Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds dies from heart attack, aged 82

Hollywood icon, sex symbol, legend: Deliverance star Burt Reynolds dies of a heart attack, age 82, following a decade of health struggles

• Actor went into cardiac arrest and died at Jupiter Medical in Florida on Thursday
• Reynolds was best known for his roles in 1972’s Deliverance, 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit, and 1997’s Boogie Nights
• He was also filming Tarantino’s new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Reynolds had been battling health issues for some time and in 2010 he underwent heart surgery
• He also struggled with addiction and in 2009, Reynolds checked into rehab for an addiction to prescription drugs
• The star was married twice, both ending in divorce to actresses Loni Anderson and Judy Carne, with whom he had a son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds
• He described the love of his life as ex-girlfriend Sally Field, his Smokey costar whom he dated on-off for five years in the ’70s and ’80s
• Tributes have begun pouring in for Reynolds from his many costars, friends and fans including Goldie Hawn, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Elihaj Wood
• His ex girlfriend, and the ‘one that got away’ Sally Field, 71, also paid tribute saying he ‘will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live’

Burt Reynolds has died at the age of 82 from a heart attack.

The actor went into cardiac arrest and died at Jupiter Medical in Florida on Thursday morning, surrounded by his family, manager Erik Kritzer told the Hollywood Reporter.

Reynolds was best known for his roles in 1972’s Deliverance, 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit, and 1997’s Boogie Nights – the last of which earned him an Oscar nomination.

He was also filming Quentin Tarantino’s new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood alongside Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio at the time of his death. The film is expected to hit theaters in 2019.

His ex girlfriend, and the ‘one that got away’ Sally Field, 71, has paid tribute to the Hollywood legend.

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Burt Reynolds (pictured in April 2018 at the Palm Beach International Film Festival) has died at the age of 82 from a heart attack

‘There are times in your life that are so indelible, they never fade away,’ she told US Magazine. ‘They stay alive, even forty 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.’

Tributes have also been pouring in from other costars, celebrities and fans including Goldie Hawn, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Elihaj Wood.

Reynolds had been battling health issues for some time.

In 2013, he was hospitalized and placed in intensive care for flu-like symptoms and dehydration.

Two years earlier, the actor underwent heart surgery after his doctor found his arteries were closed during a routine physical.

Reynolds was best known for his roles in 1972’s Deliverance, 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit (pictured) and 1997’s Boogie Nights – the last of which earned him an Oscar nomination.

The actor, pictured on Smokey and the Bandit with the ‘one that got away’ as ex-girlfriend Sally Field, suffered a cardiac arrest Thursday morning

His first big movie breakout role was as Lewis Medlock in box office hit Deliverance (pictured) in 1972

Reynolds, known for his manly swagger, and was something of a 1970s sex symbol after rising to prominence on TV shows Gunsmoke and Dan August (pictured in an ad for his luxury mail catalog business)

‘My doctor said I needed to undergo bypass surgery immediately,’ he told People at the time. ‘I went home and shaved then had the operation the next day.’

His manager told CNN after the op that Reynolds ‘has a great motor with brand new pipes.’

In September 2009, Reynolds checked into rehab for an addiction to prescription drugs.

Reynolds, known for his manly swagger, and was something of a 1970s sex symbol after rising to prominence on TV shows Gunsmoke and Dan August.

With his trademark mustache, rugged looks and macho aura, he was a leading male sex symbol of the 1970s. He appeared naked – reclining on a bearskin rug with his arm strategically positioned for the sake of modesty – in a centerfold in the women’s magazine Cosmopolitan in 1972.

His first big movie breakout role was as Lewis Medlock in box office hit Deliverance in 1972.

Burt Reynolds and his son Quinton at the Taurus World Stunt Awards 2004 held at Paramount Studios

Reynolds’ personal life sometimes overshadowed his movies, with marriages that ended in divorce. He is pictured with second wife Loni Anderson in 1987

He was also married to Judy Carne, his first wife, for three years in the 1960s

Burt Reynolds and Sally Field attend the off-Broadway play ‘Buried Child” in New York in 1978. He described Field, then his girlfriend, as the love of his life

He followed it up with one success after another, in box office hits The Longest Yard Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

At the peak of his career, Reynolds was one of the most bankable actors in the film industry, until a career downturn in the mid-1980s, when he returned to TV in sitcom Evening Shade.

He rebounded in 1997 with a nomination for a best supporting actor Academy Award for ‘Boogie Nights’ and won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1990-1994 TV series ‘Evening Shade.

Last year, he received critical acclaim for his performance in the indie movie ‘The Last Movie Star.’

Reynolds’ personal life sometimes overshadowed his movies, with marriages that ended in divorce to actresses Loni Anderson and Judy Carne and romances with the likes of Dinah Shore.

He has one adult son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds, from his second marriage.

The star described the love of his life as ex-girlfriend Sally Field, whom he dated on-off for five years in the ’70s and ’80s after she starred across him in Smokey and the Bandit.

Reynolds cited director John Boorman’s Oscar-nominated 1972 ‘Deliverance’ (pictured) as his best film

He worked in Hollywood fordecaes: The star seen in a 1950s head shot, left, and in the 1970s in Smokey and the Bandit, right

Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in Smokey and the Bandit III. Many of his films were set in the South. He often played a lovable rascal who outwits local authorities as in director Hal Needham’s crowd-pleasing action comedy

In this March 15, 1978 file photo, Reynolds polished his newly unveiled star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles

Burt Reynolds appeared in Striptease in 1996 – just a year before his Oscar nominated movie Boogie Nights

Reynolds rebounded from a career slump in 1997 with a nomination for a best supporting actor Academy Award for ‘Boogie Nights’ (pictured)

Reynolds also generated attention for financial woes and his struggles with prescription pain medication.

Reynolds cited director John Boorman’s Oscar-nominated 1972 ‘Deliverance’ as his best film and said he regretted that the hoopla from his Cosmopolitan appearance detracted from the movie that made him a star. He played tough-guy Lewis Medlock – opposite Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox – in the chilling tale of a canoe trip gone bad in rural Georgia.

Many of his films were set in the South. He often played a lovable rascal who outwits local authorities as in director Hal Needham’s 1977 crowd-pleasing action comedy ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ co-starring Field and Jackie Gleason, and its two sequels.

Another of his better roles was that of former a pro quarterback who lands in prison and assembles a team of convicts to play the warden’s squad of brutal prison guards in 1974’s rollicking ‘The Longest Yard,’ directed by Robert Aldrich. He appeared in a supporting role 2005’s remake with Adam Sandler.

Reynolds also directed several movies in which he starred, including ‘Gator’ (1976), ‘The End’ (1978), ‘Sharky’s Machine’ (1981) and ‘Stick’ (1985).

While some of his performances were critically praised, others were ridiculed, particularly in the bloated action comedy ‘Cannonball Run II,’ a sequel to his financial success ‘The Cannonball Run’ (1981). He also starred in the notorious 1975 musical flop ‘At Long Last Love,’ a film so atrocious that director Peter Bogdanovich publicly apologized for making it.

Reynolds was pictured relaxing at his home in Miami, Florida, in 1996

Recent health issues appear to have taken their toll and he appeared frail in recent months

Reynolds was walking with a cane when he was pictured with director Jesse Moss with a replica of the 1977 Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit on March 12, 2018

Burt Reynolds, center, leaves the Palm Beach International Film Festival’s Student Showcase of Films Awards Show at Lynn University on Saturday, April 6, 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida

The wisecracking 1970s movie heartthrob underwent heart bypass surgery in 2010. Pictured here with Ariel Winter filming a scene on the set of ‘Dog Years’ in Nashville, Tennessee on June 8, 2016

Reynolds turned down notable roles including Han Solo in ‘Star Wars,’ which went to Harrison Ford; the title role in a James Bond film; and the astronaut in ‘Terms of Endearment’ that Jack Nicholson turned into an Oscar-winning performance.

Reynolds said in 2012 that he regretted some of his film choices. ‘I took the part that was the most fun – ‘Oh, this will be fun.’ I didn’t take the part that would be the most challenging,’ told television interviewer Piers Morgan in 2012.

Asked to come up with his own epitaph, Reynolds said, ‘He lived a hell of a life, and did his best – his very best – not to hurt anybody.’

Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. was born on Feb. 11, 1936, and grew up in Florida. He was a fine athlete and played football at Florida State University in the 1950s before his professional football hopes were dashed by injuries suffered in a car crash.

He began acting after enrolling in a junior college. He moved to New York and landed minor stage and TV roles before making his film debut in 1961. Reynolds often was cast in Westerns, including the popular ‘Gunsmoke’ television series in the 1960s.

In 1972, the same year ‘Deliverance’ was released, he showed versatility by also starring in Woody Allen’s comedy ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask.’

Burt Reynolds remembered: Hollywood tributes flood in after the Smokey And The Bandit and Boogie Nights actor dies at 82

Burt Reynolds died at the age of 82 from a heart attack in Florida on Thursday morning.

Soon after tributes for the movie icon – who starred in such films as Smokey And The Bandit and Boogie Nights – flooded in.

Kate Hudson, whose mother Goldie Hawn worked with the silver screen legend, shared on Instagram a broken heart emjoi along with a photo of herself as a child being held by her mother as she sat next to the hunk.

Touching: Burt Reynolds died at the age of 82 on Thursday morning. Soon after tributes for the movie icon flooded in. Kate Hudson, whose mother Goldie Hawn worked with the silver screen legend, shared a broken heart emjoi and an old photo

They worked well together: Burt and Goldie in a film still for the 1982 movie Best Friends

Burt’s agent confirmed the actor’s cause of death was cardiac arrest. He said: ‘No comment, just heartbreaking.’

Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the first to express his sorrow as he said on Twitter.

‘Burt Reynolds was one of my heroes. He was a trailblazer.

‘He only showed the way to transition from being an athlete to being the highest paid actor, and he always inspired me.’

Hollywood loved him: Burt Reynolds died on Thursday and soon after celebrity tributes came in; here Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his sorrow on Twitter

Elijah Wood of The Lord Of The Rings fame shared, ‘Sad to hear of the passing of the legend, Burt Reynolds.’

Alec Baldwin’s daughter Ireland Baldwin, a model, shared an old black and white photo of the star with the caption, ‘Rest In Peace Burt.’

Hard to accept: Elijah Wood of The Lord Of The Rings fame shared, ‘Sad to hear of the passing of the legend, Burt Reynolds’

Respect: Alec Baldwin’s daughter Ireland Baldwin, a model, shared an old black and white photo of the star with the caption, ‘Rest In Peace Burt’

Comedian Dane Cook said on Twitter, ‘Sad to hear Burt Reynolds has died. Man.. I grew up watching Cannonball Run.. Smokey and the Bandit… Stroker Ace and so many others.’

Cook added, ‘He had a swagger and a charm that I really enjoyed. Boogie Nights is one of my fav films. #RIP.’

Sons of Anarchy standout Kristen Renton also make her comment: ‘Beyond sad to hear of the passing of such a legend… RIP sir.’

From one icon to another: Ralph Macchio said, ‘As a kid I must have seen Smokey and the Bandit 10 time in the theatre. Met Burt Reynolds a few years back… so glad I did’

Top remarks: Admiration: Patton Oswalt saidm ‘Burt Reynolds & Clint Eastwood were fired from Gunsmoke & Rawhide at the same time. Burt was told he couldn’t act and Clint his neck was too skinny. In the parking lot, Burt said to Clint, “I dunno what you’re gonna do, but I’m gonna take acting lessons”‘

He was a fan: Director Kevin Smith said Burt was THE movie star of his childhood

Nice note: Adam Sandler said that Burt was a ‘true legend. Our Hero. Funny as hell’

Respect: Alec Baldwin’s daughter Ireland Baldwin, a model, shared an old black and white photo of the star with the caption, ‘Rest In Peace Burt’

Hard to accept: Elijah Wood of The Lord Of The Rings fame shared, ‘Sad to hear of the passing of the legend, Burt Reynolds’

Edgar Wright tweeted: ‘R.I.P. Burt Reynolds, underrated as a dramatic actor (Deliverance), underrated as a director (Sharkey’s Machine), but also a rare movie star that seemed to be just having an absolute ball onscreen. Nobody broke frame with a bigger gleam in his eye. ‘Just watch ol’ Bandit run’.’

Billy Dee Williams of Star Wars fame said, ‘Burt Reynolds was a friend of mine, sad to hear of his passing.’

Steve Harvey wrote, ‘Very sad to hearing about the passing of Burt Reynolds. He was a great actor, a philanthropist and a pioneer of the cool mustache. Thank you, Burt. You will be missed.’

Ricky Gervais commented on Burt’s humour, adding how he was always ‘warm and funny’.

Tennis ace Boris Becker shared: ‘RIP #burtreynolds … one of the last icons in Hollywood!’

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