Buford T. Justice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sheriff Buford T. Justice was the fictional character played by Jackie Gleason in the movies Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). As a foul mouthed and stereotypically bigoted Texas county sheriff, he chased the Bandit, played by Burt Reynolds, across country on several occasions. According to Smokey and the Bandit II, he had two brothers, Gaylord Justice and Reginald Van Justice. He also had an idiot son whom he only called Junior.
The name Buford T. Justice is likely a reference to Buford Pusser, a southern sheriff who had many run-ins with criminals, as portrayed in the 1973 film Walking Tall and its sequels, which were in recent memory at the time Smokey and the Bandit was filmed. However, according to the IMDb, "Buford T. Justice was the name of a real Florida Highway Patrolman known to Burt Reynolds' father who was once Chief of Police of Jupiter, Florida."
Reginald Van Justice is an obvious reference to one of Gleason's long-standing routine character portrayals, Reginald Van Gleason.
Buford T. Justice is also the name of an American cowpunk band. Band website