A Quote by Burt Reynolds

It was a bit of a lark when I agreed to do [Smokey and the Bandit], and I knew we'd have fun if we could get Jackie Gleason.

Burt Reynolds

Quote Topics

Agreed Bandit Bit Could Fun Get Have Fun Jackie Knew

Quote Author

Burt Reynolds
American - Actor
February 11, 1936 - September 6, 2018

Smokey and The Bandit was just a lark. All we did was run up and down those Georgia roads wrecking cars and having the time of our life.

Jerry Reed

How could you get angry with Jackie Gleason?

Maureen O'Hara

While prepping 'Smokey,' I saw a picture in a magazine of a Pontiac Trans Am that gave me a product placement idea. I could picture Burt Reynolds behind the wheel with Jackie Gleason on the chase. I called Pontiac and asked if they would like to have the car in the movie.

Hal Needham

Smokey and the Bandit was the first picture [Hal Needham ] directed, and I knew he could handle it. I had just directed Gator, and he saw my style and used that as a pattern.

Burt Reynolds

I'm really much more like Phil Potter from [the 1979 film] Starting Over. People do think I'm the Bandit [from Smokey and the Bandit ], and I'm a lot more serious than that.

Burt Reynolds

'Smokey and the Bandit' is tough and funny.

Jay Chandrasekhar

I have always enjoyed outlaw films such as 'Smokey and the Bandit.'

Jay Chandrasekhar

Ralph Kramden, as played by Jackie Gleason, was this big bumbling New York City bus driver who was kind of mean and crass and a little bit egotistical. But underneath it all, he was a big heart looking for a place to land I think.

George Saunders

You might be a redneck if you have refused to watch the Academy Awards since Smokey and the Bandit was snubbed for best picture.

Jeff Foxworthy

Styles be fat like Jackie Gleason, the rest be Art Carney.

Phife Dawg

Trans Am sales went up 70 percent after Smokey and the Bandit, and I was promised a free car every year for life by the Pontiac president.

Burt Reynolds

We had a love-hate relationship. Jackie knew exactly what she could get out of one of my photos.

Ron Galella

I wound up signing to RCA Victor as a trumpeter, guesting on shows like Jackie Gleason's Honeymooners.

Frankie Avalon

We got Sally Field onboard [in Smokey and the Bandit] and it changed the entire dynamic. About a third of the way into filming, I was in the car with Sally and there was this little moment where we kind of looked at each other, and then we both turned and looked over at Hal [Needham]. He gave us a thumbs up and said, "Yeah!" And we kind of knew there was some magic going on.

Burt Reynolds

Jackie Gleason said that comedy is the most exacting form of dramatic art, because it has an instant critic: laughter.