Burt Reynolds’ swagger and charm helped made him a star, but roles in Deliverance and Smokey and the Bandit turned him into a legend.
Now, more than 50 years after first gracing the silver screen, the longtime leading man has died of cardiac arrest. (People)
Reynolds had been battling health issues the past years. In 2013, the actor’s rep said he was in intensive care in a Florida hospital for treatment of flu symptoms, including dehydration.
In recent years, Reynolds was seen using a cane as he posed for photographs — he was spotted using one at his last major public appearance at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
Reynolds blamed his limited mobility on doing his own stunts over the course of his career. Speaking on the Jonathan Ross Show on ITV, he said in 2015: “I did all my own stunts, which is why I can’t walk now.”
Prior to that, in 2010, he was released from a Florida hospital in March 2010 after having what his manager Erik Kritzer — denying reports that Reynolds had to be rushed to the ER — classified as a “planned bypass operation.”
Reynold’s co-starring role in 1997’s Boogie Nights earned him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.