Burt Reynolds dead: Star of 'Boogie Nights' and 'Smokey and the Bandit' dies aged 82

Burt Reynolds, the actor known for his starring roles in Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit, and Boogie Nights has died. He was 82.

Reynolds had received an Oscar nomination for his role in Boogie Nights, the Paul Thomas Anderson film in which he played an adult film director, and was a top box-office celebrity for a consecutive five years in the late 1970s.

His death was announced by his manager, Erik Kritzer, who said he died at Jupiter Medical Centre in Jupiter, Florida, a community just north of West Palm Beach.

The cause of death was reportedly cardiac arrest, and his family was at his side at the time of his death, according to US Weekly. He had previously undergone heart surgery, in 2010.

At the time, his manager told CNN that Reynolds "has a great motor with brand new pipes".

Reynolds' career began on the small screen, where he starred in shows like Gunsmoke and Dan August — roles that he would later use to as launching pads that brought critical acclaim and adoration from throngs of fans across the globe.

His breakout role was playing Lewis Medlock in the 1972 thriller Deliverance, a film about a canoeing trip gone wrong in the northern Georgia wilderness.

All told, Reynolds racked up nearly 200 film and TV credits, and starred in wildly successful films including The Longest Yard in 1974, Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, Striptease in 1997, and Boogie Nights in 1997.

Reynolds is set to appear posthumously in the movie Defining Moments that is scheduled to come out this December, and he was in the process of filming the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the time of his death. The latter featured such Hollywood A-listers as Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie, and was intended to be in theatres next year.

Reynolds is survived by his adult son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, who he had with his second wife and actress Loni Anderson, who he divorced in 1993 after five years' of marriage. He was previously married to Judy Carne, whom he was married to from 1963 until 1965. He had told Vanity Fair magazine that his on-again off-again girlfriend in the 1970s and 1980s was the one that got away.

Soon after his death, tributes began pouring in for Reynolds from Hollywood stars and those close to him.

"I will never forget our dinners, laughs & gems you dropped. Meeting you was one of the greater joys of my adult life $ artistic career," actor Wesley Snipes wrote. "You were the 'Man' then, now & forever in my book. 10-4 Bandit, you've got nothing but open road now - love, WS".

Actor Mark Wahlberg, who starred in Boogie Nights with Reynolds, also paid his respects.

"Rest in peace to a legend and a friend," he wrote. "#BurtReynolds".

Anrold Schwarzenegger also chimed in, saying Reynolds was a hero who had shown the world that actors can make it big in Hollywood even if they are coming from other professions.

"Burt Reynolds was one of my heroes. He was a trailblazer. He showed the way to transition from being an athlete to being the highest paid actor, and he always inspired me," Mr Schwarzenegger wrote. "He also had a great sense of humour - check out his Tonight Show clips. My thoughts are with his family".