Five things you didn’t know about Burt Reynolds

Film legend Burt Reynolds has died of a heart attack at the age of 82, his agent has confirmed.

The American actor, whose Hollywood career spanned more than half a century, passed away in a Florida hospital with his family by his side on Thursday afternoon.

Reynolds first found fame in 1972’s Deliverance. With his “easy-going charms and handsome looks”, he went on to claim a series of prominent roles in films such as Smokey and the Bandit, CNN reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“Though he hit a bit of a rough patch for a few years, all of that changed when Reynolds agreed to star in Boogie Nights, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 ode to pornography, which earned the actor a Golden Globe award, a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, and one of the biggest comebacks of the decade,” says online magazine Mental Floss.

Fellow celebrities have paid tribute to the actor following his death. A statement from former co-star and off-screen love interest Sally Field said: “There are times in your life that are so indelible, they never fade away. They stay alive, even 40 years later. My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live. Rest, Buddy.”

Here are five things you may not have known about Reynolds.

His military father disapproved of his acting

As a teenager, Reynolds “won a football scholarship to Florida State University” but a knee injury “ended his sporting prospects”, The BBC reports.

Instead, he turned to acting - a decision that did not please his police captain father, a Second World War hero who took part in the D-Day landings.

Describing the moment when he told his dad of his acting ambitions, during a 2015 interview, Reynolds said: “I think he laughed then he said, ‘How sweet.’ I don’t think he meant it… it wasn’t a happy day for him when I told him that I was going to go in the theatre.”

He turned down the chance to play James Bond

“Over the course of a near-60-year career, one is bound to pass on some prime roles,” says Mental Floss. “And Reynolds has turned down a lot, including Han Solo in Star Wars, R.P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman, and John McClane in Die Hard.”

But perhaps his most regrettable decision was turning down the opportunity to play James Bond, in 1969.

As Reynolds once told US talk-show host Jay Leno: “In my infinite wisdom, I said to [producer] Cubby Broccoli, ‘An American can’t play James Bond. It just can’t be done.’ And they really tried to talk me into it. It was a ten-minute discussion. Finally they left.”

The big-screen star joked: “Every night, I wake up in a cold sweat.”

He had a music career

In 1973, Reynolds released his first and only album, a country music collection titled Ask Me What I Am.

“The album did surprisingly well,” says news site Kiwi Report. “As part of its promotion, a double-sized poster of the actor-turned-singer appearing in his famous jumpsuit and a cowboy hat was created for his many adoring fans.”

A botched stunt left him with lifelong pain

During the filming of 1984’s City Heat, Reynolds was struck in the face by a metal chair, shattering his jawbone.

As a result, he developed temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) and ended up losing 40lb (18kg), because he was unable to eat solid food.

“The shocking weight loss fuelled speculation that Reynolds had contracted Aids, a rumor he spent years refuting,” says Mental Floss.

The injury caused him pain for the rest of his life.

He owned a football team named after one of his films

Reynolds was part-owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits, a team that played in the United States Football League (USFL), for four years from 1982.

The team’s name came from his film, Smokey and the Bandit, and its mascot was called Smokey. The franchise folded, along with the rest of the USFL, in 1986.