Burt Reynolds Still Loved Sally Field Decades After Their Split

Even before Burt Reynolds met Sally Field, he felt a strong attraction to her. Reynolds was smitten with Fields' acting prowess, and he lobbied hard for her to be cast with him in the 1977 film, "Smokey and the Bandit." Field and Reynolds began a five-year relationship and worked on three additional movies together. 

Decades after they split in the 1980s, Reynolds still maintained affection for Field. "She was the love of my life, and I screwed the relationship up," Reynolds admitted to the Daily Mail in 2016. "That sense of loss never goes away." Previously, he had revisited his memories of their time together in his 2015 memoir, "But Enough About Me." As he explained in the book, after their relationship ended, Field cut off communication with him, leaving him feeling devastated. 

Although Reynolds and Field were no longer talking, he was able to stay in touch with one of her sons, who informed Reynolds that Field had mentioned him frequently over the years. He held out hope for an opportunity to have a chat with her one more time. Sadly, Reynolds died in 2018 without reconnecting with his past love. Soon after, Field told The New York Times she was "flooded with feelings and nostalgia" when she thought about her doomed romance with Reynolds. Even so, Field believed he viewed their relationship through rose-colored glasses because she was unattainable. "He had somehow invented in his rethinking of everything that I was more important to him," she explained to Variety.

The day after Sally Field arrived to work on "Smokey and the Bandit," Burt Reynolds invited her on a date. "It was instantaneous and intense," Field wrote about the beginnings of their romance in her 2018 memoir, "In Pieces." Unfortunately, she found Reynolds controlling right from the start, and Field hated locking lips with him onscreen. While Reynolds would share details about himself, Field felt he didn't want to get to know her. She started censoring herself, avoiding topics like past relationships or childhood struggles. "I eliminated most of me, becoming a familiar, shadowy version of myself, locked behind my eyes, unable to speak." 

During their relationship, Reynolds indicated to Field that he wanted to marry her and have kids together. However, Field declined his repeated offers of marriage. In her memoir, Field noted that some of these proposals were uncomfortable. On one occasion, Reynolds visited her on the set of "Norma Rae" and, looking really nervous, he gave her an engagement ring. Field thanked him, but she didn't say yes. She also noted neither one of them was ready to discuss their relationship problems.

Although Field disagreed with Reynolds' comment that she was the "love of his life," she appreciated the compliment. She was also comforted that Reynolds wouldn't read her memoir since he died shortly before it was published. "I did not want to hurt him any further," Field explained to The New York Times.

Looking back, Burt Reynolds saw himself as playing a crucial role in Sally Field's acting career, and he claimed that he encouraged her to star in "Norma Rae." Field, however, recalled a different situation. According to her memoir, Reynolds had negative emotions about the project from the start. She claimed that after he insisted on reading the script, he was dismissive of the story. Reynolds then went further and insulted the lead role by calling Norma a whore. The couple argued, and Field quoted Reynolds as saying, "So now you're an actor ... you're letting your ambition get the better of you." For Field, this conflict proved to be a turning point in their relationship. She was determined to take the role. In her commitment to herself as a person and an actor, Field was able to rediscover her own agency.

Reynolds' bitter feelings continued as he attempted to discourage Field from traveling to the Cannes Film Festival after the film was completed. While he was incredulous that Field would garner any awards, she won Best Actress at the 1979 festival. By the time her performance was nominated for a 1980 Oscar, Reynolds was so bitter about the attention Field was receiving that he refused to accompany her to the awards ceremony. Instead, Field's friends David and Judy Steinberg went with her and cheered her on as she won her first-ever Best Actress Academy Award that night.