Star Burt Reynolds passes away

Burt Reynolds, whose good looks and charm made him one of Hollywood's most popular actors as he starred in films such as "Deliverance," "The Longest Yard" and "Smokey and the Bandit" in the 1970s and '80s, died yesterday at the age of 82, The Hollywood Reporter said, citing his manager.

At the peak of his career, Reynolds was one of the most bankable actors in the film industry, reeling off a series of box office smashes until a career downturn in the mid-1980s. He rebounded in 1997 with a nomination for a best supporting actor Academy Award for "Boogie Nights" and won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1990-1994 TV series "Evening Shade."

With his trademark mustache, rugged looks and macho aura, he was a leading male sex symbol of the 1970s. He appeared naked - reclining on a bearskin rug with his arm strategically positioned for the sake of modesty - in a centerfold in the women's magazine Cosmopolitan in 1972.

Reynolds' personal life sometimes overshadowed his movies, with marriages that ended in divorce to actresses Loni Anderson and Judy Carne and romances with others, including Sally Field and Dinah Shore.