Everything about Burt Reynolds totally explained
Burton Leon Reynolds, Jr. (born
February 11,
1936) is an
American Oscar-nominated and
Emmy Award-winning
actor. Some of his memorable roles include Lewis Medlock in
Deliverance, Paul Crewe in the original version of
The Longest Yard, Bo 'Bandit' Darville in
Smokey and the Bandit, J.J. McClure in
The Cannonball Run and Jack Horner in
Boogie Nights.
Burt is one of America's most recognizable film and television personalities. With more than 90 feature film and 300 television episode credits, he was the number-one box-office attraction for five straight years (1978-82).
Early life
Reynolds' parents were Fern and Burton Reynolds, who was of half-
Cherokee Indian descent. Reynolds states in his
autobiography that his family was living in Lansing when Burt Senior was
drafted into the
United States Army. Burt Junior, his mother and his sister joined Burt Senior at
Fort Leonard Wood, where they lived for two years. Burt Junior has stated that his first memories are of playing in the
Ozark woods at Fort Leonard Wood. When Burt Senior was sent to Europe, the family returned to
Lansing, Michigan. After a short while, the Reynolds family moved to northern Michigan, across the road from his maternal grandparents' farm. Burt Junior started attending school in
Merritt, Michigan, where he felt he didn't belong among the Native American, farm and backwoods children who made up most of the student body.
Burt Senior was discharged from the Army in late 1945. In early 1946, while Burt Junior's parents were on a second honeymoon in
Florida, Burt Senior was offered a job as
general contractor for a new housing development in
Riviera Beach, Florida. Burt Junior moved to Riviera Beach with his parents, while his sister stayed in Michigan to finish the school year. The Reynolds at first lived in a
mobile home, but Burt Senior bought the first house that was completed in the new subdivision.
Burt Junior thought he was in paradise. He had access to the
Everglades to the west, the shore of the
Lake Worth Lagoon to the east, and further east, across the Blue Heron Boulevard bridge to Singer Island, the
Atlantic Ocean. He was fascinated by the
Conch fishermen and their families who made up most of the population of Riviera Beach.
After two years Burt Senior's contractor job ended, and the Reynolds bought a lunch counter and sundry store next to the bridge to Singer Island. As the business was close to a large dock and some fish and shrimp packing houses, business was good. Soon after, Burt Senior was recruited as a police officer for Riviera Beach. When the police chief died a few years later, Burt Senior became the chief.
As the Reynolds family home was at the north edge of Riviera Beach, Burt Junior attended school in
Lake Park, just to the north of Riviera Beach. While Burt Junior was in seventh grade, the
Palm Beach County School Board decided that there were too few seventh grade students in the school to justify a teacher's salary, and Burt was transferred to Central Junior High School (now
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts) in
West Palm Beach. Burt felt lost at the big school, and started hanging out with
greasers and skipping school. He also began showing off with dangerous stunts, such as diving off the top of a raised
drawbridge, and jumping from an
airboat onto the back of a running deer.
When Burt Junior was twelve he became friends with Jimmy Hooks. After learning that Jimmy was being physically abused in his home, Burt Junior took Jimmy home with him and told his parents he wanted Jimmy to be his brother. The Reynolds took Jimmy in. The Reynolds officially adopted Jimmy Hooks years later, when he was in his twenties.
When Burt Junior was fourteen he tried out for
football team at Central Junior High. He had never played organized sports, but worked hard at practice, earned his
letterman's sweater, and was named to the county
all-star team. The next year, when Burt Junior entered high school, he made the
varsity team, but didn't have much opportunity to play. In his
junior year Reynolds had more opportunity to play. Seeing his ability, and foreseeing that he was likely to receive
scholarship offers, one of Reynolds coaches persuaded him to take the courses necessary to enter a college. In his
senior year Reynolds was named First Team All State and All
Southern as a
fullback, and received multiple scholarship offers. His most notable performance came against Swartz Creek High School where he rushed for 310 yards and four touchdowns while playing with a strained calf muscle.
College
After graduating from
Palm Beach High School in
West Palm Beach, Florida, Reynolds attended
Florida State University on a
college football scholarship, becoming an all-star
halfback. While at Florida State, Reynolds joined the
Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, the football team's fraternity of choice. He was anticipating a very good season his second year, with expectations of being named to All American teams, and an eventual career in professional football. In the first game of the season Reynolds tore the cartilage in his knee. He made the injury worse by trying to play again later in the game, and then again in a couple of games late in the season. On Christmas break that year, Reynolds ran his father's car up under a flatbed trailer that was sitting across a dark street. The car was wedged under the trailer, and it took rescuers seven and a half hours to remove Reynolds from the wreckage. He had multiple injuries, including his knee, shoulder, some broken ribs, and a ruptured
spleen, the last of which was removed in emergency surgery.
With his college football career ended, Reynolds considered becoming a police officer, but his father suggested that he finish college and become a
parole officer. In order to keep up with his studies he began taking classes at
Palm Beach Junior College (PBJC) in neighboring
Lake Park. In his first term at PBJC Reynolds was in a class taught by
Watson B. Duncan III. Duncan pushed Reynolds into trying out for a play he was producing,
Outward Bound. He cast Reynolds in the lead, based on his impressions from listening to Reynolds read Shakespeare in class. Reynolds won the 1956 Florida State Drama Award for his performance in
Outward Bound. Reynolds calls Duncan his
mentor and the most-influential person in his life.
Career
The Florida State Drama Award included a scholarship to the Hyde Park Playhouse, a
summer stock theater, in
Hyde Park, New York. Reynolds saw the opportunity as an agreeable alternative to more physically demanding summer jobs, but didn't yet see acting as a career. While working at Hyde Park Reynolds met
Joanne Woodward, who helped Reynolds find an agent, and be cast in
Tea and Sympathy at the
Neighborhood Playhouse in
New York City. Reynolds received favorable reviews for his performance in
Tea and Sympathy. Reynolds then went on tour with
Tea and Sympathy, driving the bus as well as appearing on stage.
After the tour Reynolds returned to New York and enrolled in acting classes. His classmates included
Frank Gifford,
Carol Lawrence,
Red Buttons and
Jan Murray. After a botched improvisation in acting class, Reynolds briefly considered returning to Florida, but he soon got a part in a revival of
Mister Roberts, with
Charlton Heston as the star. After the play closed, the director,
John Forsythe, arranged a movie audition with
Josh Logan for Reynolds. The movie was
Sayonara, and Reynolds was told he couldn't be in the movie because he looked too much like
Marlon Brando. Logan advised Reynolds to go to
Hollywood, but Reynolds didn't feel confident enough to do so.
Reynolds worked odd jobs while waiting for acting opportunities. He waited tables, washed dishes, drove a delivery truck and worked as a
bouncer at the
Roseland Ballroom. It was while working as a
dockworker that Reynolds was offered $150 to jump through a glass window on a live television show.
He made his Broadway debut in
Look, We've Come Through. Reynolds first starred on
television, in the 1950s series,
Riverboat, and went on to appear in a number of other shows, including a role as
blacksmith Quint Asper on
Gunsmoke from
1962-
1965.
His film debut was in 1961, in the movie
Angel Baby. At the urging of friend
Clint Eastwood, Reynolds used his TV fame to secure leading roles in overseas low budget films, commonly called "
Spaghetti Westerns". (Eastwood advised Reynolds from experience, as he'd done the same). Reynolds first Spaghetti Western,
Navajo Joe, came out in 1966. These low budget starring roles established Reynolds as a bankable leading man in movies, and earned him starring roles in American big-budget motion pictures. His breakout performance in
Deliverance in 1972 made him a star. The same year, Reynolds gained notoriety when he posed naked in the April (Vol. 172, No. 4) issue of
Cosmopolitan Magazine.
Reynolds claims he was offered the role of
James Bond by producer
Albert R. Broccoli, after
Sean Connery left the franchise. Reynolds turned the role down, saying "An American can't play James Bond. It just can't be done." In 1973, he released the album
Ask Me What I Am. He would also sing in
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Reynolds appeared on
ABC's
The American Sportsman hosted by outdoors
journalist Grits Gresham, who took celebrities on
hunting,
fishing, and
shooting trips around the world.
On
March 15,
1978, Reynolds earned a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in the same year built a
dinner theatre in
Jupiter, Florida. His celebrity was such that he drew not only big-name stars to appear in productions but sell-out audiences as well. He sold the venue in the early 1990s.
In the 1980s, after
Smokey and the Bandit, he became
typecast in similar, less well-done and less successful movies. Comedian and actor
Robert Wuhl, in a standup act in the late 80s, said that "Burt Reynolds makes so many bad movies, when someone else makes a bad movie Burt gets a
royalty!" He had his hand at producing a television show with friend
Bert Convy in 1987,
Win, Lose or Draw. He even appeared as a celebrity gameplayer in a few episodes of the show.
During the first half of the 1990s, he was the star of the
CBS television series
Evening Shade, for which he won an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1991). Reynolds started a comeback with the movie
Striptease in 1996, and the critically acclaimed
Boogie Nights, in 1997, put his career back on track. He was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in
Boogie Nights and won a
Golden Globe Award for the movie. He was considered a front-runner for the Supporting Oscar, but ultimately lost to
Robin Williams, who won it for his role in
Good Will Hunting.
In early 2000, he created and toured
Burt Reynolds' One Man Show. In 2002, he lent his voice to the character
Avery Carrington in the controversial video game .
In 2005, he co-starred in two remakes: the first released was of
The Longest Yard, this time with
Adam Sandler playing the role of Paul Crewe, the role Reynolds had played in the 1974 original. This time around, Reynolds took on the role of Nate Scarborough. The second was of the hit 1980s TV series
The Dukes of Hazzard, as
Boss Hogg.
He starred in the
audio book version of
The Worst Case Scenario Handbook. In May 2006, Reynolds began appearing in
Miller Lite beer commercials. In
2007 at the
World Stuntman Awards he was awarded the Taurus Lifetime Achievement Award. While presenting him with the award
Arnold Schwarzenegger referred to him as the greatest of the great.
Southern filmmaking
Although Reynolds had already made eleven films, his performance as Lewis, the macho
Atlanta businessman in the
1972 film adaptation of
James Dickey's novel
Deliverance, signaled the beginning of his box-office popularity. Hailed as one of the year's best films,
Deliverance is the story of four suburbanites' harrowing journey into
Appalachian Georgia. Filmed on Georgia's
Chattooga River,
Deliverance also marked the beginning of Reynolds's devotion to making films in and about the South.
The following year Reynolds was persuaded to play the role of a
moonshiner in the film
White Lightning after the filmmakers promised to shoot in the
South.
White Lightning, which was filmed in
Arkansas, broke attendance records nationwide, and the film's success encouraged
Hollywood studios to make more southern films. In
1976 Reynolds both starred in and made his directorial debut with
Gator, the sequel to
White Lightning. Deciding to shoot
Gator entirely in Georgia, Reynolds announced that “I have this violent urge to get behind the camera... I want to say some nice things about the South.”
In
1974 Reynolds starred in
The Longest Yard, which was filmed at the
Georgia State Prison in
Reidsville. In the film Reynolds portrays a former athletic star forced to compete in a life-and-death
football game. Many inmates served as extras and helped to construct the sets, including a football field that was given to the prison after filming was complete.
Governor Jimmy Carter played a key role in the orchestration of the project and, according to Reynolds, promised that he "would personally come in and take me out if anything happened." The film,
remade in 2005 with Reynolds in the role of Coach Nate Scarborough was popular with audiences, but not with critics.
During the next few years Reynolds continued his pattern of choosing southern-themed films that were often shot, at least partially, in the South. In the
1975 film
W. W. and the Dixie Dance Kings, filmed in
Nashville, Tennessee, he played the fast-talking, gas station robbing manager of a group of country musicians whose collective dream is to one day play the
Grand Ole Opry. Two years later,
Smokey and the Bandit, which also features the Georgia musician
Jerry Reed, was released and is one of Reynolds's best-known and loved films. Filmed entirely in Georgia, the successful comedy was followed in
1980 by
Smokey and the Bandit II, which was filmed partially in Georgia.
Reynolds's next film,
The Cannonball Run 1981, was shot almost entirely in Georgia, referred to as "Burt's good luck state" by the director,
Hal Needham. That same year Reynolds directed and starred in
Sharky's Machine. Filmed entirely in
Atlanta, the movie features Reynolds as a narcotics officer investigating the murder of a prostitute in the city.
During these years, Reynolds starred in a number of other notable films, including
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing 1973;
Semi-Tough 1977;
The End 1978, which he also directed;
Starting Over 1979; and
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 1982, which was filmed mostly in
Texas.
Personal life
Relationships
At various points in his life, Reynolds was romantically involved with
Dinah Shore,
Sally Field, and
Chris Evert. His relationship with Shore garnered particular attention given the fact she was 20 years his senior. Reynolds was married to actress/comedienne
Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965, and actress
Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1993, with whom he adopted a son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds.
E! Online reports that he dated
Kate Edelman Johnson from 2003 to 2005.
His autobiography, titled
My Life, was published in 1994 with much writing help from his close personal friend, Al Glasgow.
Sports team owner
On
July 3,
1982, Reynolds lived out one of his dreams by once again getting involved with a sport that still holds a certain soft spot in his heart, by becoming a co-owner of the
Tampa Bay Bandits, a professional football team in the
USFL. Other owners included
John Bassett, a Canadian movie producer, and
Stephen Arky, an attorney from Miami. Reynolds was a general partner of the team from 1982 to 1985, the entire existence of the
USFL. The team held a winning record in every year. In
1983 they went 11–7–0 in the Central Division but didn't make the playoffs. In
1984 they went 14–4–0 in the Southern Division and lost in the conference semifinals to the
Birmingham Stallions 36–17. In
1985 they went 10–8–0 in the Eastern Conference but lost in the quarterfinals to the
Oakland Invaders 30–27.
Reynolds also co-owned a
NASCAR Winston Cup team with
Hal Needham, which ran the #33
Skoal Bandits car, with driver
Harry Gant.
Filmography
Awards and achievements
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
1998 Best Ensemble Cast (for Boogie Nights)
Online Film Critics Society Awards
1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
Viewers For Quality Television Awards
1991 Best Actor in a Quality Comedy Series (for Evening Shade)
Crystal Reel Awards
2002 Lifetime Achievement Award
Satellite Awards
1998 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Boogie Nights)
ShoWest Convention, USA
1998 Supporting Actor of the Year (for Boogie Nights)
Golden Boot Awards
1990 Golden Boot
National Association of Theater Owners
1980 Male Star of the Year Award
1978 Male Star of the Year Award
Razzie Awards
1997 Worst Screen Couple (for Striptease)
1994 Worst Actor (for Cop and ½)
Honorary recognitions
Reynolds has received a number of honorary recognitions over the years, mostly keys to various cities, or deputy badges from being deputized.
Keys to the cities of: Hollywood, Florida / Miami Beach, Florida / Ocala, Florida / Orlando, Florida / Palm Beach County, Florida / West Palm Beach, Florida/ Buena Park, California / Oxnard, California / Savannah, Georgia / Niagara Falls, New York / Clark County, Nevada / Piggott, Arkansas
Deputy Sheriff Badges: Leon County, Florida / Tallahassee, Florida / Tampa, Florida / Mitchell County, Georgia / Ramsey County, Minnesota / Hawaii / South Carolina / Warrensville Township, Ohio / Arizona / Buffalo, New York City Police / / Jefferson Parish, Louisiana / Los Angeles County, California
The X Files: Improbable:
Reynolds guest starred with Gillian Anderson, Robert Patrick, and Annabeth Gish in an episode of The X Files. The episode, Improbable, aired in 2002 (Season 9 of the X Files). Improbable was about a murderer who chose his victims by their numerology. Burt Reynolds character, Mr. Burt, was a gambler and loved to play checkers. Though never outwardly mentioned, Mr. Burt is actually God trying to steer the killer away from his numerological destiny of murder. This episode ended with an overview of Las Vegas which was shaped like Mr. Burt's head. Improbable was also known for it's unusual soundtrack by Karl Zero for The X Files.Further Information
Get more info on 'Burt Reynolds'.
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