Burt Reynolds was a talented and irascible actor. He was known just as much for his
off-screen antics as he was for his legendary and prolific acting career.
He was once the top box office performer in the world, but then had a huge downfall,
a public divorce, and money issues. He managed to reinvigorate his career in the late 1990s,
even garnering an Oscar nod for his performance in Boogie Nights. But over
the years, Burt had feuds with a variety of folks in Hollywood. So stick around,
as Facts Verse presents: Celebrities Who Had Big Fights with Burt Reynolds!
Marlon Brando Let's face it if enough people tell you
that there's someone who looks and acts like you, it's gonna start getting annoying. And apparently,
that was the case for Marlon Brando. When Burt was first coming up and making wives in Hollywood,
people began making comparisons of him to Brando. There were those who thought
there was a striking physical resemblance and others who found it to be more of an essence
thing. And others who found their acting styles similar. Regardless, Brando reportedly got sick
of being told "There's a young hotshot actor who people think is a young you!" and began to hold
a grudge against Reynolds. According to Burt, he got some early roles because of his likeness to
Brando. So he didn’t mind the comparisons. But eventually, he decided he couldn’t coast off
of their similarity. He grew out his mustache specifically to set himself apart, physically,
from Brando. But this didn’t make Brando any happier. Apparently, when the two met,
Brando flat-out accused Reynolds of trying to get ahead in Hollywood by virtue of looking like
Brando. Reynolds at first just joked with Brando, assuming he couldn’t be serious. But Brando didn’t
relent. Burt told him that he wasn’t going to change the way he looked by having surgery or
something, just because of their resemblance. In later years, Burt was asked again about the
early feud with Brando. He pointed out that he never tried to act like Brando,
and the physical resemblance was something he had no control over. He did admit to doing a pretty
good Brando impersonation, but that it was just something he did in private. He added that Rita
Moreno was a good friend of his, and there was a time when she was dating Brando. Rita
told him that Brando was always quite curious about Burt, and would always ask her about him.
According to Reynolds, he was hopeful that when Brando was cast as Vito Corleone in The Godfather,
the physical resemblance between the two would mean he’d be cast as
one of the Corleone sons. But he remained convinced that Brando put a stop to that.
Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson
is a brilliant writer and director who has put out some of the great movies of the last
couple of decades. And his film Boogie Nights is credited with reviving Burt Reynolds' long-dormant
career in 1997. So you might think that he and Burt got along incredibly well. Not so much.
It started when PT was trying to woo Reynolds to play the part of porn producer Jack Horner.
Reynolds was hesitant to sign on to a movie that revolved around the porn industry. But Anderson
was persistent. He knew Reynolds was perfect for the part. But one of his tactics backfired a bit,
when he responded to Reynolds’ hesitancy by making what Reynolds later called a “smart-ass remark.”
At the moment, Reynolds had had enough, and he blew up at Anderson. But Anderson cleverly used
the heated moment to his advantage. He waited for Burt to finish yelling at him, and then told
him that if he could replicate that passion in the movie, he'd be nominated for an Oscar. And that
was enough to convince Reynolds to do the movie. However, it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. The
two reportedly clashed a lot on set, even nearly getting into a physical fight at one point. But
Anderson’s prediction came true. Reynolds was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting
Actor and won a Golden Globe for the role. For his part, Anderson later labeled the shoot as
a lot of fun and said that any tension between him and Burt only made for a better end product.
Mel Brooks Mel Brooks might seem like an unlikely person to
be in a feud with, but apparently, he and Burt got into a bit of a verbal kerfuffle after making the
movie “Silent Movie.” While the two successfully worked together for that film, Reynolds later
claimed that Brooks could sometimes act cruelly. When the two would disagree about things on set,
Brooks would reportedly remind Reynolds that he was a drummer. And, according to Brooks,
drummers shouldn’t be messed with. Reynolds would respond that he had beaten up his fair
share of drummers over the years. So clearly there was a little bit of machismo and power
dynamic issues that the two were dealing with. It continued after the movie when Burt suggested
he make a movie with Brooks’ wife, the talented Anne Bancroft. Brooks agreed that they should,
but added that while Burt would bring people to the theater, Anne would keep them there.
The implication was that Burt was just a marquee star with limited acting chops,
while Bancroft wasn’t as famous, but was a more compelling actor. Burt later admitted to being
hurt by that offhand comment. Though it should be noted that any animosity
that lasted over the years seems to have been one-directional. Because in 1976 Brooks talked
to critic Roger Ebert about his time filming with Burt and said they’d had a ton of fun.
Gore Vidal Gore Vidal was an intellectual
and an author who, on one occasion, got the best of Burt Reynolds by messing with his mind. It
happened on an evening when Vidal was hosting a party at his home. Reynolds attended, having been
invited by actress Joanne Woodward. Woodward was, at that point, already married to Paul Newman.
But Newman wasn't available that night to come to the party, so Woodward had Reynolds accompany her.
According to Reynolds, Gore got steadily more drunk throughout the night and along with that,
he got increasingly meaner. Reynolds didn't know why at first, but Vidal kept suddenly insulting
him. According to Burt, Vidal was making comments about how Reynolds should be a truck driver since
he wasn't a real actor like Paul Newman. To cool off, Reynolds went into Vidal's kitchen. But
apparently Vidal's partner, Howard Austen then joined him and tried to hit on him. Reynolds
didn't react well to this and threw Austen back into the living room before leaving the party.
It was only years later that Reynolds realized what was really happening. Vidal was close with
Woodward and Newman and wanted to make sure Burt wasn't making a pass at Woodward. So he and Austen
were taunting and provoking Burt, so they’d get a rise out of him. That way, just in case he was
indeed trying to steal her, he’d come across as crass and unsophisticated in front of Joanne.
Loni Anderson To say Burt Reynolds and
Loni Anderson had a feud is putting it lightly. Theirs was of the classic romantic split variety.
And it was a fairly epic one. It's actually considered one of the most contentious divorces
in the history of Hollywood. And naturally, that meant it was constantly splashed across the front
of tabloids and other news sources constantly. According to Burt, a huge part of their issues
spawned from Loni's inability to spend money at a reasonable level. He said that she refused to
wear any item of clothing once she'd been seen in it one time. And that he gave her a credit
card that had a limit of $45K, but that she had already maxed it out in 30 minutes. This crazy
spending became a huge problem for Reynolds. It was the beginning of a long period where he lost
a ton of his fortune. Reynolds even admitted later that he didn't even remember proposing
to Anderson. He only remembered that she was pressuring him into marrying her. And that,
even at the time, he knew deep down that he wasn't actually in love with her,
and that marrying her was a mistake. And, as it turned out, it was quite a costly mistake!
Marc Summers When you think of TV host Marc Summers,
you probably think of good-natured entertainment for kids, like when he hosted the long-running
Nickelodeon show, "Double Dare." So it would seem surprising that he’d be in a feud with anyone,
let alone Burt Reynolds. But the two butted heads when they both appeared as guests on
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. In a 1994 episode, Summers was the second guest,
coming on right after Burt, who was still on the next couch over. As Summers talked to Leno,
Burt started chiming in. And from the get-go he was antagonistic, pointing out that Summers
was facing more toward Leno, and showing Burt his back. But considering Summers was talking to Leno,
that was an odd thing to be annoyed about. He then responded to Summers’ claim of being a neat
freak by asking who called him that. Summers said it was his wife, and then heightened the
tension by remarking that he was still married. This was a jab at Reynolds, who’d recently been
through a very public divorce. Reynolds didn’t take kindly to the jab and proceeded to pour
water on Summers. From there, things escalated. Summers eventually poured the water back on Burt,
who made a remark about Summers’ wife as well. As the segment progresses, it seems clear that the
two are joking to some extent, but that there are serious undertones to the interaction.
Things are made goofier and some of the unease is lessened when the producers bring out pies for
the two to smash into each others’ faces. They proceed to cover each other with pie filling,
and eventually do hug it out. So maybe this was the quickest beef of Reynolds’ career!
Now it’s time to hear form you! Which of these feuds was most surprising to
hear about? Let us know in the comments section!