Hollywood Legend Burt Reynolds Dies At Age 82

 

Burt Reynolds was a legend to me, as someone who grew up in the 80’s there was very few stars as big as Reynolds was. It is with sadness then that we report Burt Reynolds passed away age 82 yesterday of heart failure.

The portrait above with the signature was an item that I used to display in my bedroom growing up, it was probably a fake, or a copy as most of these things are, but it meant a lot to me at the time. Reynolds starred in many movies, some better than others, and as his star waned slightly he became less active on the silver screen. Reynolds did famously made a great comeback though, getting an Oscar nomination for his role in Boogie Nights in 1998.

For me, there are several movies I will always identify with as part of my childhood experience. Smokey and the Bandit was a firm favorite amongst my family and friends, to this day we still quote lines from that movie in every day chat. Then we have Cannonball Run, great family comedy and I literally wore out the VHS tape I had that movie on, the second movie wasn’t as great, but I still loved it as a kid. One of Burt’s movies that I still rate to this day was Hooper in 1978, though it was the year of my birth, I grew to love this movie over the years.

Hooper is one of those movies that if it is on the TV, no matter how many times I have seen it, it engages me and I watch it till the end. The practical stunts, the humor, and one of the best bar fights ever captured just make for a supremely watchable experience. Hooper also had a serious side and highlighted just how badly stunt people were treated in Hollywood at that time. For many years I wanted to be a stunt man and Hooper along with The Fall Guy actor Lee Majors were my heroes. I cannot possibly talk about Reynolds without also mentioning Deliverance as well, not a personal favorite film of mine, but without a doubt one of Reynolds best performances as an actor and his breakout movie.

Reynolds was discussing a role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and his family have said he felt excited to be in the movie, so his death was very much sudden and unexpected. Reynolds has always been a tough sumbitch as co-star Jackie Gleason would have said, so he must have gone out fighting.

The movie star is survived by his 30-year-old son, Quinton and we wish all his friends and family our sympathies at this time. Reynolds may not have been our family, but for me and many other fans out there, Burt was a part of our lives and I will look back on his career fondly.

What were favorite Burt Reynolds movies and performances? Share some tales in the comment section below as always. Rest in peace Burt!

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