On Burt Reynolds ...
We’ve all seen Academy Awards shows, right?
Each year, the losing nominees, however disappointed they might actually be, smile and applaud for the winner. They’re actors, right?
But I’ll never forget Burt Reynolds’ reaction in 1998 when Robin Williams for “Good Will Hunting” and not Reynolds for “Boogie Nights” won the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role: pure, unvarnished devastation.
Reynolds, a wonderful actor when he was given the chance to be, died on Thursday, Sept. 6 at age 82.
Too often — and I guess this was partly his fault — Reynolds was dismissed as a comedy/action star who, like John Wayne and sometimes James Garner, was dismissed as basically playing himself. Just a big, good-looking guy whom women wanted and men wanted to be.
Clearly, this haunted him throughout his career.
I remember seeing him on a talk show, noting that his former girlfriend Sally Field — who’d begun her career on TV as “The Flying Nun” — had metamorphized into an Oscar winner in “Norma Rae.”
“I want my ‘Norma Rae’ (moment),” he said.
Reynolds did win a Golden Globe for “Boogie Nights,” but he never won the Oscar he so desperately and publicly coveted.
Before “Boogie Nights,” Reynolds’ acting chops probably were best displayed in “Deliverance.” I’m sure there are other examples. Elsewhere, the Garner-like charm and ease he displayed on the screen should not be dismissed as just “playing himself.” Above all, he was a pro.
Reynolds also won an Emmy for “Evening Shade,” a TV series in which he played a retired pro football player who comes back to his hometown to coach a struggling high school football team.
I didn’t watch the show regularly, but I do recall an episode in which Reynolds’ character Wood Newton discovered that on a long touchdown run — the signature play of his high-school career — he’d actually stepped out of bounds.
As Reynolds was when Robin Williams’ name was called at the Oscars in 1998, Wood Newton was devastated.
Newton, of course, wasn’t real. But Reynolds made him seem real.
That was his gift, too often under-appreciated.
Each year, the losing nominees, however disappointed they might actually be, smile and applaud for the winner. They’re actors, right?
But I’ll never forget Burt Reynolds’ reaction in 1998 when Robin Williams for “Good Will Hunting” and not Reynolds for “Boogie Nights” won the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role: pure, unvarnished devastation.
Reynolds, a wonderful actor when he was given the chance to be, died on Thursday, Sept. 6 at age 82.
Too often — and I guess this was partly his fault — Reynolds was dismissed as a comedy/action star who, like John Wayne and sometimes James Garner, was dismissed as basically playing himself. Just a big, good-looking guy whom women wanted and men wanted to be.
Clearly, this haunted him throughout his career.
I remember seeing him on a talk show, noting that his former girlfriend Sally Field — who’d begun her career on TV as “The Flying Nun” — had metamorphized into an Oscar winner in “Norma Rae.”
“I want my ‘Norma Rae’ (moment),” he said.
Reynolds did win a Golden Globe for “Boogie Nights,” but he never won the Oscar he so desperately and publicly coveted.
Before “Boogie Nights,” Reynolds’ acting chops probably were best displayed in “Deliverance.” I’m sure there are other examples. Elsewhere, the Garner-like charm and ease he displayed on the screen should not be dismissed as just “playing himself.” Above all, he was a pro.
Reynolds also won an Emmy for “Evening Shade,” a TV series in which he played a retired pro football player who comes back to his hometown to coach a struggling high school football team.
I didn’t watch the show regularly, but I do recall an episode in which Reynolds’ character Wood Newton discovered that on a long touchdown run — the signature play of his high-school career — he’d actually stepped out of bounds.
As Reynolds was when Robin Williams’ name was called at the Oscars in 1998, Wood Newton was devastated.
Newton, of course, wasn’t real. But Reynolds made him seem real.
That was his gift, too often under-appreciated.
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