Burt Reynolds, Screen Legend and Sex Symbol, Dies at 82
Burt Reynolds, whose studliness, swagger and snappy patter have helped set TV and movie fans’ pulses racing for nearly half a century, has died. He was 82.
He died Thursday morning at Jupiter Medical in Florida, according to manager Erik Kritzer, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
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.
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.”
Upon his release, Reynolds told PEOPLE that he had no idea that his arteries were closed when he went to his doctor for a physical. “My doctor said I needed to undergo bypass surgery immediately. I went home and shaved then had the operation the next day.”
In September 2009, Reynolds checked himself into rehab to deal with addiction problems, telling PEOPLE at the time, “I felt that in spite of the fact that I am supposedly a big tough guy, I couldn’t beat prescription drugs on my own.”
Except for 1972’s Deliverance, based on the James Dickey novel, and 1974’s The Longest Yard, Reynolds filmography consisted largely of good-ol’-boy roles (Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit), though playing a ruthless pornographer in 1997’s Boogie Nights earned him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.
