Burt Reynolds

Born: February 11 1936
Where: Lansing, Michigan, USA

The former professional footballer and stuntman first attracted attention for John Boorman's brutal adventure yarn Deliverance.

Career highlights include Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Mean Machine, Cannonball Run and his Oscar-nominated turn in Boogie Nights.

However, his career has been littered with poor decisions - he says young actors ask him where the landmines are "because I've stepped on them all".

He turned down the lead in Rosemary's Baby, rejected the part that would give Jack Nicholson an Oscar for Terms of Endearment, nixed Bruce Willis's eventual role in Die Hard and even dismissed James Bond in the Seventies.

A first class athlete, Reynolds played for Florida State University, became an All Star Southern Conference half back and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts.

However, a knee injury and car accident ended his football career and he dropped out of college to pursue and acting career in New York.

While working in restaurants and clubs, he was spotted in the threatre production of Mister Roberts and hired for the TV Westerns Gunsmoke, Riverboat and Hawk.

Specialising in half-breed Indian roles (his father was or Irish-Cherokee indian descent) he made his big screen debut in Angel Baby in 1961.

Roles followed in Navajo Joe, 100 Rifles and Sam Whiskey before his performance as macho Lewis Medlock in Deliverance stamped him as an actor to watch.

(Reynolds only accepted the role after Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda and James Stewart all turned it down when they heard about the risk of filming on the Chatooga River).

Subsequent appearances included a private investigator in Shamus and a role in the Woody Allen comedy Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex - But Were Afraid to Ask.

In 1972, he memorably bared all for a naked centrefold spread in Cosmopolitan magazine.

Building further on his image as a good ole' Southern boy, Reynolds enjoyed box office smashes with White Lightning, The Longest Yard, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings and Gator in 1976.

Ex-stuntman and longtime pal Hal Needham joined Reynolds to shoot the hit comedy caper Smokey and the Bandit with Sally Field (who Reynolds would have a long-term affair with).

The movie took over $100 million at the box office and was followed up with a brace of sequels.

Reynolds also appeared alongside Kris Kristofferson in the hit football caper Semi-Tough and the stunt-packed action thriller Hooper as well as the star-studded rock race flick The Cannonball Run.

In 1981, he directed and starred in Sharky's Machine and joined Dolly Parton for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

However, a run of failures - City Heat with Clint Eastwood, Stroker Ace, Stick and Paternity - failed to click with fans.

With decent big screen roles drying up, Reynolds turned to TV with BL Stryker and an Emmy-winning turn in Evening Shade.

In 1996, he impressed as a drunken politician in the otherwise appalling Striptease but staged something of a comeback in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Night.

However, despite a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his manipulative porn movie director, Reynolds disowned the film and sacked his publicist after the first screening.

Reynolds pointedly refused to appear in Anderson's next project - Magnolia - but continued in big screen roles with Pups and The Last Producer.

In 2001, he hooked up with Sly Stallone to make the critically derided Driven (he picked up a Razzle nomination for worst supporting actor).

However, he also worked on independent features including Mike Figgis's Hotel and the well-received family drama Time of the Wolf.

In 2002, he supplied the voice of Avery Carrington for the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and subsequently starred as a mountain man in the lacklustre comedy Without A Paddle.

Upcoming projects include the role of Boss Hogg in the big screen version of the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard.