Deliverance and Boogie Nights Star Burt Reynolds is Dead at 82

Legendary actor Burt Reynold died this week at the age of 82 after suffering cardiac arrest.

The “Smokey and the Bandit” actor was set to star in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which just began filming in Los Angeles. The film also stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kurt Russell, Al Pacino, and Margot Robbie.

“Not only was he fabulous to work with professionally, we became friends and collaborators. He’s such a sweet guy, and it’s all the more heartbreaking that he’s gone. We were planning to do an Oscar campaign in the fall, he was so excited about working on the Quentin [Tarantino] movie,” said director and write Adam Rifkin.

Reynolds had received strong reviews for his performance in The Last Movie Star. A movie that Rifkin created with Reynolds in mind.

Rifkin told People that him and Reynolds had plans to win the late actor his first-ever Academy Award.

Anold Schwarzenegger tweeted, “Burt Reynolds was one of my heroes. He was a trailblazer. He showed the way to transition from being an athlete to being the highest paid actor, and he always inspired me. He also had a great sense of humor – check out his Tonight Show clips. My thoughts are with his family.”

Patton Oswalt took to his Twitter and wrote, “Burt Reynolds & Clint Eastwood were fired from GUNSMOKE & RAWHIDE at the same time. Burt was told he couldn’t act and Clint his neck was too skinny. In the parking lot, Burt said to Clint, “I dunno what you’re gonna do, but I’m gonna take acting lessons.” #RIPBurtReynolds