior College, where he discovered acting, and briefly trained at the Hyde Park Playhouse in New York.

Reynolds began acting in the late 1950s with roles on television series like Gunsmoke, Riverboat and Hawk. His looks and charisma led to more prominent roles in the 1970s, and his performance in the psychological thriller Deliverance (1972) was a turning point in his career. Throughout the decade, he became one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, known for his action comedies and Southern charm.

His most notable films include Smokey and the Bandit (1977), The Cannonball Run (1981), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and The Longest Yard (2005). In 1997, he earned an Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jack Horner in Boogie Nights (1997). He also starred in the sitcom Evening Shade, which earned him an Emmy in 1991.

Reynolds was married to actress Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965. He later tied the knot with Loni Anderson in 1988, and the two adopted son Quinton that same year before divorcing in 1994.

He died from a heart attack on September 6, 2018, at age 82.