Burt Reynolds

"I took the part that was the most fun — 'Oh, this will be fun.' I didn't take the part that would be the most challenging"

—Burt Reynolds, in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2012

Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds (February 11, 1936 - September 6, 2018) was an American actor and director. Some of his notable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (which he considered to be his best film), Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and its sequel Gator, Paul "Wrecking" Crewe in The Longest Yard, Charlie B. Barkin in All Dogs Go to Heaven, and 1970s adult-film director Jack Horner in Boogie Nights (a role he despised, but for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and was his only nomination for an Academy Award (for Best Supporting Actor)). He also played Coach Nate Scarborough in the 2005 version of The Longest Yard alongside Adam Sandler who portrayed Paul "Wrecking" Crewe.

He turned down roles that made other actors famous (such as Han Solo) or earned other actors awards (such as Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment, which earned Jack Nicholson an Oscar).