Burt Reynolds

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Burt Reynolds

Reynolds in 1991
Born Burton Leon Reynolds, Jr.
February 11, 1936 (1936-02-11) (age 72)
Lansing, Michigan, USA [1]
Years active 1959-present
Spouse(s) Judy Carne (1963-1965)
Loni Anderson (1988-1995)
Official website

Burton Leon Reynolds, Jr.[2] (born February 11, 1936) is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Paul Crewe in the original version of The Longest Yard, Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, J.J. McClure in The Cannonball Run and Jack Horner in Boogie Nights.

Burt is one of America's most recognizable film and television personalities. With more than 90 feature film and 300 television episode credits, he was the number-one box-office attraction for five straight years (1978-82).[3]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Reynolds' parents were Fern and Burton Reynolds, who was of half-Cherokee Indian descent.[4] Reynolds states in his autobiography that his family was living in Lansing when his father was drafted into the United States Army.[1] Reynolds, his mother and his sister joined his father at Fort Leonard Wood, where they lived for two years. Reynolds has stated that his first memories are of playing in the Ozark woods at Fort Leonard Wood. When Reynold's father was sent to Europe, the family returned to Lansing, Michigan. After a short while, the Reynolds family moved to northern Michigan, across the road from his maternal grandparents' farm. Reynolds started attending school in Merritt, Michigan, where he felt he did not belong among the Native American, farm and backwoods children who made up most of the student body.[5]

Reynolds' father was discharged from the Army in late 1945. In early 1946, while his parents were on a second honeymoon in Florida, his father was offered a job as general contractor for a new housing development in Riviera Beach, Florida. Reynolds moved to Riviera Beach with his parents, while his sister stayed in Michigan to finish the school year. The Reynolds family at first lived in a mobile home, but sesequently bought the first house that was completed in the new subdivision.[6]

Reynolds thought he was in paradise. He had access to the Everglades to the west, the shore of the Lake Worth Lagoon to the east, and further east, across the Blue Heron Boulevard bridge to Singer Island, the Atlantic Ocean. He was fascinated by the Conch fishermen and their families who made up most of the population of Riviera Beach.[7]

After two years his father's contractor job ended, and Reynolds' parents bought a lunch counter and sundry store next to the bridge to Singer Island. As the business was close to a large dock and some fish and shrimp packing houses, business was good. Soon after, Reynolds' father was recruited as a police officer for Riviera Beach. When the police chief died a few years later, Reynolds' father became the chief.[8]

As his home was at the north edge of Riviera Beach, Reynolds attended school in Lake Park, just to the north of Riviera Beach. While he was in seventh grade, the Palm Beach County School Board decided that there were too few seventh grade students in the school to justify a teacher's salary, and Reynolds was transferred to Central Junior High School (now Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts) in West Palm Beach. Reynolds felt lost at the big school, and started hanging out with greasers and skipping school. He also began showing off with dangerous stunts, such as diving off the top of a raised drawbridge, and jumping from an airboat onto the back of a running deer.[9]

When Reynolds was twelve he became friends with Jimmy Hooks. After learning that Jimmy was being physically abused in his home, Reynolds took Jimmy home with him and told his parents he wanted Jimmy to be his brother. The family took Jimmy in, eventually officially adopting him years later when Jimmy was in his twenties.[10]

When Reynolds was fourteen he tried out for football team at Central Junior High. He had never played organized sports, but worked hard at practice, earned his letterman's sweater, and was named to the county all-star team. The next year, when Reynolds entered high school, he made the varsity team, but did not have much opportunity to play. In his junior year he had more opportunity to play. Seeing his ability, and foreseeing that he was likely to receive scholarship offers, one of Reynolds' coaches persuaded him to take the courses necessary to enter a college. In his senior year Reynolds was named First Team All State and All Southern as a fullback, and received multiple scholarship offers.[11] His most notable performance came against Swartz Creek High School where he rushed for 310 yards and four touchdowns while playing with a strained calf muscle.

[edit] College

After graduating from Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach, Florida, Reynolds attended Florida State University on a college football scholarship, becoming an all-star halfback.[12] While at Florida State, Reynolds joined the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, the football team's fraternity of choice. He was anticipating a very good season his second year, with expectations of being named to All American teams, and an eventual career in professional football. In the first game of the season Reynolds tore the cartilage in his knee. He made the injury worse by trying to play again later in the game, and then again in a couple of games late in the season. On Christmas break that year, Reynolds ran his father's car up under a flatbed trailer that was sitting across a dark street. The car was wedged under the trailer, and it took rescuers seven and a half hours to remove Reynolds from the wreckage. He had multiple injuries, including his knee, shoulder, some broken ribs, and a ruptured spleen, the last of which was removed in emergency surgery.[13]

With his college football career ended, Reynolds considered becoming a police officer, but his father suggested that he finish college and become a parole officer. In order to keep up with his studies he began taking classes at Palm Beach Junior College (PBJC) in neighboring Lake Park. In his first term at PBJC Reynolds was in a class taught by Watson B. Duncan III. Duncan pushed Reynolds into trying out for a play he was producing, Outward Bound. He cast Reynolds in the lead, based on his impressions from listening to Reynolds read Shakespeare in class. Reynolds won the 1956 Florida State Drama Award for his performance in Outward Bound. Reynolds calls Duncan his mentor and the most-influential person in his life.[14]

[edit] Career

The Florida State Drama Award included a scholarship to the Hyde Park Playhouse, a summer stock theater, in Hyde Park, New York. Reynolds saw the opportunity as an agreeable alternative to more physically demanding summer jobs, but did not yet see acting as a career. While working at Hyde Park Reynolds met Joanne Woodward, who helped Reynolds find an agent, and be cast in Tea and Sympathy at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Reynolds received favorable reviews for his performance in Tea and Sympathy. Reynolds then went on tour with Tea and Sympathy, driving the bus as well as appearing on stage.[15]

After the tour Reynolds returned to New York and enrolled in acting classes. His classmates included Frank Gifford, Carol Lawrence, Red Buttons and Jan Murray. After a botched improvisation in acting class, Reynolds briefly considered returning to Florida, but he soon got a part in a revival of Mister Roberts, with Charlton Heston as the star. After the play closed, the director, John Forsythe, arranged a movie audition with Josh Logan for Reynolds. The movie was Sayonara, and Reynolds was told he couldn't be in the movie because he looked too much like Marlon Brando. Logan advised Reynolds to go to Hollywood, but Reynolds did not feel confident enough to do so.[16]

Reynolds worked odd jobs while waiting for acting opportunities. He waited tables, washed dishes, drove a delivery truck and worked as a bouncer at the Roseland Ballroom. It was while working as a dockworker that Reynolds was offered $150 to jump through a glass window on a live television show.[17]

He made his Broadway debut in Look, We've Come Through. Reynolds first starred on television, in the 1950s series, Riverboat, and went on to appear in a number of other shows, including a role as blacksmith Quint Asper on Gunsmoke from 1962-1965.

His film debut was in 1961, in the movie Angel Baby. At the urging of friend Clint Eastwood, Reynolds used his TV fame to secure leading roles in overseas low budget films, commonly called "Spaghetti Westerns". (Eastwood advised Reynolds from experience, as he had done the same). Reynolds first Spaghetti Western, Navajo Joe, came out in 1966. These low budget starring roles established Reynolds as a bankable leading man in movies, and earned him starring roles in American big-budget motion pictures. His breakout performance in Deliverance in 1972 made him a star. The same year, Reynolds gained notoriety when he posed naked in the April (Vol. 172, No. 4) issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Reynolds claims he was offered the role of James Bond by producer Albert R. Broccoli, after Sean Connery left the franchise. Reynolds turned the role down, saying "An American can't play James Bond. It just can't be done."[18] In 1973, he released the album Ask Me What I Am. He would also sing in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Reynolds appeared on ABC's The American Sportsman hosted by outdoors journalist Grits Gresham, who took celebrities on hunting, fishing, and shooting trips around the world.

On March 15, 1978, Reynolds earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in the same year built a dinner theatre in Jupiter, Florida. His celebrity was such that he drew not only big-name stars to appear in productions but sell-out audiences as well. He sold the venue in the early 1990s.

In the 1980s, after Smokey and the Bandit, he became typecast in similar, less well-done and less successful movies. Comedian and actor Robert Wuhl, in a standup act in the late 80s, said that "Burt Reynolds makes so many bad movies, when someone else makes a bad movie Burt gets a royalty!" He had his hand at producing a television show with friend Bert Convy in 1987, Win, Lose or Draw. He even appeared as a celebrity gameplayer in a few episodes of the show.

During the first half of the 1990s, he was the star of the CBS television series Evening Shade, for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1991). Reynolds started a comeback with the movie Striptease in 1996, and the critically acclaimed Boogie Nights, in 1997, put his career back on track. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Boogie Nights and won a Golden Globe Award for the movie. He was considered a front-runner for the Supporting Oscar, but ultimately lost to Robin Williams, who won it for his role in Good Will Hunting.

In early 2000, he created and toured Burt Reynolds' One Man Show. In 2002, he lent his voice to the character Avery Carrington in the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

In 2005, he co-starred in two remakes: the first released was of The Longest Yard, this time with Adam Sandler playing the role of Paul Crewe, the role Reynolds had played in the 1974 original. This time around, Reynolds took on the role of Nate Scarborough. The second was of the hit 1980s TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, as Boss Hogg.

He starred in the audio book version of The Worst Case Scenario Handbook. In May 2006, Reynolds began appearing in Miller Lite beer commercials. In 2007 at the World Stuntman Awards he was awarded the Taurus Lifetime Achievement Award. While presenting him with the award Arnold Schwarzenegger referred to him as the greatest of the great.

[edit] Southern filmmaking

Although Reynolds had already made eleven films, his performance as Lewis, the macho Atlanta businessman in the 1972 film adaptation of James Dickey's novel Deliverance, signaled the beginning of his box-office popularity. Hailed as one of the year's best films, Deliverance is the story of four suburbanites' harrowing journey into Appalachian Georgia. Filmed on Georgia's Chattooga River, Deliverance also marked the beginning of Reynolds's devotion to making films in and about the South.

The following year Reynolds was persuaded to play the role of a moonshiner in the film White Lightning after the filmmakers promised to shoot in the South. White Lightning, which was filmed in Arkansas, broke attendance records nationwide, and the film's success encouraged Hollywood studios to make more southern films. In 1976 Reynolds both starred in and made his directorial debut with Gator, the sequel to White Lightning. Deciding to shoot Gator entirely in Georgia, Reynolds announced that “I have this violent urge to get behind the camera... I want to say some nice things about the South.”

In 1974 Reynolds starred in The Longest Yard, which was filmed at the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville. In the film Reynolds portrays a former athletic star forced to compete in a life-and-death football game. Many inmates served as extras and helped to construct the sets, including a football field that was given to the prison after filming was complete. Governor Jimmy Carter played a key role in the orchestration of the project and, according to Reynolds, promised that he "would personally come in and take me out if anything happened." The film, remade in 2005 with Reynolds in the role of Coach Nate Scarborough was popular with audiences, but not with critics.

During the next few years Reynolds continued his pattern of choosing southern-themed films that were often shot, at least partially, in the South. In the 1975 film W. W. and the Dixie Dance Kings, filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, he played the fast-talking, gas station robbing manager of a group of country musicians whose collective dream is to one day play the Grand Ole Opry. Two years later, Smokey and the Bandit, which also features the Georgia musician Jerry Reed, was released and is one of Reynolds's best-known and loved films. Filmed entirely in Georgia, the successful comedy was followed in 1980 by Smokey and the Bandit II, which was filmed partially in Georgia.

Reynolds's next film, The Cannonball Run 1981, was shot almost entirely in Georgia, referred to as "Burt's good luck state" by the director, Hal Needham. That same year Reynolds directed and starred in Sharky's Machine. Filmed entirely in Atlanta, the movie features Reynolds as a narcotics officer investigating the murder of a prostitute in the city.

During these years, Reynolds starred in a number of other notable films, including The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing 1973; Semi-Tough 1977; The End 1978, which he also directed; Starting Over 1979; and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 1982, which was filmed mostly in Texas.[19]

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Relationships

At various points in his life, Reynolds was romantically involved with Dinah Shore, Sally Field, and Chris Evert.[20] His relationship with Shore garnered particular attention given the fact she was 20 years his senior. Reynolds was married to actress/comedienne Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965, and actress Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1993, with whom he adopted a son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds. E! Online reports that he dated Kate Edelman Johnson from 2003 to 2005.[21]

His autobiography, titled My Life, was published in 1994 with much writing help from his close personal friend, Al Glasgow.

[edit] Sports team owner

On July 3, 1982, Reynolds lived out one of his dreams by once again getting involved with a sport that still holds a certain soft spot in his heart, by becoming a co-owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits, a professional football team in the USFL. Other owners included John Bassett, a Canadian movie producer, and Stephen Arky, an attorney from Miami. Reynolds was a general partner of the team from 1982 to 1985, the entire existence of the USFL. The team held a winning record in every year. In 1983 they went 11–7–0 in the Central Division but did not make the playoffs. In 1984 they went 14–4–0 in the Southern Division and lost in the conference semifinals to the Birmingham Stallions 36–17. In 1985 they went 10–8–0 in the Eastern Conference but lost in the quarterfinals to the Oakland Invaders 30–27.

Reynolds also co-owned a NASCAR Winston Cup team with Hal Needham, which ran the #33 Skoal Bandits car, with driver Harry Gant.

[edit] Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1961 Angel Baby Hoke Adams Film debut
Armored Command Skee  
1965 Operation C.I.A. Mark Andrews  
1966 Navajo Joe Joe  
1969 100 Rifles Yaqui Joe Herrera  
Sam Whiskey Sam Whiskey  
Impasse Pat Morrison  
Shark! Caine  
1970 Skullduggery Douglas Temple  
1972 Deliverance Lewis Medlock  
Fuzz Det. Steve Carella  
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) Sperm Switchboard Chief cameo role
1973 Shamus Shamus McCoy  
White Lightning Gator McKlusky  
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing Jay Grobart  
1974 The Longest Yard Paul Crewe  
1975 At Long Last Love Michael Oliver Pritchard III  
W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings W.W. Bright  
Lucky Lady Walker Ellis song performer
Hustle Lieutenant Phil Gaines also executive producer
1976 Silent Movie himself cameo role
Gator Gator McKlusky also director
Nickelodeon Buck Greenway  
1977 Smokey and the Bandit Bo 'Bandit' Darville  
Semi-Tough Billy Clyde Puckett  
1978 The End Wendell Sonny Lawson also director
Hooper Sonny Hooper also producer
1979 Starting Over Phil Potter  
1980 Rough Cut Jack Rhodes  
Smokey and the Bandit II Bo 'Bandit' Darville  
1981 The Cannonball Run J.J. McClure  
Paternity Buddy Evans  
Sharky's Machine Sgt. Tom Sharky also director
1982 The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd song performer
Best Friends Richard Babson  
1983 Stroker Ace Stroker Ace  
Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 The Real Bandit/ Bo 'Bandit' Darville cameo role
The Man Who Loved Women David Fowler  
1984 Cannonball Run II J.J. McClure  
City Heat Mike Murphy  
1985 Southern Voices, American Dreams himself documentary
Stick Ernest 'Stick' Stickley also director
1986 Uphill All the Way himself cameo role
Sherman's March himself documentary
Heat Mex  
1987 Malone Richard Malone  
1988 Rent-A-Cop Tony Church  
Switching Channels John L. Sullivan IV  
1989 Physical Evidence Joe Paris  
Breaking In Ernie Mullins  
All Dogs Go to Heaven Charlie B. Barkin voice and song performer
1990 Modern Love Colonel Frank Parker  
1992 The Player himself cameo role
1993 Cop and a Half Nick McKenna  
1994 A Century of Cinema himself documentary
1995 The Maddening Roy Scudder  
1996 Frankenstein and Me Les Williams  
Citizen Ruth Blaine Gibbons  
Striptease Congressman David Dilbeck  
Mad Dog Time 'Wacky' Jacky Jackson  
1997 Meet Wally Sparks Lenny Spencer  
Bean General Newton  
Boogie Nights Jack Horner  
1998 Crazy Six Dakota  
1999 Waterproof Eli Zeal  
The Hunter's Moon Clayton Samuels  
Pups Daniel Bender  
Big City Blues Connor co-producer
Stringer Wolko  
Mystery, Alaska Judge Walter Burns  
2000 The Crew Joey 'Bats' Pistella  
The Last Producer Sonny Wexler also director
2001 Driven Carl Henry  
Tempted Charlie LeBlanc  
Hotel Flamenco Manager  
The Hollywood Sign Kage Mulligan  
Auf Herz und Nieren Banko German film
2002 Snapshots Larry Goldberg  
Time of the Wolf Archie McGregor  
2003 The Librarians Irish  
4th and Life Narrator documentary
Gumball 3000: The Movie himself voice
2004 Without a Paddle Del Knox  
2005 The Longest Yard Coach Nate Scarborough  
The Dukes of Hazzard Jefferson Davis 'Boss' Hogg  
Legend of Frosty the Snowman Narrator voice
2006 Cloud 9 Billy Cole  
End Game General Montgomery  
Forget About It Sam LeFleur  
Grilled Goldbluth  
Broken Bridges Jake Delton  
2007 Randy and the Mob Elmore Culpepper  
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale King Konreid  
2008 Deal Tommy Vinson  
Delgo Delgo's Father voice
2009 A Bunch of Amateurs Jefferson Steel post-production
Announced Wait For Me[22]    
Small Town Saturday Night[23] Charlie  
Old Soldiers[24]    
Instant Karma[25]   voice

[edit] Awards and achievements

  • 1978 Star (for motion pictures) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6838 Hollywood Blvd.[26]
  • National Association of Theater Owners No. 1 box-office star for five straight years (1978–82)
  • 1987 Eastman Kodak Second Century Award
  • 1991 American Cancer Society's Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2000 Children at Heart Award[27]
  • 2003 Atlanta IMAGE Film and Video Award[28]
  • 2007 Taurus Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2007 Best Buddies Canada Lifetime Achievement Award[29]
  • Emmy Awards
  1. 1991 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (for Evening Shade)
  1. 1998 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (for Boogie Nights)
  2. 1992 Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical (for Evening Shade)
  1. 1991 Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series
  2. 1984 Favorite Motion Picture Actor (tied with Clint Eastwood)
  3. 1983 Favorite Motion Picture Actor
  4. 1983 Favorite All-Around Male Entertainer
  5. 1982 Favorite Motion Picture Actor
  6. 1982 Favorite All-Around Male Entertainer
  7. 1980 Favorite Motion Picture Actor
  8. 1979 Favorite Motion Picture Actor
  9. 1979 Favorite All-Around Male Entertainer
  1. 1980 Favorite Film Star - Male
  • National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
  1. 1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1997 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
  • Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
  1. 1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1998 Best Ensemble Cast (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1998 Best Supporting Actor (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1991 Best Actor in a Quality Comedy Series (for Evening Shade)
  • Crystal Reel Awards
  1. 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award
  1. 1998 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Boogie Nights)
  • ShoWest Convention, USA
  1. 1998 Supporting Actor of the Year (for Boogie Nights)
  1. 1990 Golden Boot
  1. 1980 Male Star of the Year Award
  2. 1978 Male Star of the Year Award
  1. 1997 Worst Screen Couple (for Striptease)
  2. 1994 Worst Actor (for Cop and ½)


Awards
Preceded by
Edward Norton
for Primal Fear		 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1998
for Boogie Nights		 Succeeded by
Ed Harris
for The Truman Show

[edit] Honorary recognitions

Reynolds has received a number of honorary recognitions over the years, mostly keys to various cities, or deputy badges from being deputized.

  • The X Files: Improbable:

Reynolds guest starred with Gillian Anderson, Robert Patrick, and Annabeth Gish in an episode of The X Files. The episode, Improbable, aired in 2002 (Season 9 of the X Files). Improbable was about a murderer who chose his victims by their numerology. Burt Reynolds character, Mr. Burt, was a gambler and loved to play checkers. Though never outwardly mentioned, Mr. Burt is actually God trying to steer the killer away from his numerological destiny of murder. This episode ended with an overview of Las Vegas which was shaped like Mr. Burt's head. Improbable was also known for it's unusual soundtrack by Karl Zero for The X Files.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Severalsources list Waycross, Georgia as Reynold's birthplace (Birthplace. Turner Classic Movies., Birthplace. Chicago Sun-Times (article from 2007). and Birthplace. Biography Channel.), for example, while other sources show that he was born in Lansing, Michigan (Burt Reynold's Official Website), (NNBD and The Palm Beach Post, June 28, 2000). Reynolds' autobiography (My Life) does not name his birthplace, although it does cover his childhood in Lansing, and fails to mention Waycross at all. For more discussion on Burt Reynolds' birthplace, see ('discussion page)
  2. ^ Birthname. Hollywood.com.
  3. ^ Top Ten Money Making Stars - of the past 74 years
  4. ^ Grandmother-Cherokee. TIME Magazine (article from 1972).
  5. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 5-12
  6. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 14-7
  7. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 17-8
  8. ^ Reynolds. Pp.18-9
  9. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 17, 22-4
  10. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 17, 27-8
  11. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 17, 33-7, 41-4
  12. ^ Photo gallery of Reynolds at FSU: http://heritage.fsu.edu/photos/burtatfsu.html
  13. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 49-56
  14. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 57-9
  15. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 59-63.
  16. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 63-5.
  17. ^ Reynolds. Pp. 65-7.
  18. ^ http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1038368.php
  19. ^ Southern Filmmaking. The Georgia Encyclopedia.
  20. ^ Chris. Allmovie.com.
  21. ^ Kate. E!.
  22. ^ Wait for Me. Hollywood.com.
  23. ^ Small Town Saturday Night. Hollywood.com.
  24. ^ Old Soldiers. Hollywood.com.
  25. ^ Instant Karma. Hollywood.com.
  26. ^ Walk of Fame. Wire Image.
  27. ^ 2000 Children at Heart. TV.com.
  28. ^ 2003 Atlanta Image Award. The New Georgia Encyclopedia.
  29. ^ (Best Buddy Lifetime Achievement Award. tv.yahoo.com).) Burt Reynolds received a lifetime achievement award from Best Buddies Canada. The Oscar-nominated actor received the honour at a benefit gala with musical guest Chantal Kreviazuk in Toronto on Sept. 10, 2007. Best Buddies Canada is a national charitable organization dedicated to fostering friendships between students and individuals with intellectual disabilities. Reynolds is receiving its annual award for his decades-long "commitment to aiding and inspiring youth by supporting drama education and humanitarian causes," said the group. Such causes include the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre in Tequest, Fla., founded by the legendary actor in 1979. Donations by the star have also helped establish the Burt Reynolds Eminent Scholar Chair in Regional and Professional Theatre at Florida State University, and the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Fla. Reynolds has already been honoured for his efforts in aiding the children of Chernobyl.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies

Bob Hope (1961) · Bob Hope (1962) · Frank Sinatra (1963) · Jack Lemmon (1964) · Bob Hope (1965) · Bob Hope (1966) · Bob Hope (1967) · Bob Hope (1968) · Helen Hayes / Alan King / Sammy Davis, Jr. / Jack Lemmon (1972) · Carol Burnett / Michael Caine / Charlton Heston / Rock Hudson (1973) · John Huston / Burt Reynolds / David Niven / Diana Ross (1974) · Sammy Davis, Jr. / Bob Hope / Shirley MacLaine / Frank Sinatra (1975) · Goldie Hawn / Gene Kelly / Walter Matthau / George Segal / Robert Shaw (1976) · Warren Beatty / Ellen Burstyn / Jane Fonda / Richard Pryor (1977) · Bob Hope (1978) · Johnny Carson (1979) · Johnny Carson (1980)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series

Jack Albertson (1976) · Carroll O'Connor (1977) · Carroll O'Connor (1978) · Carroll O'Connor (1979) · Richard Mulligan (1980) · Judd Hirsch (1981) · Alan Alda (1982) · Judd Hirsch (1983) · John Ritter (1984) · Robert Guillaume (1985) · Michael J. Fox (1986) · Michael J. Fox (1987) · Michael J. Fox (1988) · Richard Mulligan (1989) · Ted Danson (1990) · Burt Reynolds (1991) · Craig T. Nelson (1992) · Ted Danson (1993) · Kelsey Grammer (1994) · Kelsey Grammer (1995) · John Lithgow (1996) · John Lithgow (1997) · Kelsey Grammer (1998) · John Lithgow (1999) · Michael J. Fox (2000)