(CNN) Burt Reynolds, the mustachioed megastar who first strutted on screen more than half a century ago, died Thursday, according to his agent, Todd Eisner.
He was 82.
The Michigan native, whose easy-going charms and handsome looks drew prominent roles in films such as "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Boogie Nights," suffered a cardiac arrest, Eisner said. A call for an ambulance came from his estate in Martin County, Florida, 911 records show.
An iconic Hollywood sex symbol in front of the camera, Reynolds also tried his directorial hand behind it, and later earned a reputation for philanthropy after founding the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film & Theatre in his home state of Florida.
His roles over the years ranged and pivoted from Southern heartthrob to tough guy to comedy, notably in his role as Rep. David Dilbeck in the 1996 film "Striptease," which flopped at the box office but earned him widespread praise for his comedic prowess.
But it was John Boorman's 1972 thriller "Deliverance," which cast Reynolds as outdoorsman Lewis Medlock, that is widely credited for launching his early career.
Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Actor Burt Reynolds, whose easygoing charms and handsome looks drew prominent roles in films such as "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Boogie Nights," died Thursday, September 6. He was 82 years old. Hide Caption 1 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds played college football at Florida State University in the 1950s. He turned to acting when injuries derailed a promising athletic career. Hide Caption 2 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds spends time with actress Lori Nelson circa 1959. Hide Caption 3 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years A bare-chested Reynolds stands on a kitchen set in 1960. Hide Caption 4 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years The cast of the hit TV show "Gunsmoke" poses around a wagon in 1962. Behind Reynolds, from left, are James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake and Ken Curtis. Hide Caption 5 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds poses for a portrait on the set of the TV show "Hawk" in 1966. Hide Caption 6 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds and Normal Fell appear in an episode of "Dan August" in 1970. Hide Caption 7 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds poses for a photo in 1972. Hide Caption 8 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds' breakthrough movie role was outdoorsman Lewis Medlock in 1972's "Deliverance." Hide Caption 9 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds stars with Sarah Miles in "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" (1973). Hide Caption 10 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years In 1973, Reynolds attends the premiere of "Live and Let Die" with Michael and Shakira Caine. Hide Caption 11 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds went back to his football days for the movie "The Longest Yard" in 1974. Hide Caption 12 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds appears with Sally Field in 1977's "Smokey and the Bandit." Hide Caption 13 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds on a movie set in 1980. Hide Caption 14 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds and Loni Anderson attend the premiere of "City Heat" in 1984. Anderson became Reynolds' second wife in 1988. The two divorced in 1993. Hide Caption 15 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years From left, Charles Durning, Reynolds and Michael Jeter appear in the TV show "Evening Shade" in 1991. Hide Caption 16 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds received an Academy Award nomination for his role as a porn-film producer in 1997's "Boogie Nights." Hide Caption 17 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Russell Crowe and Reynolds star in "Mystery, Alaska" in 1999. Hide Caption 18 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds gets close to Jennifer Tilly and Richard Dreyfuss in 2000's "The Crew." Hide Caption 19 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds arrives with son Quinton at the First International World Stunt Awards in 2001. Hide Caption 20 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds poses with Adam Sandler, left, and Chris Rock after a remake of "The Longest Yard" in 2005. Hide Caption 21 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds accepts a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Taurus World Stunt Awards in 2007. Hide Caption 22 of 23 Photos: Burt Reynolds through the years Reynolds attends the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017. Hide Caption 23 of 23
Reynolds called it "by far" his best film.
"I thought maybe this film is more important in a lot of ways than we've given it credit for," he said in an interview years later. The movie's infamous rape scene may have helped the public -- especially men -- better understand the horrors of sexual attacks, Reynolds said.
"It was the only time I saw men get up, sick, and walk out of a theater," he added. "I've seen women do that (before)," but not men.
Born in Lansing, Michigan, Reynolds and his family moved to South Florida when he was 5, according to his autobiography.
At Palm Beach High School, he first made a name for himself as a football star and earned an athletic scholarship to Florida State University. But when injuries derailed a promising athletic career, Reynolds turned to acting.
He then scored small parts in the late 1950s before landing a role in the New York City Center revival of "Mister Roberts" in 1957, as well as a recurring spot in the TV series "Gunsmoke."
By 1974, Reynolds had hit it big and starred as an ex-football player who landed in prison in the film "The Longest Yard." Two years earlier, he broke taboo and posed nude in Cosmopolitan magazine, which helped cement his growing status as a sex symbol.
He later said he regretted that centerfold image, which showed Reynolds spread out across a bearskin rug, and said it distracted attention from his "Deliverance" co-stars and likely cost them an Academy Award.
Reynolds' notoriety soared through the late 1970s and 1980s, during which time he spearheaded the "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Cannonball Run" movie franchises. He also earned People's Choice Awards in 1979, 1982 and 1983 as all-around male entertainer of the year.
But he also turned down some of the biggest roles in Hollywood history, including James Bond to Han Solo in George Lucas' 1977 blockbuster "Star Wars." Reynolds also reportedly was among Paramount Pictures' top choices to play Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 epic "The Godfather."
Again, the star expressed regrets.
"I took the part that was the most fun. ... I didn't take the part that would be the most challenging," Reynolds said in an interview with CNN.
His love life also drew headlines after a high-profile divorce to actress Loni Anderson preceded Reynolds' bankruptcy filing in 1996.
Anderson and Reynolds shared a son, Quinton.
"Quinton and I are extremely touched by the tremendous outpouring of love and support from friends and family throughout the world," Anderson wrote in a statement on Thursday. "Burt was a wonderful director and actor. He was a big part of my life for 12 years and Quinton's life for 30 years. We will miss him and his great laugh."
In 1998, Reynolds scored his sole Oscar nomination, for best supporting actor, after his portrayal of a porn film producer in the film "Boogie Nights," despite his dislike of the film and its apparent glorification of the porn industry.
Years later, with a mustache gone gray, he suffered from health issues that led to open heart surgery. Reynolds also checked into a drug rehab clinic in 2009. The purpose was "to regain control of his life" after becoming addicted to painkillers prescribed following back surgery, his manager said.
Once among Hollywood's highest-paid actors, Reynolds later fell into financial trouble amid private ventures in an Atlanta restaurant and a professional sports team, though he continued to make cameo appearances and teach acting classes.
"I worked as an actor for 60 years, I must have something I can give," he told CNN.
Reynolds made an acting resurgence in recent years, appearing in numerous films and TV shows. He was cast in the upcoming Quentin Tarantino-directed "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," scheduled for release next year. Reynolds had not yet started shooting his appearance in the film.
This story has been updated to reflect that Reynolds was born in Michigan. A previous version incorrectly identified his birthplace as Georgia.
CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Burt Reynolds in his 1970s heyday
Burt Reynolds, the wisecracking 1970s movie heartthrob and Oscar nominee, has died at the age of 82.
He reportedly passed away in a Florida hospital from a heart attack with his family by his side.
The moustachioed megastar underwent heart bypass surgery in 2010. Reynolds is survived by his son, Quinton.
He shot to fame in 1972's Deliverance, becoming a Hollywood legend with his roles in Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run and Boogie Nights.
The veteran actor's agent, Todd Eisner, said his death was "heartbreaking".
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The highs and lows of Burt Reynolds' career
Reynolds died at the Jupiter Medical Center in Florida.
The movie star's niece, Nancy Lee Hess, told the BBC his death had left the family "with a broken heart".
"My uncle was not just a movie icon, he was a generous, passionate and sensitive man who was dedicated to his family, friends, fans and acting students," she said.
"He has had health issues, however, this was totally unexpected."
She added: "I want to thank all of his amazing fans who have always supported and cheered him on, through all of the hills and valleys of his life and career."
Image copyright AFP Image caption Tourists stand near flowers placed on Burt Reynolds' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Reynolds' breakout movie role was in 1972's Deliverance, which told the tale of four friends attacked while on a canoeing trip in rural Georgia.
The box office hit netted three Oscar nominations and made him a Hollywood sex symbol.
That same year Reynolds broke a publishing taboo by posing for a nearly nude centrefold in Cosmopolitan magazine, which he later said was a "really stupid" idea.
His career peaked in 1977 when he played trucker Bo Darville in action comedy Smokey and the Bandit. Only Star Wars grossed more at the box office that year.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Burt Reynolds as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance
Other memorable credits included his 1974 role as a jailed former NFL player leading his fellow inmates in a grudge football game against their prison guards, in The Longest Yard, or The Mean Machine, as it was renamed for UK viewers.
The movie was remade in 2005 with Reynolds starring as the team coach.
He also appeared alongside Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a 1982 comedy musical.
One of his last hits, The Cannonball Run, released in 1981, starred Reynolds as an outlaw race car driver. It spawned several sequels.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Reynolds with actress Sally Field from the film Smokey and the Bandit
But his work went into freefall in the 1980s and his finances were ruined by failed investments in restaurants and a Florida football team.
Reynolds made a 1997 comeback playing a porn film director in Boogie Nights, which won him an Oscar nomination.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption WATCH: Burt Reynolds on racism in Hollywood
He was married twice, firstly to British actress Judy Carne in 1963, but they divorced two years later amid accusations of her over-spending and his infidelity.
Reynolds went on to marry American actress Loni Anderson in 1988, but that also ended bitterly in 1993. They adopted their son, Quinton.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Reynolds poses with British actress and ex-wife Judy Carne
He also had an on-off relationship with co-star Sally Field, who he later said was the love of his life.
Field, now 71, said in a statement about her old flame's death: "There are times in your life that are so indelible, they never fade away.
"They stay alive, even 40 years later. My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live. Rest, Buddy."
In 1996 Reynolds filed for bankruptcy with nearly $11m in debts.
In 2014, he was forced to sell many prized memorabilia, including the Golden Globe award he won for Boogie Nights.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Burt Reynolds and his second wife Loni Anderson
As a teenager, Reynolds won a football scholarship to Florida State University until a knee injury ended his sporting prospects.
His police captain father - a war hero who fought on D-Day - disapproved of his son's acting ambitions.
Burt landed his first role in a local production of the play Outward Bound. He received the 1956 Florida State Drama Award for that performance.
Reynolds is also known for turning down famous roles, including James Bond, Han Solo and Richard Gere's character in 1990's Pretty Woman.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Reynolds started out playing American football in Florida
"My career is not like a regular chart, mine looks like a heart attack," he told The Associated Press in 2001.
"I've done over 100 films, and I'm the only actor who has been canned by all three networks. I epitomise longevity."
He penned two autobiographies: My Life, published in 1994, and But Enough About Me, in 2015.
"I always wanted to experience everything and go down swinging," he wrote in his second book.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption British actor Michael Caine, his wife Shakira, and Reynolds
"Well, so far, so good. I know I'm old, but I feel young. And there's one thing they can never take away: Nobody had more fun than I did."
Up until his death, he had been set to appear in a Quentin Tarantino movie about Charles Manson - Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
In the film, due to be released in 2019, he was to portray George Spahn - the California rancher who allowed the cult leader to live on his property.
There has been an outpouring of tributes to Reynolds from the world of showbiz.
If ever there was proof that fame does not guarantee a lifetime of happiness, then Burt Reynolds offered it up in life-size proportions. In 2015 he came to London to flog his autobiography, But Enough About Me, and I was so excited at the prospect of meeting the star of Smokey and the Bandit and Boogie Nights that I came out of maternity leave three months early to interview him for a Guardian Live event.
All interviews are exploitative to some degree, but in my 20 years of being a journalist none felt more so than this
What other macho man had made more movies examining and undermining masculinity? And what other 70s heartthrob presented all that machismo alongside all that self-doubt? Arguably the biggest star of the 1970s – and still my mental template of how a 20th century playboy looks – I was so excited about meeting him I watched Deliverance twice.
Burt Reynolds, star of Deliverance and Boogie Nights, dies aged 82 Read more
No sensible person expects a 79-year-old man to resemble the virile god he was 40 years before. But the gap between the fantasy and the reality that presented itself when I met him on that December night was so devastating I couldn’t speak for a few seconds. Reynolds always was a professional, so he gave it his charming best, doing some obligatory flirting with me, reeling out the anecdotes when the interview started, but the physical evidence was too stark to ignore. Wracked by pain from lifelong injuries, he could neither stand up straight nor walk more than five steps without reaching for his pot of pills. These, in turn, made him a little addled, and he stumbled several times as I walked him towards his seat.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reynolds with Goldie Hawn in his heyday, on the set of 1982’s Best Friends. Photograph: Allstar/Warner Bros.
All interviews are exploitative to some degree, but in my 20 years of being a journalist none felt more so than this. Reynolds had just auctioned off most of his memorabilia and there were rumours of bankruptcy, which he denied. His autobiography was really just a collection of stories about his famous friends from the past – Fred Astaire, Sally Field – and the interview felt less like a celebration of Reynolds’ extraordinary career and more like he was selling his loved ones to stay afloat. Within 10 minutes, Reynolds was crying. “I’m sorry, I wanted this to be fun,” he said helplessly to the audience, trying to be an entertainer to the end.
Hadley Freeman (@HadleyFreeman) I got to interview Burt Reynolds in 2015 and was so excited to meet him I could feel myself blushing. Afterwards, he signed his autobiography for me, and while his hand was shaky his flirting skills were undiminished pic.twitter.com/4b0OgfazS4
After you’ve interviewed someone it’s almost impossible to separate the person you met from their public persona, and for a few months after the interview I couldn’t even think about Reynolds without feeling almost dizzy with regret and sadness. But after a while the immediate shock of the encounter subsided into something else and what I ultimately realised was this: yes, his end was terrible, and yes, what made it even more painful how much he clearly hated being pitied.
But through the pain and the pills Reynolds still came across as, yes, funny, but also thoughtful, intelligent, caring, sensitive and generous. He could still wink and flirt as easily as he could talk and cry. He might have become less than he was, but he was also always more than most people knew.
