Some sad news this evening, as Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds has passed away aged 82, with US Weekly reporting that the Oscar-nominated actor suffered a fatal heart attack in Florida.
Born in Lansing, Michigan in 1936, Reynolds enjoyed a career that spanned seven decades, starting out in television in the late 1950s and making his feature film debut in 1961’s Angel Baby.
The actor first rose to prominence with roles in the likes of Riverboat, Gunsmoke and Dan August, before breaking out on the big screen in the 1972 classic Deliverance. This led to leading roles in hit films such as The Longest Yard, Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Reynolds enjoyed a career resurgence thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, receiving a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nomination for his role as porn producer Jack Horner in the 1997 film.
He recently received praise for his work in The Last Movie Star, released earlier this year, and also signed on for a role in Quentin Tarantino’s next film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In addition to his many screen credits, Reynolds also passed on a number of iconic roles throughout his career such as James Bond, Star Wars’ Han Solo, Terms of Endearment’s Garrett Breedlove, and Die Hard’s John McClane.
Gurpreet Bhatia says
Wow I was not aware that Reynolds had turned down such iconic roles over his career, amazing!