ShareThisJUPITER, Fla. - Burt Reynolds has bounced back following his back surgery and addiction to pain pills. He is feeling so good about himself and the direction his life is taking, he wants to spread the word.
Wearing all black and relaxing in his Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum in Jupiter recently, the 73-year-old, six-time People's Choice Award winner talked about his life and career in an interview.
Reynolds said his many years of physical punishment from doing his own film stunts, plus injuries from his college football career at Florida State University, led to his back surgery in May. That led to his addiction to prescription painkillers.
But that is behind him now, following a 30-day stay in a rehabilitation facility in West Palm Beach.
"The pain in my back is still there, but the drugs definitely are not, and I'm learning to live through the pain," Reynolds said. "If someone asks me to rate the pain from 1 to 10, I always say 12. But I'm handling it."
Reynolds has been spending much more time here locally. His Hobe Sound house, Valhalla, a Mediterranean-style, 12,500-square-foot waterfront estate, is listed for sale for $8.9 million.
"I'm still planning to sell the house," the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Reynolds said, "but with the economy the way it is, right now it's not the best time. Every evening when I walk my dog ..., I think, 'Am I crazy? This is paradise, so why would I want to sell it?' Thankfully, I don't have to push it until the market gets better."
In his spare time, the Hollywood icon said his personal gym keeps beckoning to him to work out and stay in shape, and he's a voracious reader.
But it's not just leisure taking his time these days.
Reynolds talks with pride about his new Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre in Jupiter. His staff of film and theater professionals offers classes and workshops. A master acting class is taught by Reynolds himself.
"I'd rather direct than act and I'd much rather teach than either direct or act," Reynolds said.
Reynolds and Kenneth Kay, the school's new executive director, recently announced the newly formed Under the Bridge Players. Reynolds will kick off the troupe's season of productions at the Burt Reynolds Museum Dec. 10, 11 and 12 with a one-man staged reading of William Luce's celebrated play, "Barrymore," about the legendary actor John Barrymore.
"I've never done the classics or anything quite this daunting before. It's not like doing my own one-man show, because I was playing me. This is a lot harder," he said.
Reynolds said he would also be making three new films starting in January.
"One will be with actress Daryl Hannah, titled, 'Fish in a Barrel,' " he said. Another is with director Peter Bogdanovich.
Additional edited excerpts from the interview:
Q: What was your toughest film to make?
A: From a physical standpoint, "Deliverance" (1972), of which I am most proud. But from an emotional standpoint, "Boogie Nights" (1997) was the toughest.
I hated "Boogie Nights" and there was a lot of controversy printed about my reaction to the film. (After seeing the film for the first time, he is reported to have fired his agent and punched the film's writer/director, Paul Thomas Anderson, in the nose, about which he said, "No comment.") I thought it was awful, mainly because I hated disappointing the fans who trusted me over the years for films like "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977) and "Cannonball Run"(1981), with that kind of movie. I never dreamed it would receive such amazing critical acclaim and popularity, much less awards.
Q: Is there a chance of doing another TV show?
A: There's a chance of it, and currently some talk about doing another one.
Q: Are you involved romantically with anybody?
A: Nope!
Q: Will you ever marry again?
A: As John Barrymore said, his four marriages, in my case two, were traffic accidents. Who wants to think about another accident?
Q: What woman (beside his mother, whom he was very close to) had the most impact on your life?
A: Dinah Shore (he chokes up). When I think about the way I should behave, I think of her. When I think of career, I think about her absolutely amazing life. When I think of somebody never, ever taking people for granted, I think of her. When I think of class, right up until the day she left us, I think of her.
Q: What man had the most impact on you?
A: I'm very, very close to character actor Charles Durning for many reasons. We talk by phone once a week, sometimes twice. We talk about everything.
Back on Broadway, he was incredible. If he decided to, he'd blow you off the stage with his acting. All the theater, film and television actors love him. When I think about this man that is so highly decorated from World War II, I can't believe it. He's 81 and went to war when he was only 15. He has three Purple Hearts, and when you have three, they send you home. They didn't send him home. He should have gotten four medals because the shrapnel he got then, he still has right now.
My father, a quiet man, was not very demonstrative. He didn't hug much. I brought Charles home with me one day and he talked with my father. The next thing I noticed, they went outside on the porch to chat and I saw them hugging and with their foreheads together and tears coming down their cheeks. When I asked why, I learned that in the first wave on Normandy Beach, the most deadly one, when Durning was at the top of the hill at the beach, my dad was at the foot of the hill coming up behind him. Dad said that everywhere he looked, men were dying all around him.
Q: How do you feel about signing autographs and being recognized?
A: I love signing autographs and am amazed how, through television, there is an entirely new generation that has seen my films and contacts me all the time for photos and autographs. What could be better for an actor than to keep on being recognized?
(Carol Saunders writes for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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