Smokey & The Bandit
In this article, Taeya will be writing about actors from the extraordinary movie Smokey & The Bandit and their life stories.
Smokey & The bandit
By: Taeya Hennings
Burt Reynolds is an American actor, who was well-known for his acting and stunt tactics and was seen as an overall icon who the ladies loved and the men wanted to become. The boys wanted to meet him and girls screamed whenever they saw him.
Burton Leon Reynolds, Jr, was born on Feb. 11, 1936 in Lansing, Michigan. Reynolds shares a name with his father, Burton Leon Reynolds. Sr. Reynolds, Jr. was a famous actor from 1958 to 2018. He started off as a football player in high school, which would then lead to a severe knee injury when playing, resulting in him being sidelined. Then, young Reynolds picked up acting and proceeded to pursue it as a career.
Other than Reynolds’ movie star life, he also had a life as a husband and father. Reynolds had two wives: the first being Judy Carne, from 1963 - 1965, and the second being Loni Anderson, from 1988 - 1994, Reynolds had only one child-- Quinton Anderson Reynolds-- who was adopted by Burt and his second wife Loni Anderson in 1988, shortly after the two were married.
Reynolds, Jr. began acting in his first most famous film series in 1977, which eventually produced Smokey And The Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit 2, and Smokey and the Bandit 3. Reynolds is not in the third movie because, according to IMBD, Reynolds, Jr. did not want to film the third movie and the producers were already working on another film: Stroker Ace. However, his friend and co-worker Jerry Reed took over his Bandit role. Reed had previously played the infamous Cledus Snow (aka Snowman), who accompanies The Bandit in deals and adventures for the Enos’ in the first two movies..
Reynolds has not only played in Smokey and the Bandit but also acted in many other films, such as Defining Moments, Stick, Malone, and Gator, along with another one of his famous movies, The Longest Yard, with actor/comedian Adam Sandler. Even though many other actors and actresses have stunt doubles for their movies, according to The New York Times, Reynolds preferred to perform many of his own stunts. He did have his own stunt doubles, who helped prevent his death when doing said stunts on set. However, he preferred to do them in his own fashion, which sometimes resulted in serious, life-threatening situations, broken bones, and head injury. Some believe that those stunts contributed to how he looked and walked near the end of his life. They could have even partially resulted in his death at 82 years old, on Sept. 6, 2018, in Jupiter, Florida.
Reynolds’ life before death was topsy-turvy. The New York Times claims that “A caretaker at Reynolds’ home had called authorities." According to the caretaker, Reynolds was experiencing chest pains but no real cause of death was given, other than that there were some whispers around town that Reynolds was dying of AIDS due to prescription drugs that he had become addicted to shortly after having his jaw shattered during a fight scene in one of his movies. Along with this shattered jaw, Reynolds also had temporomandibular joint disorder. Before his death, he had additionally overcome being addicted to his sedative, Halcion, which had been prescribed for his jaw. He later became addicted to painkillers that were given to him after he entered rehab after he injured his back, after these problems his investments soured and he was left in deep debt.
Although Reynolds has passed on, his memory lives on in his fans, movies and family. He will be known tremendously for his acting career and throughout the world. Burt Reynolds (the person) was a famous actor with some issues but still does not compete with the reckless, bad boy, crazy driver and stunt master we all know him as today. According to Ashley Boucher, a journalist for People Magazine, "Burt Reynolds was honored at his memorial service after being cremated in West Palm beach, Florida shortly after his death."
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