Editing Burt Reynolds (section)

===''Deliverance'' and ''Cosmopolitan'' centerfold===
Reynolds had a major role in the movie ''[[Deliverance]]'', directed by [[John Boorman]], who cast him on the basis of a talk show appearance. "It's the first time I haven't had a script with [[Paul Newman]]'s and [[Robert Redford]]'s fingerprints all over it," Reynolds joked. "The producers actually came to me first."<ref name="image"/>

"I've waited 15 years to do a really good movie," he said in 1972. "I made so many bad pictures. I was never able to turn anyone down. The greatest curse in Hollywood is to be a well-known unknown."<ref name="ebert">{{cite news|title=What Kind of Playmate Is Burt?|author=Ebert, Roger|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 26, 1972|page=D13|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/26/archives/what-kind-of-playmate-is-burt.html|access-date=September 16, 2018|archive-date=September 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916093052/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/26/archives/what-kind-of-playmate-is-burt.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

It was around this time when Reynolds also gained notoriety when he began a well-publicized relationship with [[Dinah Shore]], who was 20 years his senior, and after he posed nude in the April 1972 issue of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/09/06/how-burt-reynolds-changed-the-way-we-thought-about-sex-by-getting-naked-on-a-bearskin-rug/|title=Burt Reynolds changed the way we thought about sex — by getting naked on a bearskin rug|date=September 7, 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=September 7, 2018|archive-date=September 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907134034/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/09/06/how-burt-reynolds-changed-the-way-we-thought-about-sex-by-getting-naked-on-a-bearskin-rug/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17896980|title=Burt Reynolds nude: 10 facts about the Cosmo centrefold|work=BBC News|date=April 30, 2012|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-date=June 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620192136/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17896980|url-status=live}}</ref> Reynolds said that he posed for ''Cosmopolitan'' for "a kick. I have a strange sense of humor," and because he knew that ''Deliverance'' was about to be released.<ref name="ebert"/> He later expressed regret for posing for ''Cosmopolitan''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Burt Reynolds: Nude photo cost 'Deliverance' Oscar glory|url=http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=771035|website=MSN|access-date=January 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101045813/http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=771035|archive-date=November 1, 2012}}</ref>

''Deliverance'' was a commercial and critical success, which, along with talk-show appearances, helped establish Reynolds as a major [[movie star|movie actor]]. "The night of the Academy Awards, I counted a half-dozen Burt Reynolds jokes," he later said. "I had become a household name, the most talked-about star at the award show."<ref name="macho"/>

Reynolds was subsequently in ''[[Fuzz (film)|Fuzz]]'' (1972), reuniting with Welch, and also made a cameo in [[Woody Allen]]'s film ''[[Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (film)|Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)]]'' (1972).  He also returned to the stage, appearing in ''The Rainmaker'' at the Arlington.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Burt Reynolds—Beauty Is Skin-deep, but Talent Will Out|author=Warga, Wayne|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 26, 1972|page=o1}}</ref>

Reynolds had the title role of ''[[Shamus (film)|Shamus]]'' (1973), playing a private detective. The movie drew lackluster reviews, but nonetheless became a box-office success. Reynolds described it as "not a bad film, kind of cute".<ref name="gene"/>

He was in ''[[The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (film)|The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing]]'' (1973), co-featuring [[Sarah Miles]]. The film was a minor success, perhaps best remembered for the scandal of Miles's lover, an aspiring screenwriter, dying by suicide during the filming.<ref name="gene"/>

Reynolds meant to reunite with Boorman in ''[[Zardoz]]'', but fell ill and was replaced by [[Sean Connery]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Laying to Rest Burt-Is-Dying Rumor|author=Haber, Joyce|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 21, 1973|page=f10}}</ref>