Burt Reynolds, one of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s, died on September 6th. Burt Reynolds, who died on September 6th at the age of 82, was once the most popular movie star in the U.S. Although he was charismatic and handsome, he didn’t really think of himself as a great actor — which somehow added to his charm. His extravagant lifestyle led him into financial, physical, and emotional difficulties. But he always said that he would have made the same mistakes all over again. “It’s a tough business,” he once said about working in Hollywood. “Very tough. But…I’ve had a good time through it all.” Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan, in 1936. At the age of ten, his family moved to Florida. Buddy, as he was known, was a high school football star, and won a scholarship to Florida State University. But he injured both his knees during his sophomore year and dropped out of Florida State. A teacher at Palm Beach Junior College helped Reynolds discover his talent for acting. Burt Reynolds won a scholarship to study acting in New York City. He did well there, making friends and landing roles in plays both off- and on Broadway. By the late 1950s, he was appearing in TV shows, hoping that he could do dangerous stunts to get more screen time. By 1959, Burt Reynolds won a regular role on the TV show “Riverboat” with Darren McGavin. Reynolds followed this show up with a three-year stint on “Gunsmoke” as Quint Asper, a half-Indian blacksmith. This led to roles in a number of low-budget action films, and a brief marriage to actress Judy Carne. Copyright 2018 Knowledge Unlimited But Reynolds made his big breakthrough with “Deliverance,” a 1972 movie about four Atlanta men who run into trouble in the Georgia woods. Reynolds broke his tailbone going over rapids in a canoe, but won great reviews for his performance. He also became famous during this time by posing in “Playgirl” Magazine. In the early 70s, he and singer Dinah Shore, who was 20 years older, raised eyebrows with their seemingly happy five-year relationship. Throughout the course of the 1970s, Burt Reynolds became a bigger star with each movie. Things really took off in 1977, with the release of “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Semi-Tough.” In these movies, he was able to display his comedy skills, his stuntman experience, and even his football prowess. From 1978 through 1982, Burt Reynolds was the biggest movie star in the U.S. During these years, he also dated Sally Field, who had appeared with him in the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies. Although he was still a star, Reynolds’ films became less popular in the mid- to late 1980s. He later took himself to task, saying that he wasted some of his best years appearing in bad films. But he stayed in the public limelight by marrying “WKRP in Cincinnati” star Loni Anderson in 1988. Two years later, he staged a comeback by starring in a TV comedy as Wood Newton, a former football player back in his Arkansas hometown in a show called “Evening Shade.” He even won an Emmy for that role. Reynolds’ comeback reached a high point at the end of the 1990s, when he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in the film “Boogie Nights.” The last couple of decades had been difficult for Burt Reynolds. Due to his divorce from Anderson and some bad business decisions, he declared bankruptcy in 1996. Years of doing his own stunts took a serious toll on his health. But he continued to work, even coming up with critically-lauded performances in movies like “The Last Movie Star” and “Miami Love Affair.” He was set to star in a new movie, called “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” when he passed away on September 6th of a heart attack. Copyright 2018 Knowledge Unlimited .