A motion picture superstar of the late 1970s and early 1980s—thanks largely to his roles in the Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run movies—the affable and charming Burt Reynolds was voted the Most Popular Box Office Attraction five years in a row during this period and received nine People's Choice Awards for favorite motion picture actor and favorite all-around male entertainer. Reynolds also enjoyed a prosperous television career in series including the western Gunsmoke, the detective show Dan August, and the sitcom Evening Shade. Despite a much-publicized divorce from actress Loni Anderson that left him bankrupt, Reynolds bounced back in the late 1990s with an Oscar-nominated role in Boogie Nights.

With his dreams of a career in sports ended by a car accident, Reynolds headed to New York to break into acting and worked on Broadway. He soon landed a role...