Burt Reynolds was one of those guys that even though I never really thought of him as an actor I was particularly fond of or was enthralled by his work, he was ever present in my formative years. I grew up watching Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, The Longest Yard, Semi-Tough, and of course him and Dom Deluise making each other laugh like they were huffing airplane glue. Hell, the guy practically invented the blooper reel. It seemed like all his movies ended with them.
Those Burt movies were prominently shown on network television in the late 70s and early 80s and I sat in front of the Zenith console and ate them up. No cable television. Just a 40ft antenna tower and a handful of channels. Burt was always there, chomping on his gum with his porn mustache chasing tail and being chased by the long arm of the law. Cracking jokes and never taking himself all too seriously. As a kid that made an impression, but as an adult not so much.
But as I got older I found him rather good in Deliverance, and in 1997 I found a new appreciation for the man in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. I’m not sure if Anderson walked away from that experience the same way I did in terms of Reynolds, but I thought he was damn good in it. I can appreciate the man a little more the older I get. Not necessarily the films, but more so the guy. He always had a natural swagger about him. He held himself with an ease that I sometimes sorely lack.
In every role he played he was pretty much just Burt Reynolds, regardless of what the role called for. He wasn’t method acting. He was just Burt acting in The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, or Stick, or Sharky’s Machine, or Rent-A-Cop, or goddamn Cop and a Half. He wasn’t trying to teach us a lesson in his work, or make an artistic statement. He was just trying to support ex wives, keep his homes and afford his toupees. I can respect that. Acting was a job, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy that job.
Reynolds died yesterday at the age of 82. Here’s to him, Johnny Carson, and Dom Deluise on the old Tonight Show set in the Great Beyond having a few cocktails and a few laughs.
By the way, I loved him on Jeopardy.
Complex Distractions 
I saw Smokey and the Bandit at the drive in with my parents. I think it was the first movie I ever saw.
So much fun.
Burt seemed like a fun loving guy that was perfectly type cast into those roles.
Then I saw Deliverance and found out he could act in a serious role. Who knew.
Burt and his Trans Am gave me a life long love for cars so for that I give him thanks.
R.I.P Burt.
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Even though he was a ripe old age, I was still pretty shocked to read that he’d passed away. One of those ‘American icons’, huh? An ever present figure… full of swagger and certainty. And flirting with Sally Field…
I heard old Justice’s voice when I read the news last night… “you sumbitch!!”
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Ha! Indeed.
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I remember his spread in Cosmo. I happened to see it at a friend’s home during her birthday party. It pretty much confirmed what I already knew even before really hitting puberty: Burt Reynolds was super hot, super chill, and I am super gay.
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To have Burt help you find yourself, well that’s just another reason for his impending sainthood.
That spread was something else.
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Hahaha.
Awesome.
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Loved the Smokey and Cannonball Run flicks and also City Heat with Clint Eastwood!
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I’d completely forgot about City Heat.
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Deliverance every time for me. Just love that film!
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I hadn’t seen it in years and recently revisited it. Still such a great movie. If you’ve never seen ‘Southern Comfort’ I highly recommend it as well. National Guard troops fighting militant hillbillies in the backwoods. Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, and directed by Walter Hill. Pretty much all you need.
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