Enduring, strong-featured, and genial star of US cinema, Burt Reynolds started off in T.V. westerns in the 1960s and then carved his name into 1970s/1980s popular culture, as a sex symbol (posing nearly naked for "Cosmopolitan" magazine), and on-screen as both a rugged action figure and then as a wisecracking, Southern type of "good ol' boy."
Burton Leon Reynolds was born in Lansing, Michigan. He was the son of Harriette Fernette "Fern" (Miller) and Burton Milo Reynolds, who was in the army. After World War II, his family moved to Riviera Beach, Florida, where his father was chief of police, and where Burt excelled as an athlete and played with Florida State University. He became an All Star Southern Conference halfback (and was earmarked by the Baltimore Colts) before a knee injury and a car accident ended his football career. Midway through college he dropped out and headed to New York with aspirations of becoming an actor. There he worked in restaurants and clubs while pulling the odd TV spot or theatre role.
He was spotted in a New York City production of "Mister Roberts," signed to a TV contract, and eventually had recurring roles in such shows as Rauchende Colts (1955), Riverboat (1959) and his own series, Hawk (1966).
Reynolds continued to appear in undemanding western roles, often playing a character of half Native American descent, in films such as An seinen Stiefeln klebte Blut (1966), 100 Gewehre (1969) and Sam Whiskey (1969). However, it was his tough-guy performance as macho Lewis Medlock in the John Boorman backwoods nightmare Beim Sterben ist jeder der Erste (1972) that really stamped him as a bona-fide star. Reynolds' popularity continued to soar with his appearance as a no-nonsense private investigator in Der Spürhund (1973) and in the Woody Allen comedy Was Sie schon immer über Sex wissen wollten, aber bisher nicht zu fragen wagten (1972). Building further on his image as a Southern boy who outsmarts the local lawmen, Reynolds packed fans into theaters to see him in Der Tiger hetzt die Meute (1973), Die Kampfmaschine (1974), Ein Supertyp haut auf die Pauke (1975) and Mein Name ist Gator (1976).
At this time, ex-stuntman and longtime Reynolds buddy Hal Needham came to him with a "road film" script. It turned out to be the incredibly popular Ein ausgekochtes Schlitzohr (1977) with Sally Field and Jerry Reed, which took in over $100 million at the box office. That film's success was followed by Das ausgekochte Schlitzohr ist wieder auf Achse (1980) and Das ausgekochte Schlitzohr 3 (1983). Reynolds also appeared alongside Kris Kristofferson in the hit football film Zwei ausgebuffte Profis (1977), with friend Dom DeLuise in the black comedy Nobody Is Perfect (1978) (which Reynolds directed), in the stunt-laden buddy film Um Kopf und Kragen (1978) and then in the self-indulgent, star-packed road race flick Auf dem Highway ist die Hölle los (1981).
The early 1980s started off well with a strong performance in the violent police film Sharky und seine Profis (1981), which he also directed, and he starred with Dolly Parton in Das schönste Freudenhaus in Texas (1982) and with fellow macho superstar Clint Eastwood in the coolly received City Heat - Der Bulle und der Schnüffler (1984). However, other projects such as Der rasende Gockel (1983), Sie nannten ihn Stick (1985) and Ich brauche einen Erben (1981) failed to catch fire with fans and Reynolds quickly found himself falling out of popularity with movie audiences. In the late 1980s he appeared in only a handful of films, mostly below average, before television came to the rescue and he shone again in two very popular TV shows, B.L. Stryker (1989) and Daddy schafft uns alle (1990), for which he won an Emmy. In 1988, Burt and his then-wife, actress Loni Anderson, had a son, Quinton A. Reynolds (aka Quinton Anderson Reynolds), whom they adopted.
He was back on screen, but still the roles weren't grabbing the public's attention, until his terrific performance as a drunken politician in the otherwise woeful Striptease (1996) and then another tremendous showing as a charming, porn director in Boogie Nights (1997), which scored him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Like the phoenix from the ashes, Reynolds resurrected his popularity and, in the process, gathered a new generation of young fans, many of whom had been unfamiliar with his 1970s film roles. He then put in entertaining work in Pups - Kein Kinderspiel (1999), Mystery - New York: Ein Spiel um die Ehre (1999), Driven (2001) and Aaron und der Wolf (2002). Definitely one of Hollywood's most resilient stars, Reynolds continually surprised all with his ability to weather both personal and career hurdles and his almost 60 years in front of the cameras were testament to his staying ability, his acting talent and his appeal to film audiences.
Burt Reynolds died of cardiac arrest on September 6, 2018, in Jupiter, Florida, U.S. He was eighty two.
