[SIZE=7]Actor Burt Reynolds Dead At 82[/SIZE]
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Reynolds is best known for films such as “Boogie Nights,” “Smokey And The Bandit” and “Deliverance.”
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Actor Burt Reynolds, one of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s, has died at the age of 82, according to multiple reports.
Reynolds died Thursday morning in Florida, his manager, Erik Kritzer, told The Hollywood Reporter. The actor died of cardiac arrest, his agent, Todd Eisner, told NBC News.
“No comment, just heartbreaking,” Eisner said. Reynolds’ family released a statement to THR shortly after the actor’s death:
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Reynolds rose to the top of the acting world in the 1970s in dramas such as “Deliverance” and action-comedies such as “Smokey And The Bandit” and the “Cannonball Run” series. Modern audiences may best remember him, however, for his Oscar-nominated role in the 1997 film “Boogie Nights.”
People reports he had battled several health issues in recent years, including going to rehab for prescription drugs, undergoing bypass surgery in 2010 and spending time in an intensive care unit of a Florida hospital for treatment of flu symptoms, including dehydration.
Born Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. in Waycross, Georgia, he grew up dreaming of being a pro running back. Although Reynolds earned a scholarship to Florida State University, his career was cut short when he suffered a knee injury in a car accident, according to Variety. Reynolds moved to New York and struggled until he was cast in a revival of “Mr. Roberts,” opposite Charlton Heston, in 1956.
From there, he turned his career toward television and spent most of the 1960s doing guest shots on shows such as “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “The Twilight Zone.” He went on to play a Native American man on “Gunsmoke” for three seasons.[/SIZE]
Poor Archer must be crushed.