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We Remember Hollywood Legend Burt Reynolds With a Complete Guide to All His Movies
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While we’re remembering the late Burt Reynolds a little more than a year after his passing, we’re reminded of what an incredible Hollywood success story he had! Burt’s career spanned an unbelievable 60 years, beginning with guest roles on TV shows and a couple series of his own. But with an eye always locked towards the big screen, he made that leap and over the course of a decade became one of the most popular movie stars in the world. In the latter part of his life, as leading man roles eluded him, he transitioned over to becoming more of a character actor — and it’s an amazing legacy he’s left us.
Today’s moviegoers may not realize it, but Burt — born Burton Leon Reynolds on February 11, 1936, in Lansing, Michigan — starred in some truly amazing movies that really connected with audiences. Among them are the still-disturbing Deliverance, the ultimate “good ole boy” adventure Smokey and the Bandit, the prison drama The Longest Yard and a drama set within the porn industry, Boogie Nights, which represented one of his most nuanced performances and even earned him an Academy Award nomination.
In between, he proved himself pretty fearless, tackling a wide diversity of roles. There were romantic comedies and dramas (Starting Over and Paternity), westerns galore (100 Rifles and The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing), black comedies (The End), private eye flicks (Shamus and Sharky’s Machine), lots of fast-paced road trips (White Lightning, Gator and The Cannonball Run), and even a musical (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). Along the way, he was offered the role of James Bond for 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — which he turned down because he felt Bond had to be British — and the Man of Steel in 1978’s Superman: The Movie, believing he would look ridiculous wearing the character’s blue and red tights (he was right).
In his private life, Burt was married to Laugh In actress Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965, and then to WKRP‘s Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1993. Burt and Loni adopted a son named Quinton during their union. Between the two was his famous love affair with actress Sally Field — his Smokey and the Bandit costar — who he says was, and could have very well still been, the true love of his life.
What follows is our complete guide to all of his films, from 1961 to 2019.
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Operation C.I.A. (1961)
Burt plays a spy named Mark Andrews, who is sent on a mission to Saigon in the hopes that he will be able to prevent the assassination of the American Ambassador.
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Navajo Joe (1966)
When all life in his village is destroyed, an Indian warrior named Navajo Joe swears vengeance against the outlaw Marvin Duncan and his ruthless gang. When no one will help him, he turns it into a one-man war.
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100 Rifles (1969)
In Mexico, a half-breed Indian named Yaqui Joe and the lawman Lyedecker in pursuit of him, find themselves thrown in jail and realize that they must work together. Added into the mix is Yaqui freedom fighter Sarita, who is trying to help save the Indians. Burt plays Joe, Jim Brown portrays Lyedecker, and Raquel Welch plays Sarita.
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Sam Whiskey (1969)
The setting is the Old West and Burt is the title character, hired by a woman (played by Angie Dickinson) to retrieve stolen gold from the bottom of a river so that it can actually be returned to law officials.
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Impasse (1969)
Learning of a hidden cache of gold that has been in the Philippines since World War II, Burt's character Pat Morrison puts together a team to accompany him to retrieve it. The problem is, he's not so sure how trustworthy the group really is.
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Shark (1969)
In his fourth film of 1969, Burt is a fugitive gunrunner who goes in search of sunken treasure located in Sudan, coping with a number of threats — among them, a great white shark.
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Skullduggery (1970)
Susan Clark plays an anthropologist who teams up with a pair of phosphorus hunters (Burt and Roger C. Carmel) to travel to New Guinea in the search of a tribe of what has been described as missing links.
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Fuzz (1972)
The Boston police department takes on a crime lord known as the Deaf Man, and a task force is brought together to stop him. Among the members are Burt's Detective Steve Carella and Raquel Welch's Eileen McHenry. The bad guy is played by Yul Brenner of The King and I fame.
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Deliverance (1972)
Forty-five years later, and this one remains one incredibly disturbing film. Four friends from the city (played by Burt, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox) go canoeing in rural Georgia, where they are stalked and attacked by members of the backwoods. What they undergo transforms the hunted into the hunters.
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Shamus (1973)
Private Investigator Shamus McCoy (that would be Burt) is hired to find diamonds robbed from a jewelry baron, but the more he digs, the bigger — and more deadly — the case becomes. Dyan Cannon co-stars.
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The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)
The "Cat Dancing" of the title refers to the murdered Native American wife of Burt's character Jay Grobart, who, in the Old West, is freed from serving time for murdering her killer, but now finds himself taking part in a train robbery in the hopes that his share will provide a better future for his children.
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White Lightning (1973)
Arrested and jailed for running a moonshine business, Gator McKlusky (Burt) is released from prison when he agrees to help a federal attorney bring down a much larger "booze-running" business.
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The Longest Yard (1974)
An imprisoned former football star is coerced by the warden to play on the prison football team, though he and his fellow convicts try to take matters into their own hands by using the field to pay back the brutality foisted on them by the guards. A real classic from Burt.
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At Long Last Love (1975)
Set in NYC in 1935, Cybill Shepherd plays a debutante who finds herself being wooed by Burt's playboy, who has grown bored with his empty life. The film is directed by Peter Bogdanovich, who also directed Cybill in The Last Picture Show.
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W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975)
Think of Burt's W.W. Bright as a modern day Robin Hood aka a man who steals from corrupt businessmen. Hijacking a car, he encounters aspiring band the Dixie Dancekings, who he turns into stars while trying to outrun the law.
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Lucky Lady (1975)
Set during prohibition, best buds Walker Ellis and Kibby Womack (Burt and Gene Hackman, respectively) are doing great being in charge of an underground distribution network for liquor. Then they meet Claire (Liza Minnelli), who claims that she can get their product into more places than they could imagine. It all sounds good until a romantic triangle starts to form between them — as if having the police in pursuit isn't problem enough.
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Hustle (1975)
Burt is an LA cop who, at the behest of her father, investigates a girl's suicide only to uncover that she may have been a victim of foul play. Catherine Deneuve co-stars, though not as the young girl.
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Silent Movie (1975)
Classic Mel Brooks silliness as he plays a film director who, with collaborators Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman, plan on making Hollywood's first silent movie in four decades. Burt portrays himself in the flick.
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Gator (1976)
In this sequel to White Lightning, Burt's Gator McClusky is once again coerced into using his particular skills to help law enforcement, this time to take down a corrupt politician.
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Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, this is undoubtedly Burt's most famous film. In it, he plays Bo "Bandit" Darville, who agrees to move beer from Texas to Georgia within a 28-hour time frame. Because at the time transporting liquor over those state lines was illegal, he naturally raises the ire of the law, in this case taking the form of Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Sally Field is his leading lady (at the time, in real life as well).
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Semi-Tough (1977)
Another friendship is threatened by the introduction of a romantic element between two pro football players and the daughter of their team's owner. Burt and Kris Kristofferson are the players, Jill Clayburgh is the lady at the center of it all.
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The End (1978)
A personal favorite of ours! Burt is a guy who is diagnosed with cancer, but instead of allowing himself to fade away, he decides to try and end his own life. The first attempt fails, which lands him in a mental institution. There he meets a fellow patient in the form of Dom DeLuise (who's hysterical as a schizophrenic), who he tries to enlist in his efforts to end it all.
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Hooper (1978)
Burt is aging Hollywood stuntman Sonny Hooper, who is determined to show the world that he's still got the skills to pull off the greatest stunts despite how his old age. Complicating that effort is the much-younger hotshot stuntman Ski (played by Jan-Michael Vincent).
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Starting Over (1979)
He may be divorced, but Burt's character Phil Potter is having a difficult time navigating the world of dating, especially when he begins seeing a new woman (Jill Clayburgh) but finds that he's still in love with his ex-wife (Candice Bergen).
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Rough Cut (1980)
Burt and Lesley Anne-Down are a pair of jewel thieves who decide to work together to steal more than $30 million in jewels but find themselves falling in love at the same time.
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Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)
Burt's back as the Bandit, and he's got Sally's character Carrie along for the ride, too. This time an elephant (!) is being transported from Florida to Texas, and Jackie Gleason's Buford T. Justice is once again trying to take him down. Hah!
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The Cannonball Run (1981)
In a nutshell, it's an illegal cross-country road race featuring an all-star cast. If you've ever seen It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, you'll have an idea of the craziness. The cast includes Burt, Dean Martin, Roger Moore, and a wide variety of others.
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Paternity (1981)
Burt is a single guy who so badly wants to be a father that he seeks the perfect woman to make that happen and promises that there will be no strings attached. C'mon, does anyone believe that can happen?
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Sharky's Machine (1981)
Burt's an Atlanta detective on the vice-squad who finds himself torn between a call girl (played by Rachel Ward) and Vittorio Gassman's mob boss.
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The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
The Broadway musical comes to the big screen, with Burt as the sheriff who joins forces with the madame (Dolly Parton) of a brothel that has come under attack from the TV news and referred to as "the Devil's playhouse."
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Best Friends (1982)
Can best friends get married and still retain the closeness they had? That's the question facing the characters played by Burt and Goldie Hawn in this flick.
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Stroker Ace (1983)
The film itself is about a NASCAR driver — Burt in the title role — who finds himself in growing conflict with his racing team's sponsor, a fried-chicken mogul. In terms of his career, Burt has admitted that this film was a turning point for him, and not in a good way. As he put it, he had the audience until this particular movie, which had him at one point dressed as a chicken. The film pulled in a poultry $13 million.
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The Man Who Loved Women (1983)
The story is told from the point of view of LA therapist Marianna (Julie Andrews), who relates the story of David Fowler (a successful sculptor) who speaks to her about various romantic relationships in his life. Intriguing, but, uh, who wants a therapist that blabs to the world the secrets of her patient?
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Cannonball Run II (1984)
Pretty much everyone from the first film is back for another cross-country race, but you could tell the budget was cut on this one. There is a portion of the race actually presented in crude animation, and there's a sequence with Frank Sinatra where, based on the way it's cut, it doesn't seem that anyone was actually in the same room with him. Odd.
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City Heat (1984)
Throughout the late 1970s and early '80s, the two biggest box movie stars in the world were Burt and Clint Eastwood, and it was believed that bringing them together would result in massive returns. It didn't quite work out that way as this film didn't exactly connect, but it was nonetheless still pretty cool. Things are set in 1933 and a murder brings together private investigator Mike Murphy (Burt) and police officer Speer (Clint).
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Stick (1985)
Ernest "Stick" Stickley is released from prison and wants nothing more than to walk the straight and narrow so he can spend time with his daughter, but pressure from others gradually draws him back into the criminal world.
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Heat (1986)
Set in Las Vegas, the film sees Burt cast as a bodyguard who uses his acquired skills to keep his friends safe from the criminal element.
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Malone (1987)
Malone (Burt) wants to put his past as a CIA hitman behind him, but when he relocates to a small town and encounters a family resisting the mercenaries in control, he finds himself falling back on his old tricks.
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Rent-a-Cop (1987)
Reuniting with Liza Minnelli for the first time since Lucky Lady in the 1970s, Burt is a Chicago cop turned security guard, and she is a hooker (come on, does anyone ever want to see Liza as a hooker?) and they team up to hunt down a killer.
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Switching Channels (1988)
When his ex-wife and current news anchor (Kathleen Turner) is planning on moving to NYC with her retail mogul fiancé, news producer John L. Sullivan (Burt) comes up with a plan to keep her around.
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Physical Evidence (1989)
A desperate cop accused of murder turns to his court-appointed attorney to try to figure out what really happened before he's convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Burt stars with Theresa Russell.
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Breaking In (1989)
Right before he retires, a professional burglar encounters a younger home intruder whom he sees potential in and decides to teach him everything he knows.
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Cop & 1/2 (1993)
A young boy named Devon, who was the sole witness to a murder, refuses to testify unless he gets the opportunity to actually be a cop. Guess who he ends up partnered with?
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The Maddening (1995)
Burt definitely goes into darker territory here. He's reunited with Angie Dickinson as a couple who has kind of lost their minds following the death of their son and his family — and then decide to obtain replacements.
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Striptease (1996)
The focus is on Erin Grant (Demi Moore), a former FBI office assistant turned stripper to raise enough money to wage a legal war to get custody of her daughter (though we're not sure if that's the best way to win over the court). Burt is politician David Dilbeck, who's become obsessed with Erin.
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Citizen Ruth (1996)
As Google describes it, this film — the story of Laura Dern's Ruth Stoops — is about "a woman who nobody even noticed… until she got pregnant. Now, everyone wants a piece of her. The film is a comedy about one woman caught in the ultimate tug-of-war: a clash of wild, noisy, ridiculous people that rapidly dissolves into a media circus."
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Frankenstein and Me (1996)
Burt plays the late father of a daydreaming youth who turns his grief towards a Frankenstein mannequin that fell off the back of a carnival truck and goes about trying to bring the monster to life.
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Boogie Nights (1997)
Porn director Jack Horner (Burt) transforms a busboy into porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), and what follows is a look inside the porn industry in a story set in the San Fernando Valley in 1977. In a way, this film was a triumph and heartbreak for Burt — he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor but ended up losing and did not take the loss well. Word was he felt that the win would have transformed that stage of his career.
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Bean (1997)
Bumbling security guard Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson — think of him as a British Inspector Clouseau) finds himself sent to LA where he must help retrieve a priceless painting for General Newton (Burt).
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Big City Blues (1997)
A pair of contract killers — played by Burt and William Forsyth — are in Miami, where in one evening they come across a wide variety of bizarre characters, including bikers and Satanists.
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Stringer (1999)
Burt is a cynical TV news producer who hires a Frenchman to serve as a journalist who can film accident victims for him. Definitely an odd one.
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Mystery Alaska (1999)
This comedy is about the residents of a small town who get over-excited when their hockey team gets chosen to host a televised event that will see them go up against the New York Rangers. Burt plays Judge Walter Burns, who has little patience for the excitement of his townspeople.
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The Crew (2000)
Four former mobsters have to pull off a heist in order to save their retirement home. The group is played by Burt, Dan Hedaya, Richard Dreyfuss, and Seymour Cassel.
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The Last Producer (2000)
Desperate to stay in the Hollywood game, an aging producer comes across a brilliant script that a younger executive has gotten, and will do whatever he can in order to obtain it.
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Waterproof (2000)
Burt goes character actor in this one, playing Jewish immigrant Eli Zeal who's a shop owner shot by teens during a robbery. Panicking, one of the teen's mothers takes the wounded Eli to her Louisiana hometown and embarks on a journey of religious reawakening. Eli and her son end up enlightened as well.
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Driven (2001)
Sylvester Stallone co-stars with Burt in this one about the world of high-tech car racing. Sly is fallen legend Joe Tanto, who is encouraged by paraplegic team owner Carl Henry (Burt) to take a driver with true potential under his wing to teach him in the way or car racing.
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Tempted (2001)
A dying man's attempt to make sure his wife is worthy of receiving his fortune following his death is turned around on him when she learns what he's been trying to do, and seeks a bit of revenge for his manipulations. Burt's the dying man, Saffron Burrows plays his wife.
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The Hollywood Sign (2001)
Three actors whose careers are pretty much behind them (played by Tom Berenger, Rod Steiger, and Burt) come up with a plan: they're going to pose as detectives in an effort to steal $7 million from mobsters to finance their comeback.
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Snapshots (2002)
Burt plays a middle-aged man who falls in love with the teenage daughter (Carmen Chaplin) of a woman (Julie Christie) he was attracted to years earlier. Awkward…
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Time of the Wolf (2002)
The film is really about the bond that develops between a boy and a wolf (yikes!). Burt plays an uncle who reluctantly takes the boy in after his parents die.
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Without a Paddle (2004)
Three young men hunting down the lost fortune of D.B. Cooper barely survive their search in the mountains thanks to the timely arrival of Del Knox (Burt), who had been Cooper's partner and just may hold the key to the money.
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The Longest Yard (2005)
The plot is pretty similar to the 1974 original, but this time, the jailed football player is played by Adam Sandler. Burt shows up as a jailed ex-NFL coach.
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The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
The '80s TV series comes to the big screen as cousins Bo, Luke, and Daisy Duke (along with their uncle Jesse), take down (in a humiliating way) the law in Hazzard County, particularly Boss Hogg, who is played by Burt. Considering how many times Burt has been in the role of the good 'ole boy driving lawmen nuts, it's kind of fun seeing him on the opposite side of the coin.
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Cloud 9 (2006)
Burt's character, a slacker named Billy Cole, is being swallowed up by debt, so he comes up with a plan to generate some cash: he grabs strippers from a local club and gets them to be part of a beach volleyball team. While successful in drawing in spectators and generating cash, what they don't expect is an opportunity to participate in the big leagues.
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End Game (2006)
When the President of the United States is assassinated, a secret service agent and a news reporter attempt to uncover the truth behind the murder. Burt has a small role as General Montgomery.
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Grilled (2006)
Two meat salesmen (Ray Romano and Kevin James) desperate for a sale find themselves inadvertently mixed up with the mob. The duo find their future — in terms of just staying alive and making their meat sale — tied up with Burt's character, Goldbluth.
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Broken Bridges (2006)
A fading country music star returns to his hometown where he reunites with his childhood sweetheart — now a newspaper reporter — and also meets his 16-year-old daughter for the first time. Added into this is Burt as the reporter's father, Jake Delton.
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Forget About It (2006)
Three retired military servicemen (Burt, Robert Loggia, and Charles Durning) discover a suitcase of money near their Arizona trailer park. What's eventually revealed is that the money belongs to the mob, and now they're on the run, involving their sexy neighbor played by Raquel Welch.
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A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)
A former Hollywood superstar — whose career is pretty much near its end — heads to Britain to play King Lear, thinking this will be a major opportunity. Instead, he discovers his agent has lied to him and it's actually an amateur community production and the bells and whistles he was expecting simply aren't there. Initially outraged, he gradually remembers why he became an actor in the first place.
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Deal (2008)
Burt is a former card shark who promised his wife he'd never play another hand or she'd leave him, but he gets the chance to live cathartically through a much younger player whom he teaches everything he knows.
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Not Another Not Another Movie (2011)
Burt plays a filmmaker with a studio that's struggling to stay alive and is willing to do pretty much anything to get a hit.
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Pocket Listing (2015)
A disgraced LA property broker (Burt) gets involved with a power player and his wife, finding himself involved in double-crosses, adultery, murder, and revenge.
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Hollow Creek (2016)
A writer and his secret lover spend time at a remote cabin in the Appalachian Mountains to work on a horror novel. An Amber Alert notifies them that several boys have gone missing, as does the writer's lover. And then there's Burt as the mysterious Seagrass Lambert.
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Elbow Grease (2016)
This is a look at the humor and craziness that is the everyday life of the Barnes family as they come to terms with each other. Burt plays Grandpa Barnes.
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Apple of My Eye (2017)
When a young girl loses her sight following a horse riding accident, she meets Charles (Burt), the head trainer of Southeastern Guide Dogs, who trains a miniature horse named Apple to serve as her companion and eyes to the world.
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Miami Love Affair (2017)
Describes Google, "Love ignites on the biggest art fair in the world as artists struggle between fame and romance in the hottest city on the planet: Miami." Burt plays an aging artist named Robert.
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Henri (2017)
Although raised in a Far East monastery and attempting to live a life of peace, Henri finds trouble and adventure following him everywhere. Burt has a supporting role in the film.
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Dog Years (2017)
Burt continues a theme he's been exploring in a number of recent films, playing an aging movie star who forces an emotionally unstable girl (Modern Family's Ariel Winter) assigned to be his driver to take him on a tour of the landmarks of his youth.
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Shadow Fighter (2017)
An unlikely bond forms between an inner-city kid and a homeless ex-boxer (that would be Burt), and together they help each other face the future while attempting to overcome tragedies from their pasts.
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Defining Moments (2018)
Coming this December, what should be Burt’s second-to-last movie, which has been given this enigmatic description: “A highly comedic film about that one single moment in time that changes you from who you were to who you’ll be.”
His last film will be Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which stars Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio as a TV actor well past his glory and his stunt double. Together they decide to make a name for themselves in 1969 Los Angeles right in the midst of the Helter Skelter murders. Burt plays George Spahn, a rancher who allowed Charles Manson and his “family” to reside on his property. This one is scheduled for 2019.
One thing that can be said about Burt in the final years of his life: he was really given the opportunity to dig a little deeper as he assumed a number of character roles. Even when the parts were small, Burt made them much bigger than they were. We’re going to miss him.
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