Burt & Sally’s Love Story

Not long after they started shooting 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit, sparks flew between Burt and Sally. “About a third of the way into filming, I was in the car with Sally and there was this little moment where we kind of looked at each other, and then we both turned and looked over at [director] Hal [Needham],” Burt recalls. “He gave us a thumbs up and said, ‘Yeah!’ And we knew there was some magic going on.”

Their rapport lasted through five years and four films (including 1980’s Smokey and the Bandit II), but tension flared between the couple. Burt became Hollywood’s top box-office draw, yet Sally’s star rose in a different way. She grew into one of the industry’s most respected actresses, winning an Oscar for 1979’s Norma Rae, while the Academy gave Burt the cold shoulder, snubbing him that same year for his acclaimed turn in Starting Over.

Burt and Sally had each endured failed marriages — him to LaughIn alum Judy Carne and her to high school sweetheart Steven Craig — and she had two young sons. Burt was gun-shy about remarrying and wasn’t ready to be a father. “He was still a kid,” says biographer Marc Eliot.

Ultimately, “Burt broke up with Sally because she was pressuring him to get married,” says Eliot. It’s a decision Burt regrets to this day. “I don’t know why I was so stupid,” he says. “You find the perfect person, then you do everything you can to screw it up. She’s the love of my life.”

The happy couple in ’78 — when Burt became the world’s No. 1 box-office star.

Their explosive chemistry fueled Smokey and the Bandit to earn $126 million in 1977.

The pair re-teamed on screen a year later for the hit stuntman comedy Hooper.

Burt directed Sally in 1978’s The End, a dark comedy about death.