ShareThisAfter heart surgery, Burt Reynolds is back to his first loves -- acting and teaching.
"The (doctor) says I have a 32-year-old heart now. If the rest of me catches up, I'll be in great shape," said Reynolds, the star of "Smokey and the Bandit," "Deliverance" and "Boogie Nights." Like the proverbial cat with nine lives, Reynolds is bouncing back to health, yet again.
Reynolds gave his first in-depth interview since recovering from quintuple bypass surgery Feb. 22 at JFK Hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla. Speaking at the Burt Reynolds Museum and Institute for Film and Theatre in Jupiter, Fla., before an evening session of his master acting class, Reynolds showed that his keen sense of humor still is very much in place.
But his heart surgery is not his only recent health issue. Reynolds, 74, spent time in a Florida rehabilitation center last year after treatment for painkiller abuse after back surgery.
The Emmy Award-winning actor said he had no symptoms to make him suspect any heart problems. "They call it the silent killer," Reynolds said. "I went in totally, just to get an annual checkup. They used that new thing where they slice and dice your heart with a camera. Every artery was clogged up. All five of them!"
Reynolds said he did not have a heart attack. "I never felt shortness of breath, no chest pains, nothing," he said. "I felt terrific. I was working out and everything. They even did a stress test and I passed that, too. That's a little scary in itself."
The actor said he is exercising now and walking a lot, and using small hand weights.
More excerpts from a conversation with the actor:
Q. How has the recovery and heart surgery itself changed your outlook on life and on yourself? It makes a big difference to a lot of people.
A. When they say, "You broke your heart," you become -- and I talked with a couple of surgeons and asked how long does this last -- you become very sentimental and weepy. If I watch a movie about Shep the dog, you become very open to a lot of things you thought were very silly before. I'm told it will pass.
Q. Did you have a sense of mortality going into this, because it is a scary thing to go through?
A. I really didn't. I had a very good doctor, I'm in good shape and I went in with the right attitude. I think the right attitude has a lot to do with it. I knew I was only going to be in there for a short while. This is just a pit stop so they could "check the tires" and I could get new valves.
Q. Your longevity in films is incredible, absolutely wonderful, and at some point you told the world, "I'm not just a pretty face, or a sexy body. I'm a darn good actor."
A. Well, both those things can go south on you, you know. So you better learn how to act.
Q. Do you think that's why you have such longevity, because you are such a good actor?
A. Well, I haven't thought that much about it. But I think it's because I haven't thought that much about it, No. 1.
And No. 2 is the people, that I just absolutely adore and care so much about in the business and who have been in the business for so long. One of them is Jimmy Stewart. I have such great feelings for this man who lived a few doors down from me.
He was more than an actor. He was everything most people think that movie stars are supposed to be. He had two sons; one was killed in Vietnam. I don't know how he ever recovered from that, but he did. He had a fabulous marriage that lasted about 50 years.
Jimmy Stewart's roommate in college was Henry Fonda. His roommate in New York when he was getting started as an actor, was Henry Fonda. When they moved to California, his roommate was Henry Fonda. And I asked him one time, "Why didn't you just marry Henry Fonda?" He said, "I had a hard time finding anyone as nice as him!"
They were both politically opposite. Henry was a total Democrat and Stewart was conservative.
Q. What are you?
A. Somewhere in between.
Q. Are you open to a new relationship?
A. I've been open, for 25 years.
Q. No, really, do you think you'd like to meet somebody new?
A. Yeah, but I don't think you're going to meet them at this bar (the museum). And I don't like going out to bars to meet somebody.
Q. When you got started, you were billed as the "new Marlon Brando" and the new somebody else. Is there any advice you would like to give a young actor coming up the way you did?
A. Instead, I'm the old Burt. This sounds trivial, but it's true: Anyplace you can work, work! Anything you can do, do it! If you can put two people together and they'll listen, do something. And if you've got a play, do it.
(Carol Saunders writes for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
