Charming, easy-going, handsome, witty lead actor and former mega-star, Reynolds attended college on a football scholarship, becoming an all-star Southern conference halfback. After a knee injury and a debilitating car accident he switched from athletics to college drama. In 1955 he dropped out of college and went to New York, looking for work onstage; all he got were occasional TV bit parts, and for two years he had to support himself as a dishwasher and bouncer. In 1957 he appeared in a New York City Center revival of Mister Roberts, and shortly thereafter was signed to a TV contract. He went on to regular roles in the TV series "Riverboat," "Gunsmoke," "Hawk," and "Dan August." He appeared in numerous films in the '60s, but failed to make much of an impression. In the early '70s his popularity began to increase, in part due to his witty appearances on TV talk shows. His breakthrough film was Deliverance (1972), which established him as both a star and a serious actor. He became a major sex symbol when he was featured as the first nude male centerfold in the April 1972 Cosmopolitan. He went on to become the biggest box-office attraction in America for several years. However, by the mid '80s his heyday was over, and he ceased to be a successful film star. Switching to TV, he starred in the popular sitcom "Evening Shade," for which he won an Emmy. He has also directed several films, and in 1979 he established the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater in Florida. From 1963-66 he was married to actress Judy Carne, and has been romantically linked with actresses Dinah Shore and Sally Field, and tennis star Chris Evert. He was married from 1988-93 to actress Loni Anderson; their marriage ended in one of the most widely-publicized acrimonious divorces in Hollywood history, after which Reynolds' popularity seemed to decrease considerably.