RIP: movie star Burt Reynolds is dead aged 82
Film star Burt Reynolds has died at the age of 82.
He received an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for his role in Boogie Nights in 1997 and had huge successes on the big screen from the late 1970s into the early Eighties.
He died on Thursday morning at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida, according to his manager, Erik Kritzer.
Sad to read that Burt Reynolds passed away. Absolutely loved Smokey and the Bandit as a kid #RIP pic.twitter.com/Cr5HczWpDm
— Pericles (@Jonnocalypse) September 6, 2018
His moves include Starting Over (1979); The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (1982) with Dolly Parton; Best Friends (1982) with Goldie Hawn; and The Man Who Loved Women (1983) with Julie Andrews.
He famously turned down the role of Han Solo in Star Wars, as well as the lead in Die Hard. And it was rumoured that he furthermore didn't take up an offer to play the part made famous by Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.
Décès de l'acteur américain Burt Reynolds, un géant (de mon enfance) pic.twitter.com/fcpFCQlc8K
— Jean Zeid (@JeanZeid) September 6, 2018
He posed nude on a bearskin rug for a Cosmopolitan centerfold in April 1972 - with the issue selling 1.5 million copies. "It's been called one of the greatest publicity stunts of all time, but it was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made," he later wrote.
The star was married to British actress Judy Carne from 1963-66 and then to Loni Anderson from 1988-93; Burt and Loni adopted a son, Quinton, when he was 3 days old.
His divorce from Anderson was costly and he also made bad investments - resulting in some $10 million of debts. Reynolds filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and came out of it two years later.
