50 Fun Facts About Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds caused a sensation in 1972 by posing nude for a centrefold in which women's magazine?

Cosmopolitan ran the centrefold in its April 1972 issue, just before Deliverance opened. Reynolds said he posed for a kick and later regretted it.

Burt Reynolds said in 2016 that he regretted turning down which role in the original Star Wars?

Han Solo was a part Reynolds passed on because he didn't want that kind of role at the time. Decades later he admitted he wished he had taken it.

In Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds's Bandit runs interference for a beer truck in which black car?

Pontiac Trans Am sales almost doubled within two years of the film's release. The carmaker's president promised to supply Reynolds with a new one every year.

Burt Reynolds grew his famous mustache partly so people would stop saying he looked like which actor?

Marlon Brando had little respect for his look-alike, and their feud became Hollywood legend. A young Reynolds was told he couldn't be in the film Sayonara because he looked too much like its star.

Burt Reynolds turned down which film role after Sean Connery, insisting an American could never play it?

James Bond was offered to Reynolds by the series producer Albert R. Broccoli. Reynolds refused, saying the part simply couldn't be done by an American.

Which famous director is said to have counted Burt Reynolds's Smokey and the Bandit among his favourite films?

Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, was an unlikely fan of a comedy about truckers hauling bootleg beer. It was the second-highest-grossing film of 1977 in the United States.

In Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds's Bandit helps haul 400 cases of which beer to Atlanta?

Coors was unavailable for sale east of Texas in 1977, which is why trucking it to Atlanta counted as bootlegging. The run had to be finished in 28 hours to win the bet.

Which actress, his co-star in four films, did Burt Reynolds describe in 2016 as the love of his life?

Sally Field and Reynolds were a couple from 1976 to 1980, then on and off until 1982. They never married, and she was among the mourners at his memorial service in 2018.

Which comedian took over Burt Reynolds's old quarterback role in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard?

Adam Sandler played Paul Crewe while Reynolds came back in a new part, the veteran coach Nate Scarborough. The 1974 original had earned Reynolds a Golden Globe nomination.

Burt Reynolds reportedly fired whom for recommending the 1997 film that brought his only Oscar nomination?

His agent was reportedly dismissed after Reynolds saw a rough cut and disliked it. He had not got along with the film's young writer-director during the shoot.

Burt Reynolds's second marriage, which ended in a tabloid divorce, was to which WKRP in Cincinnati star?

Loni Anderson, who played the sitcom's receptionist Jennifer Marlowe, was married to Reynolds from 1988 to 1994. The couple adopted a son, Quinton.

Which comedian played Sheriff Buford T. Justice, who chases Burt Reynolds across the South in Smokey and the Bandit?

Jackie Gleason was given free rein to ad-lib his dialogue and make suggestions as the furious Texas lawman. Having the sheriff's son Junior ride beside him throughout was his idea.

Burt Reynolds played a small-town sheriff opposite which country star in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?

Dolly Parton played Miss Mona, who runs the Chicken Ranch, and earned a Golden Globe nomination. The 1982 hit was the second movie musical in which Reynolds sang.

Burt Reynolds suffered a broken jaw while filming the 1984 crime comedy City Heat opposite which fellow superstar?

Clint Eastwood shared top billing with him. The injury put Reynolds on a liquid diet, cost him 30 pounds and led to a dependence on painkillers that lasted several years.

Burt Reynolds turned down the astronaut role in Terms of Endearment that won an Oscar for which actor?

Jack Nicholson took the part of Garrett Breedlove, which had been written with Reynolds in mind. Reynolds called refusing it the decision he regretted most of all.

Burt Reynolds spent three years as blacksmith Quint Asper on which long-running TV Western?

Gunsmoke picked Reynolds over 300 other actors when one of its regulars wanted to leave. He later called his time on the show the happiest period of his life.

Burt Reynolds's breakthrough film Deliverance is famous for a musical duel between a guitar and which instrument?

Banjo picking by a country boy answers the guitar of Ronny Cox's character at a gas station early in the film. The scene became a popular-culture landmark.

In The Cannonball Run, Burt Reynolds's racer J.J. McClure tries to dodge the police by driving what?

An ambulance, a Dodge Tradesman van, lets J.J. and his mechanic pose as an emergency crew and ignore traffic laws. They even kidnap a passenger to act as their patient.

Burt Reynolds earned his only Oscar nomination as adult-film director Jack Horner in which 1997 drama?

Boogie Nights also won Reynolds a Golden Globe. Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel and Warren Beatty were among those who declined or were passed over for the part.

Burt Reynolds won an Emmy as Wood Newton, a former player for which NFL team, in the sitcom Evening Shade?

Pittsburgh Steelers was the team Reynolds personally requested for his character because he was a fan. Wood has come home to coach a high-school side on a long losing streak.

In The Longest Yard (1974), Burt Reynolds's disgraced quarterback leads a team of convicts against whom?

The prison guards play as a semi-pro team run by a football-mad warden. Reynolds's character, Paul Crewe, had been thrown out of the NFL for point shaving.

Which country singer played trucker Cledus "Snowman" Snow beside Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit?

Jerry Reed also wrote the film's theme song, East Bound and Down, virtually overnight. He had originally been lined up to play the Bandit himself in a low-budget version.

Which comedian played mechanic Victor Prinzim, alias Captain Chaos, beside Burt Reynolds in The Cannonball Run?

Dom DeLuise rejoined Reynolds a year later in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, playing the moral crusader who targets the brothel.

Burt Reynolds lost his only Oscar race, for Best Supporting Actor in 1998, to which Good Will Hunting star?

Robin Williams took the statuette, leaving Reynolds with a Golden Globe for the same role. It was the first and only Oscar nomination of a career that ran from 1956 to 2018.

Burt Reynolds's early-1970s romance with which singer and TV host, 20 years his senior, made headlines?

Dinah Shore and Reynolds began dating in early 1971, shortly before Deliverance made him a major film star. Their well-publicised relationship added to his growing fame.

Director John Boorman cast Burt Reynolds in Deliverance after seeing him in what?

A talk-show appearance showed off the self-mocking wit his tough-guy parts had hidden. Reynolds proved so popular as a guest that he was offered a show of his own.

Burt Reynolds played the scheming Boss Hogg in the 2005 film version of which TV series?

The Dukes of Hazzard cast him as a nod to his 1970s car-chase hits. A year earlier he had sent up his Deliverance role in the comedy Without a Paddle.

In the 1978 comedy Hooper, Burt Reynolds plays an ageing legend of which risky line of work?

Stuntman is the trade of his character, who is asked to jump a rocket car across a 325-foot gorge. Reynolds knew the job first-hand from stunt work early in his own career.

Burt Reynolds played halfback for which college football team before a knee injury and a car crash intervened?

Florida State gave Reynolds his first start in 1954, and he scored a touchdown in that game. The university awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1981.

In Smokey and the Bandit, what is Carrie fleeing when she jumps into the car of Burt Reynolds's Bandit?

Her own wedding is what Carrie abandons, and the jilted groom's father happens to be a Texas sheriff. That is why a lawman pursues the Bandit all the way across the South.

Burt Reynolds was considered for which role in The Godfather that eventually went to James Caan?

Sonny Corleone went to Caan because director Francis Ford Coppola chose him. Reynolds later claimed that he had turned the part down himself.

In Deliverance, Burt Reynolds's survivalist Lewis Medlock saves a friend from an attacker using which weapon?

A bow and arrow is how Lewis kills the mountain man, and it sets up the film's central dilemma. The friends vote to bury the body and carry on downriver as if nothing had happened.

Evening Shade, the sitcom that won Burt Reynolds an Emmy, is set in a small town in which state?

Arkansas was home ground for Harry Thomason, who made the show with his wife Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Their company was producing Designing Women at the same time.

Burt Reynolds played lecherous congressman David Dilbeck opposite Demi Moore in which 1996 film?

Striptease made Reynolds audition, and he had to take off his toupee in front of the producers. They had doubts about him going in, but by the end of the audition he had the part.

Burt Reynolds voiced the roguish Charlie B. Barkin in which 1989 Don Bluth animated film?

All Dogs Go to Heaven casts Reynolds as a German Shepherd mix in 1939 New Orleans. It was one of his few successes during a lean stretch of his career.

Which actor replaced Burt Reynolds as George Spahn in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood after Reynolds died?

Bruce Dern stepped in as the blind 80-year-old who rented his ranch to Charles Manson. Reynolds joined Quentin Tarantino's cast in May 2018 but died before filming his scenes.

Burt Reynolds, who once earned $10 million a year, lost about $20 million on failed investments in what?

Restaurant chains called Po' Folks and Daisy's Diner sank his money, and because he had invested as an individual the debts were his. He filed for bankruptcy in 1996.

Burt Reynolds co-created which 1987 TV game show from a drawing game he played with friends at home?

Win, Lose or Draw grew out of the sketch-pad charades Reynolds played with friends, and its set was modelled on his living room. He created it with Bert Convy.

Burt Reynolds topped the annual box-office star poll five times, a joint record until which actor's sixth win in 2001?

Tom Cruise surpassed a mark that Reynolds had shared with stars including Bing Crosby. Reynolds was voted the most bankable name in the annual exhibitors' poll from 1978 to 1982.

Burt Reynolds long claimed to be born in Waycross but said in 2015 he was really born in which Michigan city?

Lansing is where his family was living when his father was drafted into the army. The family did not move to Riviera Beach until 1946.

Burt Reynolds chose which 1983 stock-car comedy over Terms of Endearment, a decision he later called a mistake?

Stroker Ace flopped, and Reynolds felt his career never recovered from it. He had picked the film out of loyalty to its director, his friend Hal Needham.

Burt Reynolds made his debut as a film director with which 1976 sequel to White Lightning?

Gator gave Reynolds the job he said he had waited 20 years to do. He enjoyed directing more than anything else in the business and thought it was what he did best.

Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson played pro football buddies in which 1977 comedy that satirised self-help fads?

Semi-Tough has both men drawn to their roommate Barbara Jane. Its send-up of self-awareness seminars was added for the screen and is not in the novel, which dealt with football.

Burt Reynolds's college roommate and friend of 64 years became which famous college football broadcaster?

Lee Corso said the two spoke about once a month until Reynolds died. He joked that he had used his good-looking roommate as bait for meeting women on campus.

Burt Reynolds opened a dinner theatre in 1979 to train young performers in which coastal town?

Jupiter drew stars such as Martin Sheen and Sarah Jessica Parker to work at his theatre, which survives as the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. A county park there also bears his name.

Burt Reynolds voiced the Texan business tycoon Avery Carrington in which 2002 video game?

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has Carrington enlist the hero's help with several deals. Reynolds later voiced himself as a city mayor in another game, Saints Row: The Third.

Burt Reynolds's first wife was which English actress, later a star of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In?

Judy Carne was married to Reynolds from 1963 to 1965. She found stardom a few years later on Laugh-In, where her most popular routine ended with her being doused with water.

Burt Reynolds was a minority owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits, a team in which short-lived pro football league?

USFL owners in Tampa used Reynolds prominently in their early marketing. The cover of the team's first media guide showed him in a Bandits jacket and trucker hat.

Burt Reynolds's father held which job in Riviera Beach, the town where the future star grew up?

Police chief Burton Reynolds Sr. was also a prominent local Republican. His son later based a screen congressman on the politicians he had known through him in his youth.

Burt Reynolds played the title police detective in which 1970 Quinn Martin TV drama?

Dan August brought Reynolds a Golden Globe nomination but struggled in the ratings against Hawaii Five-0 and was not renewed. Afterwards he was reluctant to play a detective again.