Burton Leon “Burt” Reynolds is an American actor, director and producer. He starred in many films, such as Deliverance, The Longest Yard as well as its 2005 remake and Smokey and the Bandit. He also won two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy for Evening Shade and one for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for Boogie Nights.

In 1957, Reynolds received his big break after he appeared in a New York City Center revival of Mister Roberts and subsequently signed a TV contract. With regular roles on Riverboat, Gunsmoke, Hawk and Dan August, he became a familiar face to television audiences and increased his popularity in the early 1970s by appearing on numerous TV talk shows.

Reynolds performance in 1972’s Deliverance established him as both a star and a serious actor. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Reynolds remained one of Hollywood’s most sought-after superstars, with films ranging from Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) to Starting Over (1979).

Reynolds returned to the small screen with the popular sitcom Evening Shade, for which he won an Emmy in 1991 and a Golden Globe in 1992.

In the mid-1990s, Reynolds began his film comeback with his role as a drunken congressman in Striptease (1996). Although the film was a critical failure, Reynolds’ performance earned widespread kudos which continued in Boogie Nights, for which Reynolds won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award. He also appeared in the comedy Bean and starred in Mystery, Alaska in 1999. In 2001, Reynolds starred in the thriller Tempted and in the bittersweet love story Snapshots in 2002.