Few movie stars are as iconic and endearing as Burt Reynolds. After his star-making turn as outdoorsman Lewis in the harrowing survival thriller Deliverance, Reynolds shot to the top of the A-list, where he stayed for decades. Reynolds starred in all kinds of movies – comedies, dramas, action movies – playing all kinds of characters.
With versatile roles like imprisoned football player Paul “Wrecking” Crewe in The Longest Yard, beer runner “Bandit” in Smokey and the Bandit, and adult film mogul Jack Horner in Boogie Nights, Reynolds solidified his status as a Hollywood legend.
Paul “Wrecking” Crewe (The Longest Yard)
Sports movies tend to follow a familiar formula, but The Longest Yard has an utterly unique premise. Reynolds stars as a former NFL quarterback who’s sentenced to 18 months in prison after leading the cops on a car chase and ends up assembling a team of inmates to take on the guards in a football game.
This movie was remade by Adam Sandler three decades after the original hit theaters. In the remake, Reynolds plays the coach, Nate Scarboro, a role played by Michael Conrad in the original.
Lieutenant Phil Gaines (Hustle)
A year after The Longest Yard, Reynolds reunited with director Robert Aldrich on Hustle, a neo-noir thriller in which he plays an LAPD detective investigating an apparent suicide.
A movie like this rarely gives more of a spotlight to character development than action and violence, but Aldrich takes plenty of time to round out Lieutenant Phil Gaines as the hero. Ultimately, the movie is a love story, and Reynolds shares palpable romantic tension with his co-star Catherine Deneuve.
Sonny Hooper (Hooper)
A year after the runaway success of Smokey and the Bandit (which became a box office hit in spite of competition from none other than Star Wars), Hooper reunited Reynolds with co-star Sally Field and stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham.
The movie is a tribute to stunt performers. Reynolds’ lead character Sonny Hooper is an aging stuntman who takes an apprentice under his wing as he attempts to pull off a difficult stunt.
Sperm Switchboard Operator (Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex *But Were Afraid To Ask)
Adapted from David Reuben’s book of the same name, Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) is a sex comedy anthology movie with such storylines as Gene Wilder falling in love with a sheep.
Burt Reynolds has a hysterical cameo appearance in the “What Happens During Ejaculation?” segment. A man’s brain is depicted as a NASA-esque mission control center. Reynolds plays the switchboard operator who deploys militaristic sperms in white uniforms.
Sergeant Tom Sharky (Sharky’s Machine)
In addition to being a prolific movie star, Reynolds occasionally stepped behind the camera to direct his own films. One of his most acclaimed directorial efforts was Sharky’s Machine, in which he starred as Sergeant Tom Sharky.
After Smokey and the Bandit redefined Reynolds as a straightforward comedic actor, Sharky’s Machine brought him back into dramatic territory. Following a failed bust, Sharky is demoted to vice, where he stumbles upon a mob murder tied to a larger conspiracy.
J.J. McClure (The Cannonball Run)
There are a ton of huge stars in the ensemble cast of the anarchic road comedy The Cannonball Run – Jackie Chan, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Roger Moore at the height of his Bond fame all take part in the titular race across America – but Reynolds is arguably the biggest star of the bunch.
He plays J.J. McClure, a famous racecar driver who partakes in the “Cannonball Run” in an ambulance fitted with a NASCAR engine. Reynolds shares hilarious chemistry with Dom DeLuise as his mechanic sidekick Victor Prinzi, better known as “Captain Chaos.”
Lewis Medlock (Deliverance)
Lewis Medlock in Deliverance is the role that launched Reynolds’ career. He’d been acting in movies for around a decade at this point, but Deliverance – the story of four businessmen’s haunting experiences sailing down a backwoods river – made him a star.
As the only experienced outdoorsman in the group, Lewis is confident and optimistic in the first half of the movie. But he starts to lose hope in the second half after he breaks his femur. Reynolds brings real nuance and depth to this transformation.
Bobby “Gator” McKlusky (White Lightning)
First introduced in White Lightning, Bobby “Gator” McKlusky is a quintessential Reynolds action hero. He’s an imprisoned moonshine runner who agrees to go undercover when a corrupt sheriff murders his brother.
Reynolds went on to make his directorial debut with a White Lightning sequel aptly named Gator. It wasn’t as acclaimed as the original, but the Gator McKlusky character was just as ice-cool the second time around.
Jack Horner (Boogie Nights)
Reynolds received his first and only Oscar nomination for playing adult film mogul Jack Horner in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic drama Boogie Nights. He takes Mark Wahlberg’s budding porno actor Dirk Diggler under his wing, then cruelly hangs him out to dry.
Over the course of this movie, Reynolds has opportunities to explore darker emotions than any of his previous roles. He brings plenty of his usual charms to the role, but also plays the character with real pathos.
Bo “Bandit” Darville (Smokey And The Bandit)
The perfect Reynolds role, combining his comedic talents, action-hero edge, and leading-man charisma, is Bo “Bandit” Darville in Smokey and the Bandit. While his buddy Snowman is busy trucking a shipment of Coors to Atlanta, the Bandit distracts the law enforcement on their tail.
Reynolds shares a hysterical dynamic with Jackie Gleason as the stuffy, villainous Sheriff Buford T. Justice. With dry one-liners and unparalleled driving skills to back them up, the Bandit is constantly humiliating Smokey.