Burt Reynolds, the Oscar-nominated actor who became a symbol of charisma and machismo in the 1970s and ’80s, died on Thursday at age 82, according to his agent Todd Eisner.

Mr. Reynolds rose to Hollywood stardom on a string of box-office hits, including “Deliverance” (1972), “The Longest Yard” (1974) and “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977). Though often written off by film critics at the peak of his popularity, Mr. Reynolds earned accolades later in his career.

He won an Emmy in 1991 for his role as a retired football star in the television series “Evening Shade.” And he was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting performance as an aging pornography director in 1997’s “Boogie Nights,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Mr. Reynolds was born in 1936 in Lansing, Mich. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published in 2016, he recalled his boyhood in the 1940s, when his father was drafted and the younger Mr. Reynolds was raised by his mother and older sister.

Burt Reynolds: 10 Memorable Roles A look back at the actor’s career. ‘Boogie Nights.’ From left to right: Ricky Jay, Burt Reynolds and William H. Macy. 1997. Everett Collection ‘Skullduggery,’ 1970. Everett Collection ‘City Heat,’ 1984. Warner Bros/Everett Collection ‘Smokey and the Bandit II,’ 1980. Universal/Everett Collection ‘Deliverance.’ From left to right: Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight. 1972. Everett Collection ‘Smokey and the Bandit.’ From left to right: Sally Field and Burt Reynolds. 1977. Everett Collection ‘Cop & 1/2.’ From left to right: Burt Reynolds and Norman D. Golden II. 1993. Universal/Everett Collection ‘The Longest Yard.’ From left to right: Michael Conrad, Burt Reynolds, John Steadman. 1974 Everett Collection ‘Stroker Ace.’ From left to right: Jim Nabors and Burt Reynolds. 1983. Universal/Everett Collection ‘The Dukes of Hazzard,’ 2005. Warner Bros/Everett Collection

“My mother, Fern, was tough. She had rules and you obeyed them, but she also encouraged me to read, and I became much more in touch with my imagination and emotions as a result,” Mr. Reynolds said.


He went to Florida State University on a football scholarship but turned to acting after he was injured. On TV, roles in series such as “Gunsmoke” and guest appearances on “The Tonight Show” raised his profile, but his film career took off with the success of “Deliverance,” the violent action thriller.

The same year as “Deliverance,” Mr. Reynolds appeared nude in Cosmopolitan, a move that established him as a sex symbol but which he later said he regretted.

“I was sure that my smile made it clear that I was doing a parody of a Playboy centerfold, not showing off,” he said in the Journal interview. “But the issue came out just before the release of ‘Deliverance,’ and it was a distraction. I felt it hurt the chances of the film’s actors from being nominated for an Oscar.”

As one of the era’s leading men of romantic comedies, Mr. Reynolds starred on-screen with Sally Field in “Smokey and the Bandit,” Dolly Parton in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and Goldie Hawn in “Best Friends,” both from 1982.


In a statement, Ms. Parton said: “Oh how sad I am today along with Burt‘s millions of fans around the world as we mourn one of our favorite leading men. I know we will always remember his funny laugh, that mischievous sparkle in his eyes, and his quirky sense of humor. You will always be my favorite sheriff, rest in peace my little buddy and I will always love you.”

A fun-loving, former jock whose winks and laughs on-screen were as key to his persona as his thick mustache, Mr. Reynolds performed many of his own stunts in his long action-movie career.

“He was tough. Anyone who breaks their tailbone on a river and finishes the movie is tough. And that’s who he was,” said his niece, Nancy Lee Hess, referring to an injury Mr. Reynolds has said he sustained during the shooting of “Deliverance.”

In a statement forwarded by Mr. Reynolds’s manager, Erik Kritzer, Ms. Hess added: “I want to thank all of his amazing fans who have always supported and cheered him on, through all of the hills and valleys of his life and career.”


The movies he made with his friend and former stuntman, Hal Needham, including the “Bandit” films and later fast-car romps “The Cannonball Run” and “Stroker Ace,” fueled Mr. Reynolds’s success at the box office, but also undermined his standing among critics.

In the 2016 documentary film “The Bandit,” about his relationship with Mr. Needham, the actor tells an interviewer that his stunt-heavy films “weren’t trying to be anything other than what they were. But for what they were, they were terrific.”

Mr. Reynolds was married to British actress Judy Carne for several years in the 1960s. His marriage to actress Loni Anderson in the 1980s ended in an acrimonious and costly divorce, contributing to financial woes for Mr. Reynolds. In his longtime home of Jupiter, Fla., he established a dinner theater, museum and acting school, the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre.

During its run from 1991 to 1994 on CBS, the sitcom “Evening Shade” helped rejuvenate the actor’s career, as did “Boogie Nights,” though the actor was known to have disliked the film.


His populist appeal drew other filmmakers, too. Just months before he died, Mr. Reynolds was cast in a coming film by Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” set in the late 1960s.

Write to John Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com