His career just marked 60 years but now screen legend Burt Reynolds has passed away, leaving behind an amazing body of work.
Reynolds was born on February 11, 1936 in Lansing, Michigan to Fern and Burton Milo Reynolds, who was in the army and later became the chief of police. His family moved to Florida, where he played with Florida State University.
He was an All-Star Southern Conference halfback but a knee injury and a car accident ended his football career. Reynolds eventually headed for New York to become an actor.
Reynolds was spotted in a New York City production of Mister Roberts and was quickly signed to a TV contract. He appeared on a few episodics, including Gunsmoke and Riverboat before he landed his own show in 1966 called Hawk.
But it was for his film career that he would be most known for. He starred in such roles in such films as Smokey and the Bandit with Sally Field (and its sequels), Sharkey’s Machine, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Dolly Parton, and football film Semi-Tough, just to name a few. He bared quite a lot for a Cosmopolitan centerfold in 1972.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he turned to the small screen and found success in two TV shows, B.L. Stryker and Evening Shade, for which he won an Emmy.
Hollywood would smile upon him again when he appeared in the film Boogie Nights in 1997, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. It earned him a new generation of fans and he appeared in several more movies.
On the personal front, he was married to Judy Carne for a few of years in the 1960s but it was his six-year marriage to Loni Anderson that made him a father to son Quinton, whom they adopted. He was linked to many actresses over the years but he never married again.
He passed away at the age of 82. Soap Hub thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
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