Hollywood screen legend Burt Reynolds has died at the age of 82 from a heart attack.
The actor suffered a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Florida on Thursday with his family at his side.
Reynolds was best known for his roles in 1972’s Deliverance, 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit, 1996’s Striptease and 1997’s Boogie Nights – the last of which earned him an Oscar nomination.
He was also filming Quentin Tarantino’s new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood alongside Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is expected to hit theatres in 2019.
Reynolds’ health was previously a concern and the actor underwent heart surgery in 2010.
His manager told CNN at the time that Reynolds “has a great motor with brand new pipes”.
Reynolds had visited New Zealand to make the 2004 film Without a Paddle, alongside Seth Green. The film told the story of three reunited childhood friends on a trip up a remote river searching for the loot of long-lost airplane hijacker D. B. Cooper.
Reynolds, known for his manly swagger, and was something of a 1970s sex symbol after rising to prominence on TV shows Gunsmoke and Dan August.
His first big movie breakout role was as Lewis Medlock in box office hit Deliverance in 1972.
He followed it up with one success after another, in box office hits The Longest Yard Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
After a couple of flops in the late eighties, he returned to TV in sitcom Evening Shade but made a triumphant return to the big screen in Boogie Nights.
Reynolds was twice married, first to Judy Carne for just two years from 1963 to 1965, and then to Loni Anderson, from 1988 to 1993.
He has one adult son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds, from his second marriage.
The star described the love of his life as ex-girlfriend Sally Field, whom he dated on-off for five years in the ’70s and ’80s.
