He was one of the male sex icons: Who is Burt Reynolds?
He was an athlete, maybe he would have been a football player. But fate drew him to another path, the object of women's desire became a movie actor. Reynolds was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Cinema and TV actor Burton Leon Reynolds was born on February 11, 1936, in America.
Reynolds was remembered for his roles as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Paul Crewe in The Longest Yard, Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, McClure in The Cannonball Run, and Jack Horner in Boogie Nights. He has appeared in over 1990 movies and over 300 episodes of TV series. It remained at number one on the charts between 1978 and 1982.
Some considered him one of the "sex icons" of the period.
However, his career went into decline in the 1980s, and he lost a lot of money when his investments in the Florida football team and some restaurants failed.
He was also nominated for an Oscar for his role as a porn film director in the 1997 movie "Boogie Nights".
Reynolds had bypass surgery due to heart disease in 2010, and his son Quinton saved his life.
Famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger called Reynolds "one of his heroes" in a message he shared on Twitter after his death.
Schwarzenegger said, "He was an example of the transformation of an athlete into the highest-paid actor and he always inspired me. He also had a great sense of humor."
Life story
Reynolds was born on February 11, 1936, in Waycross, Georgia, USA, as the son of Fern H. (Miller) and Burton Milo Reynolds. His real name is Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. He graduated from Palm Beach High School in 1954. He moved to Florida for college and studied at Florida State University for two years on a football scholarship. When he was injured, he left football and school in 1958 and went to New York to become a movie actor.
In 1955, he started acting in the television series "Gunsmoke". Then, he starred in the TV series "Riverboat" in 1959 and "Hawk" in 1966, in which he played the role of Detective Lieutenant John Hawk.
In 1973, he increased his popularity by portraying the character of private detective Shamus McCoy in the movie "Shamus - The Great Heist".
In 1972, he starred in the Woody Allen comedy "I'm Not Afraid of Sex".
Smokey and the Bandit was engraved in memories by starring in all 3 series of the movie.
In 1984, he played the character of Mike Murphy in the movie "City Heat", opposite Clint Eastwood.
In 1988, he was offered the role of John McClane in the movie "Die Hard", but when he did not accept it, the role was given to Bruce Willis.
He won an Emmy Award for his role in the TV series “Evening Shade,” which began in 1990.
In 2001, he starred with Sylvester Stallone in the movie "Racer" - "Driven". In 2005, he starred with Adam Sandler in the movie "The Longest Distance".
Burt Reynolds married actress Judy Carne on June 28, 1963. They divorced on July 9, 1965.
In the early 1970s, he had a love affair with film actress Dinah Shore, who was 20 years his senior, for many years.
He married actress Loni Anderson on April 29, 1988, and divorced on June 17, 1994. He has a son named Quinton Anderson Reynolds (born August 31, 1988).
He became engaged to Pam Seals in January 1998.
Burt Reynolds passed away on September 6, 2018, in Jupiter, Florida, at the age of 82.
Awards:
1991 - Emmy Awards - Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series (Evening Shade)
1991 - Golden Globe Awards - Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Series (Evening Shade)
1997 - Golden Globe Awards - Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Boogie Nights)