Tinseltown titan Burt Reynolds, the star of such films as ’Smokey and the Bandit and ’The Longest Yard’ has died, The Hollywood Reporter reported. He was 82.
TMZ reported he died in Florida of a heart attack. He played college football at Florida State before setting off on his acting career.
Reynolds was the top-grossing star in Hollywood from 1978 to 1982.
He received an Oscar nomination for his role in the 1997 film ’Boogie Nights.’
During a long, erratic career, Reynolds starred in the Oscar-winning film “Deliverance” in 1972. He also fronted such commercial favorites as “Smokey and the Bandit.”
And he had a hit TV show in the 1990s with “Evening Shade.”
He also had more than his share of flops and tabloid moments, including an acrimonious divorce from former TV star Loni Anderson and a nearly nude centerfold in Cosmopolitan magazine.
- Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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