My Life

by Burt Reynolds

One of America's most famous celebrities, a movie and television star, offers an honest and revealing portrait of his life and career, reviewing his many loves, his many successes, and his many heartaches.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Autobiography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds was an American actor, director and producer. He starred in many television series and feature films, such as Deliverance, The Longest Yard, Smokey and the Bandit and Sharky’s Machine. He won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his role on the sitcom Evening Shade. He also won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in the film Boogie Nights. Reynolds graduated from Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach, Florida and attended Florida State University on a football scholarship, and played halfback. He was married to actress Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965, and actress Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1993, with whom he adopted a son, Quinton.

Reviews

[Anup Sinha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was certainly entertaining! It’s sort of the Hollywood version of Wilt Chamberlain’s biography and I’d suggest taking it with many grains of salt.

If you’re looking for anything fact-based or any semblance of modesty, go elsewhere. But if you want to hear a bunch of wild Hollywood stories and learn about what’s inside his head, this is the book for you.

Burt Reynolds lived quite the life and came from humble beginnings. I suspect many of his stories are exaggerated or even completely fabricated, this is a man whose brain changed with Hollywood, who had come to believe he is the same invincible characters he portrays on the screen. It’s a little sad but also a little charming from a distance. On one hand I feel bad for all the women he’s gone through, but on the other hand they knew exactly what they were getting into and most came back for seconds and thirds. He of course gives his side of the story and it’s never his fault with any of his ex-wives or flings.

I know he did some of his own stunts, but again he is clearly exaggerating. I have a hard time believing that he was really getting hit at full-speed by Ray Nitzsche 5-6 times daily while filming The Longest Yard or that he was undefeated in 20 amateur boxing matches (which he just slipped in). He brings up a bunch of incidents where he supposedly beats up or scares other men who are mistreating women and/or innocents. Like I said, he’s living in his own Hollywood upstairs.

The most incredulous story is how he went over a 90-foot falls while filming Deliverance, survived, got caught in a hydrofoil (?) that spit him out 200 yards downstream and in the process vaporized his clothes, leaving him buck-naked standing in the stream.

Yep, he really said that!

The book was written in 1993. He covers the filming of all of his big endeavors and those stories are always interesting to a movie buff (pardon the pun) like myself.

Reading this just two months after Burt Reynolds’s passing and living near where he grew up and also spent his final years made it hit closer to home. A most eerie experience, I was right in the middle of the book in my local E.R. waiting room when a nurse informed me that Reynolds had been rushed into the very same room several times including the last day of his life two months prior.

He was a character, no doubt, and we all miss him. Like I said, just take it with some salt!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burt is so charming, funny, sentimental and self-effacing here. The book has really only two things against it. Number one is that it was written too soon. He was at something of a low point (not his all-time lowest, but close) and had not yet enjoyed the real (and sadly brief) career renaissance he was hoping for. Number two, his tacky marriage (and public, squalid breakup) with Loni Anderson was still fresh and took up way too much of his energy, thoughts and space/thrust of this book. Had he written it, say, a couple of years ago, he might have distilled her into basically a chapter or two and let go of a lot of the back and forth with her (she wrote a book, too, as they played out their divorce in this fashion.) She wasn't worth it! Otherwise, the book is really a treat and goes down so easy. A revised edition would be wonderful to have now. Burt, though obviously not perfect, is one of the most underrated performers ever. As Blanche Devereaux said, "That Academy's just jealous. Put Sir Laurence Olivier in Cannonball Run 2 and see what he can do with it!"

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about an interesting guy with quite a life story!

[Cat Rayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought this book back from my mom-in-laws house where she had quite the library of celebrity bios.

Picked it up not expecting a lot and so was not disappointed. In his own words one could get the sense that Burt Reynolds was who he said he was. There never seemed to be pretension in his actions and even in the book he was self-deprecating.

It was published in 1994 and not long after a nasty divorce from Loni Anderson. It seems he was reflective but burned. He had nothing bad to say about any of his relationships, and in fact, still swooned a bit over Sally Field. And while he gave some insight to Loni, he held restraint in painting her poorly.

Burt was an original - and while he will never be considered a great actor, he was a most endearing one.

[L8blmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Burt Reynolds...so, sue me. He was an icon when I was a teenager and I remember my mother buying the Cosmo magazine with his centerfold. She hid it, but I found it and, yes, ogled a bit. I read Loni Anderson's biography some years back and decided then that I wanted to know Burt's side of things. Well, this book told that story pretty well, but as with most famous couples' relationships (heck, even non-famous people), I imagine the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I understand Burt wrote a memoir much later in his life and I will probably read that one, too. I'm just your average female senior citizen who indulges in celebrity gossip occasionally.

[John Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

At least half the book is bs. Burt has a Jay Mohr-ish tendency to insert himself into other people's stories. He states his HAWK co-star Wayne Grice was killed along with Malcolm X in 1965. Grice passed away in 2002 and HAWK aired on ABC in 1966. Such gaffes have me questioning the veracity of the entire book.

[Kara Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burts Reynolds has been one of my favorite actors since I was a kid. When he passed I read this book and enjoyed every moment of it. He was such a character and the stories he had to tell were marvelous!

[Theresa Beauregard · Rating 2 out of 5]

RIP Burt.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. Loved it.

[Mike Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being my favorite actor, I enjoyed this book from his perspective on life. No holds he tells it like it is. Great book!

[Ilena Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burt, God bless him, writes great books.

[Jana Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book and the information included. I do doubt some of the stories, especially regarding the women he supposedly had affairs with.

[Shemp DeYoung · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up with several others last year. I read a lot and I'm a big fan of biographies and autobiographies. I'm not particularly a huge Burt Reynolds fan (I do admit to owning all of the Smokey and the Bandit DVDs) and I'm not really any bigger fan now. But, I enjoyed the book.

I did add a couple of his movies to my Netflix cue: Deliverance (now on Blu-ray) since I have never seen it(!) and Cannonball Run.

I think that Cannonball was out of nostalgia more than anything. My HS pal and college roommate, Marty, was a huge fan of those road race flicks. We watched a lot of them together; his favorite was Gumball Rally and mine was It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. We took two long road trips together (we might have even recreated a scene or two). In both cases, we drove MGs from Long Beach back to our hometown in Michigan. The first time we each drove one; that was a bit much, but we were both 18 at the time and required much less sleep.

Back to the book, the thing is, it was written quite a few years ago. So, it was before Boogie Nights or My Name is Earl. I think I would like to read "My Life, Pt. 2."

P.S. If you have never seen It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, I highly recommend it. Look it up and see who's in it. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/f...] The all-star cast here was what they were trying to achive in some of those other flicks, but none have the comedy punch of this one.

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I "read" the audio cassette version of this book and was glad that it was read by the author, himself, as he made the book come alive. He was very funny at times, as well as quite serious at others. His loves were many, and with only a couple exceptions, wrote with great respect for each one, with a special sadness at the loss of his real, true love, Dianna Shore. As with all actor/actress' biographies, a lot was written about his movies, awards, etc., but he kept them interesting with lots of laughs along the way. I would definitely say this autobiography was better than most I've read.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous and interesting.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boyhood hero! Humorous and charming.

[Mary Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed it better if there wasn't so much foul language. It was an interesting story of his ups and downs. I found it to be very self centered.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book for its humour and revealing look at Burt's life.

[Cws]

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