Editing Burt Reynolds (section)

===Career decline===
James L. Brooks wrote the role of astronaut Garrett Breedlove in ''[[Terms of Endearment]]'' (1983) with Reynolds in mind. However, Reynolds refused the role, and instead starred in another car-chase comedy ''[[Stroker Ace]]'' (1983), directed by Needham. The ''Endearment'' part went to [[Jack Nicholson]], who won an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]]. Reynolds said in 1987, "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim," but ''Stroker Ace'' failed.{{r|los}}

Reynolds admitted that refusing the role was a mistake. 
<blockquote>
I regret that one most of all because it was a real acting part.... I wish I would have done it, and thinking back now, it was really a stupid decision, but I made a lot of stupid decisions in that period. It must have been my stupid period.<ref name="Business Insider">{{cite web|last1=Guerrasio|first1=Jason|title=Burt Reynolds was such a screen icon that even the list of roles he turned down is legendary, from James Bond to Han Solo|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/iconic-roles-burt-reynolds-turned-down-2018-9|website=businessinsider.com|publisher=Business Insider|access-date=13 August 2023|archive-date=August 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813184038/https://www.businessinsider.com/iconic-roles-burt-reynolds-turned-down-2018-9|url-status=live}}</ref>
</blockquote>

In 1983, an unnamed producer said that while Reynolds's salaries would not decrease because of ''Stroker Ace''{{'}}s failure, "if two or three more such pictures don't work, people will just stop putting him in that kind of movie and that's the kind of film for which he gets paid the most".<ref name="harmetz19830726">{{Cite news|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|date=July 26, 1983|title=THE TALK OF HOLLYWOOD; AT THE STUDIOS, STAR BILLING MEANS A PARKING SPACE; The Talk of Hollywood|language=en-US|pages=C11|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/26/movies/talk-hollywood-studios-star-billing-means-parking-space-talk-hollywood.html|access-date=April 11, 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524142748/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/26/movies/talk-hollywood-studios-star-billing-means-parking-space-talk-hollywood.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Reynolds felt that it was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered. "That's where I lost them," he said of his fans.<ref name="los">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-04-ca-1803-story.html|title=Burt Reynolds is the Comeback Kid|last=Modderno|first=Craig|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 4, 1987|page=L6|access-date=July 2, 2014|archive-date=February 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217173024/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-04/entertainment/ca-1803_1_burt-reynolds|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Clint & Sondra & Burt & Loni.jpg|thumb|[[Clint Eastwood]], [[Sondra Locke]], Burt Reynolds and [[Loni Anderson]] at the premiere of ''[[City Heat]]'' (1984).]]

For director [[Blake Edwards]], Reynolds starred in ''[[The Man Who Loved Women (1983 film)|The Man Who Loved Women]]'' (1983), a remake in English of [[François Truffaut]]'s 1977 film ''[[The Man Who Loved Women (1977 film)|L'Homme qui aimait les femmes]]'', but it also failed. In an interview at about this time, he said:
<blockquote>
Getting to the top has turned out to be a hell of a lot more fun than staying there. I've got [[Tom Selleck]] crawling up my back. I'm in my late 40s. I realize I have four or five more years where I can play certain kinds of parts and get away with it. That's why I'm leaning more and more toward directing and producing. I don't want to be stumbling around town doing [[Gabby Hayes]] parts a few years from now. I'd like to pick and choose and maybe go work for a perfume factory like Mr. [[Cary Grant]], and look wonderful with everybody saying, 'Gee, I wish he hadn't retired'.<ref name="way"/>
</blockquote>
''[[Cannonball Run II]]'' (1984), directed by Needham, brought in some money but only half of the original. ''[[City Heat]]'' (1984), which teamed Reynolds and [[Clint Eastwood]], was mildly popular but was considered a major critical and box-office disappointment. Reynolds was injured badly during filming when he was hit in the jaw with a real chair instead of a breakaway prop, causing him excruciating chronic pain as well as a sharp weight loss that resulted in rumors circulating for years that he had [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]].<ref name="los"/>

Reynolds returned to directing with ''[[Stick (film)|Stick]]'' (1985), from an [[Elmore Leonard]] novel, but it was both a critical and commercial failure. So too were three other action movies that he made: ''[[Heat (1986 film)|Heat]]'' (1986), based on a novel by [[William Goldman]], ''[[Malone (film)|Malone]]'' (1987), and ''[[Rent-a-Cop]]'' (1987) with Liza Minnelli.<ref name="los"/> He later said that he did ''Heat'' and ''Malone'' "because there were so many rumors about me [having AIDS]. I had to get out and be seen."<ref name="rap"/>

In 1987, Reynolds teamed with [[Bert Convy]] to co-produce the [[game show]] ''[[Win, Lose or Draw]]'' for their production company Burt and Bert Productions. The show was based on "sketch pad charades", a game that he often played with his friends in his living room in Jupiter. [[Vicki Lawrence]] hosted the daytime version for [[NBC]], while Convy hosted the syndicated version until 1989, when he quit to host ''[[3rd Degree (game show)|3rd Degree]]'', also created by Reynolds and Convy.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

Reynolds starred in ''[[Switching Channels]]'' (1988), a remake of the comedy ''[[The Front Page]]''. It was a box-office bomb. Even more poorly received was ''[[Physical Evidence]]'' (1989), directed by [[Michael Crichton]]. Reynolds received excellent reviews for the caper comedy ''[[Breaking In (1989 film)|Breaking In]]'' (1989), but the commercial reception was poor.<ref name="sayles">Gerry Molyneaux, ''John Sayles'', Renaissance Books, 2000 p 182</ref> The moderately successful animated film ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' (1989), in which Reynolds voiced Charlie B. Barkin, was one of his few successes at the time.<ref name="nbc">{{cite web|author=Arkin|first=Daniel|date=September 6, 2018|title=Burt Reynolds, charismatic star of 1970s blockbusters, dies at 82|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/burt-reynolds-charismatic-star-1970s-blockbusters-dies-82-n907206|access-date=October 2, 2023|work=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>

"When I was doing very well," he said at the time, "I wasn't conscious I was doing very well, but I became very conscious when I wasn't doing very well. The atmosphere changed."<ref name="rap">{{Cite news|title=REYNOLDS RAP|author=Scott, Jay|work=The Globe and Mail|date=June 7, 1987|page=E.1}}</ref>