Happy Birthday Burt Reynolds!

Burt Reynolds got his start in Hollywood on TV in the late 50s with bit parts but then got regular gigs on shows like Gunsmoke, Riverboat, Hawk, and Dan August.  Burt did the rounds on TV talk shows and was a regular on the Dinah Shore Show and the Tonight Show.  Burt was very charismatic on these shows and really showed he was an entertainer and had a growing fan base, especially with the ladies, so a transition to movies was quite easy for the rising star.

In the 70s Burt headlined all sorts of movies from action, westerns, and some light hearted comedies.  Movies like Fuzz, Shamus, The Longest Yard, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, and White Lightning were all great successes but 1972’s Deliverance made Reynolds a legitimate super star.  The movie is a about a group of guys that go on a weekend canoe trip in the South and run into some trouble.  Burt plays the survivalist of the group, a modern day Rambo, which is a bit prepared for the trip.  This movie features one of my favorite lines from Reynolds, “Sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself.”

In 1976 Reynolds got in the director’s chair for Gator, a sequel to White Lightning, and proved he had some directorial chops to him too.  In 1977 Reynolds was cast in Smokey and the Bandit by old friend and co-worker stuntman and now director Hal Needham. Bandit was a huge success being the #2 movie at the box office playing runner up to some little sci-fi movie called Star Wars.  I even named my dog The Bandit.  Reynolds and Needham made several more movies together combining southern comedy, women, and stunts.  Lots of stunts.  Hooper, Smokey and the Bandit 2, The Cannonball Runs, and Stroker Ace were absolutely loved by the fans, loathed by the critics, and made tons of money.  You might actually say these movies ruined Reynolds career when you look back at them.  He seemed to fall back on these a few too many times.

In 1981 Burt starred in and directed Sharky’s Machine, a very good hard edge cop thriller in the vein of Dirty Harry.  Reynolds alternated between action and comedies in the 80s as his popularity began to dwindle a bit.  In 1984 he teamed with Clint Eastwood in the action comedy City Heat that turned out to be a mess of a movie.  Reynolds was injured on the set during a stunt gone wrong and missed a small portion of the production and had to have his jaw wired and was quite sick.  He amazingly returned to the set and finished the movie and impressed all during the rest of the production.  

 Reynolds may be more known for turning down the role of the astronaut in Terms of Endearment, a role that was tailor written specifically for him.  Jack Nicholson accepted the part and the Oscar that came with it.

In the 90s Reynolds returned to TV and had a hit in the comedy Evening Shade and even won an Emmy for his performance as a Southern football coach on the show that ran for four years.  Reynolds had bit parts in other TV shows and movies but got the comeback role he was looking for in 1997’s Boogie Nights.  Reynolds plays a porn producer that discovers a star and this led to an Oscar nomination. Sadly he lost out to Robin Williams. Reynolds continues to work on TV and direct to DVD movies and gets some theatrical releases like Mystery, Alaska, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Driven with Sylvester Stallone.

Happy Birthday Burt and thanks for all the great work and I look forward to more!