Pill Addiction, Money Woes & Divorce! Burt Reynolds' Secrets & Scandals Exposed
Feb. 25 2019, Updated 11:43 a.m. ET
Burt Reynolds, who died on Thursday, Sept. 6 after suffering cardiac arrest, leaves behind a legacy that stretches from the college football fields of Florida State University to the movie and tv studios of Hollywood. But along the way, the Oscar nominee has had to deal with several setbacks, secrets, and scandals. Take a look back at some of Reynolds' biggest dark shadows in this RadarOnline.com gallery.
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At the height of his stardom, in the early 1980’s, Hollywood completely turned its back on Reynolds, over a false rumor that he was dying of AIDS.
“It wasn’t just the usual a**holes,” Reynolds wrote in his memoir, But Enough About Me. “It was people I thought were my good friends.”
His 40-pound weight loss during that decade was actually the result of temporomandibular disorder, also known as TMD or TMJ, which affects the joint connecting the jaw and the skull.
Battling the disorder led to an addiction to painkillers. But instead of heading to rehab, the Smokey and the Bandit star decided to quit cold turkey.
“I fell into a coma and at one point the doctors thought I might die,” he revealed. “But after about 8 or 9 hours, I regained consciousness.”
Years later, he had another battle with prescription pills following back surgery. That time he did decide to check into rehab.
Reynolds love life was its own mine field, especially his marriage to actress Loni Anderson.
“The truth is, I never did like her,” he revealed in his book, adding that while Anderson did look gorgeous, whenever he was with her, he would think, “This is not the person for me. What the hell am I doing with her?"
Sources claimed to RadarOnline.com Reynolds believed Anderson plunged him into debt with her wild spending sprees.
The informant said she maxed out his credit card limit in minutes, and bought everything in triplicate, including dressed, jewelry, china and linens.
She would buy a $10,000 designer gown and wear it only once.
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Reynolds always considered co-star Sally Field the one that got away.
Although the couple made four movies together, the timing was always wrong, and they lost touch after they split.
“I’m sorry that I never told her that I loved her, and I’m sorry we couldn’t make it work” he wrote. “It’s the biggest regret of my life.”
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