Advertisement

Burt Reynolds will publish a memoir in 2015

Share

Burt Reynolds, the 1970s heartthrob, will publish a memoir with G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The book, to be titled “But Enough About Me,” will hit shelves in fall 2015.

Reynolds, a versatile actor who has starred in both light comedies (“Smokey and the Bandit”) and dramas (“Deliverance”), was one of the leading box-office names of the 1970s and ‘80s.

He was also known for his highly public romances with many stars, including Sally Field, Dinah Shore, Faye Dunaway, Tammy Wynette, Lorna Luft and Mamie Van Doren. He was married to Loni Anderson for six years.

Advertisement

“Setting the record straight is something that I have wanted to do for a while now, and with this book I will,” Reynolds said in a statement. “This will be a project that will go into many areas I have never discussed.”

Reynolds was born in Georgia and raised in Florida, where he played football at Florida State. He started acting in television in the late 1950s and continued working mostly in TV through the next decade, with a starring role in “Gunsmoke.”

“Deliverance,” in 1972, was one of his earliest film roles. That was the year he famously did a nude centerfold photo for Cosmopolitan, a marker of his sex symbol status.

He continued on the big screen with hits that included “The Longest Yard,” “Semi-Tough,” “The Cannonball Run,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” “Sharkey’s Machine,” “Stroker Ace,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Smokey and the Bandit II” and “Smokey and the Bandit III.”

After a return to television and a waning career, Reynolds appeared in “Boogie Nights,” playing a porn director in the film by Paul Thomas Anderson. The movie, buoyed in part by Reynolds’ name, was a breakthrough for Anderson and earned Reynolds his only Oscar nomination, but their relationship was fraught.

About Reynolds’ long career, Putnam executive editor Kerri Kolen said, “Whether you adore him as a mega-watt movie star, a sex symbol, a TV star or simply a cultural icon with an unforgettable mustache and waggish sense of humor, Burt Reynolds is beloved by fans across generations and demographics. In his new memoir, he will pull out all the stops and share his singular and unforgettable stories -- from the jaw-dropping to the heart-rending.”

Advertisement

Reynolds’ “But Enough About Me” will be co-authored by Jon Winokur, who co-wrote James Garner’s bestselling memoir, “The Garner Files.”

Like passing notes in class; I’m @paperhaus on Twitter

Advertisement