Burt Reynolds died pining for his lost love Sally Field — looking back at their brutal breakup and saying: “I don’t know why I was so stupid,” he says. “Men are like that. You find the perfect person and then you do everything you can to screw it up!” Burt, however, didn’t just suffer a personal heartbreak. He also suffered the humiliation of losing Sally just when she reignited her career. Burt was ending a stellar five-year run as America’s top box-office draw just when Sally enjoyed a showbiz triumph with her first Oscar win in 1980 for “Norma Rae.” That was after years of being mocked for her lightweight television roles on the hit sitcoms “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun.” The she found fame as a schizophrenic mental patient in “Sylvia,” and turned to Burt to make her a romantic lead in 1977’s “Smokey and the Bandit.” Read on for the tragic inside story, and then click here for more on Hollywood’s most scandalous celebrity splits…
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“People saw ‘Sybil’ and said, ‘Boy, she can act — but man, is she ugly!’ ” Sally later recalled. “So I thought if I did a movie with Burt and he thought I was cute, then somebody else might think I was cute and I could continue acting. I was single with two kids. I had to earn a living!” Burt and Sally’s “Smokey” chemistry was soon sizzling off camera, as well — but their roller-coaster love was fraught with fights.
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“Burt was the most important thing that ever happened in my life,” Sally added. “I wanted to be everything he ever wanted.” Burt, however, refused to settle down over the years — culminating with a final ugly fight just as Sally was ready to celebrate her first Academy Award nomination.
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“People said, ‘Why wasn’t he at the Oscars?’” said Sally. “I didn’t want him to go” — adding that the relationship finally splintered in a brawl that ended when she “just threw the dishes, packed my bag and left. I didn’t ask him to come to the Oscars with me.”
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The couple still had to promote "Smokey and the Bandit II" in 1980, but Sally was determined to find a new romance — marrying movie producer Alan Greisman just three years later. She's also win a second Oscar for 1984's "Places in the Heart." Burt, meanwhile, was suffering a series of box-office bombs. His final hits would be the "Cannonball Run" movies and alongside
Dolly Parton in 1982's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
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The screen couple had become a real-life version of "A Star is Born," although Burt reportedly never gave up hope of winning back
Sally, who never remarried after divorcing Greisman in 1994. “He’s consumed with regret about how badly he treated her,” said a source in Burt's final days — while Sally mourned his passing, saying: "My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live."
“People saw ‘Sybil’ and said, ‘Boy, she can act — but man, is she ugly!’ ” Sally later recalled. “So I thought if I did a movie with Burt and he thought I was cute, then somebody else might think I was cute and I could continue acting. I was single with two kids. I had to earn a living!” Burt and Sally’s “Smokey” chemistry was soon sizzling off camera, as well — but their roller-coaster love was fraught with fights.
Photo credit: Getty Images
“Burt was the most important thing that ever happened in my life,” Sally added. “I wanted to be everything he ever wanted.” Burt, however, refused to settle down over the years — culminating with a final ugly fight just as Sally was ready to celebrate her first Academy Award nomination.
Photo credit: Getty Images
“People said, ‘Why wasn’t he at the Oscars?’” said Sally. “I didn’t want him to go” — adding that the relationship finally splintered in a brawl that ended when she “just threw the dishes, packed my bag and left. I didn’t ask him to come to the Oscars with me.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
The couple still had to promote "Smokey and the Bandit II" in 1980, but Sally was determined to find a new romance — marrying movie producer Alan Greisman just three years later. She's also win a second Oscar for 1984's "Places in the Heart." Burt, meanwhile, was suffering a series of box-office bombs. His final hits would be the "Cannonball Run" movies and alongside
Dolly Parton in 1982's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
The screen couple had become a real-life version of "A Star is Born," although Burt reportedly never gave up hope of winning back
Sally, who never remarried after divorcing Greisman in 1994. “He’s consumed with regret about how badly he treated her,” said a source in Burt's final days — while Sally mourned his passing, saying: "My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live."
Photo credit: Getty Images
