Hollywood star Burt Reynolds dies at 82
Burt Reynolds, who shot to stardom as a Hollywood heartthrob in the Seventies, died yesterday at the age of 82. His publicist said he died after suffering a heart attack in Florida. Reynolds starred in more than 80 films, including The Longest Yard, Smokey and the Bandit and Deliverance.
‘He showed the way to transition from being an athlete to being the highest paid actor ... he inspired me’
BURT REYNOLDS, whose moustache and twinkling eyes made him a Seventies Hollywood heart-throb, died yesterday at the age of 82. His publicist said he had suffered a heart attack in Florida.
Reynolds starred in more than 80 films, including The Longest Yard, Smokey and the Bandit, and Boogie Nights, for which he won an Oscar nomination.
At the peak of his career he was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, combining rugged good looks with an easy charm. His heart-throb status even led to him posing naked for Cosmopolitan in 1972 – a strategically positioned arm preserving his modesty.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was among the Hollywood stars to pay tribute “He was a trailblazer,” he said.
“He showed the way to transition from being an athlete to being the highest paid actor, and he always inspired me.”
Reynolds, whose hopes of becoming a professional American football player were dashed by a string of injuries, had starred in TV shows such as Gunsmoke and Dan August before landing the role of Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, which proved to be a breakout performance.
Many of his subsequent films were set in the South and showcased his strength playing lovable rascals who outwit the authorities, such as the 1977 action comedy Smokey and the Bandit and its two sequels. But he claimed to have turned down a string of high-profile roles including James Bond, Han Solo in Star Wars and John Mcclane in Die Hard.
He often said he would rather enjoy himself than push his acting abilities to their limit. “I didn’t open myself to new writers or risky parts because I wasn’t interested in challenging myself as an actor. I was interested in having a good time,” he wrote in his 2015 memoir, But Enough About Me.
“As a result, I missed a lot of opportunities to show I could play serious roles. By the time I finally woke up and tried to get it right, nobody would give me a chance.”