Time to Remember Burt

The time is February 11, 1982 and Johnny’s guest on The Tonight Show is Burt Reynolds. One of the segments will include a “This Is Your Life” with Burt because it also happened to be his birthday. The credits were rolling on Murphy Brown when a short promotion announced, “Up next a special episode of The Tonight Show as we remember Burt Reynolds”. I stayed on the channel.

I learned of his death earlier today and immediately, my mom came to mind. Burt was one of her Hollywood crushes; the others were Tom Selleck and Kenny Rogers. It was through her that I too became a fan of Burt Reynolds. The earliest one I can remember is Smokey and The Bandit, with that black Trans-Am and Sally Field. From his interviews, he seemed a person who had a sense of humor, the one who would play the practical jokes. Throughout the years, I saw a fair amount of his movies including Cannonball Run, Boogie Nights, Deliverance, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (with one of my favorites and also my mom’s Dolly Parton), and The Longest Yard. On television, my mom and I would watch Burt on Evening Shade. In one episode, my mom had two of her crushes on the show, when Kenny Rogers was a guest star. 

Then, just a few months ago, I was surfing through Amazon Prime movies and came across one called The Last Movie Star, released last year. It starred Burt as an aging former movie star and his agent is played by Chevy Chase. Burt’s character, Vic Edwards, gets a letter saying he is to receive an award and is invited to come to the ceremony, which was being held near his hometown. The letter states some of the past recipients of the award (which were some well-known actors), and believing that it was a legitimate ceremony, his agent convinces Vic to go. Once he lands in the small town, he realizes things are far from what he was expecting. I enjoyed the film and would recommend it. There were funny moments and scenes which made me cry, as we watch Vic reflect on his life with the help of a straight talking assistant, assigned by her brother, the organizer of the event, to chauffeur Vic around town. Watch it, if you get the chance. It’s called, The Last Movie Star.

Thank you, Burt, for entertaining us through the years. Rest In Peace, and give a hug to my mom. She'd get a kick out of that!