If there’s one thing that rings true about American popular culture, it’s that audiences will always crave speed and fast cars. There is no reason we should have 10 Fast & Furious movies, but people can’t seem to get enough of explosions and vehicles doing insane stunts. This is generational, and in the late ’70s the ultimate car-chase movie was the beloved Smokey and the Bandit.
Released in 1977, the movie starred Burt Reynolds and a then 31-year-old Sally Field as they speed their way through the South on a beer smuggling mission. The little movie that could, it ended up making $300 million on a $4.3 million budget, and $1 million of that went to Reynolds alone.
Only one movie that year made more money, and it was about as far from the Bandit subject matter as you could get. We’re talking, of course, about Star Wars. Both movies were cultural touchstones, but Smokey came at a time when the American South was going through a transition of sorts.
The blockbuster helped usher in the era of the “new South,” one that distanced itself from the racism of a pre-segregation era. After the movie came out, there was a fad in the U.S. that glamorized the lives of truckers using CB radios to communicate with each other. It also paved the way the way for another Southern-based car racing phenom called The Dukes of Hazzard, which basically ripped its premise straight from the movie.
The plot is fairly straightforward: Bo “Bandit” Darville (Reynolds) is tasked with smuggling 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana to Atlanta in less than 28 hours. With that type of time crunch, he has no choice but to speed the whole way. Darville and his partner Cledus “Snowman” Snow (Jerry Reed), come up with a plan to use a big rig for transport, and a Pontiac Trans-Am as a decoy.
Things get a little more complicated when Bandit picks up runaway bride Carrie (Field), and suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs of Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and his son Junior, whom Carrie left at the altar.
Since it’s been almost 50 years since the movie came out, let’s see where all the stars of the movie are now.
Burt Reynolds – Bo “Bandit” Darville
Reynolds was one of the biggest movie stars of his day. He started his career in TV, and made a name for himself in shows like Gunsmoke and Dan August. After Smokey and the Bandit was such a smash, he ruled the box office for a good six years.
Later in life, he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of pornographer Jack Horner in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Boogie Nights. It’s hard to describe just how famous Reynolds was in his prime, but think about stars like Brad Pitt and George Clooney as parallel examples.
In Reynolds’ heyday, he was considered the ultimate male sex symbol. He brought an easy charm that was both confident and self-deprecating, and he was ridiculously charming, both in his movie roles, and when he appeared on television talk shows.
Reynolds passed away at the age of 82 in Florida on Sept. 6, 2018.
Sally Field – Carrie, aka Frog
Before Smokey and the Bandit, Sally Field was known for her roles in TV shows like The Flying Nun and Gidget. After the movie came out, she was a bonafide movie star. She turned her career in a more dramatic direction following the breakaway success of Bandit, and she eventually won two Academy Awards.
One of those was for the 1980 movie Norma Rae, and the second was for Places in the Heart in 1985. In later years, she played Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man from 2012 and its 2014 sequel. She also starred in the hit movie 80 for Brady in 2022 with fellow well-known actresses Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno.
In 2023, Field was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She is 77 years old as of this writing.
Jackie Gleason – Sheriff Buford T. Justice
By the time Jackie Gleason starred in Bandit, he was already a comedic legend. Born in 1916, he became a star in the early TV sitcom The Honeymooners, where he was always threatening to send his wife to the moon with a raised fist (it was a very different time).
After the show he starred in a series of movies, notably the Oscar-winning film The Hustler with Paul Newman. His character in Bandit is iconic, and heavily influenced the character of Boss Hogg in the T.V. show Dukes of Hazzard.
His last film role was with Tom Hanks in the 1986 romantic comedy Nothing in Common. Gleason passed away one year later in 1987 at the age of 71.
Mike Henry – Junior Justice
After his role as the dimwitted son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, Mike Henry moved over to writing and voice acting. He played Tarzan in a number of movies and TV shows and wrote the screenplays for Cannonball Run II and The Longest Yard.
Later in life, he appeared as a character in shows like M*A*S*H and The Six Million Dollar Man. He also appeared with Charleton Heston in Skyjacked and Soylent Green.
Unfortunately, he was forced to retire from acting in 1988 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He passed away back in 2021 from the ailment.
Jerry Reed – Cledus Snow
The multi talented Jerry Reed was a country singer, and had a lot of success in that arena. He wrote and performed the hit song “East Bound and Down,” which climbed to #2 on the American charts. Later in life, he appeared in the The Waterboy and Bat*21.
He performed all the way up to his death in 2008, and he was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
Paul Williams – Little Enos Burdette
Paul Williams’ unforgettable turn as Little Enos is one of the great comedic performances of all time. He’s half of the duo that bets Bandit he can’t bring back 400 cases of Coors in 28 hours. However, he’s also known as a prolific songwriter.
He penned hits like “We’ve Only Just Begun” and the Kermit the Frog sung classic the “Rainbow Connection.” Later in life, he appeared on the hit Daft Punk album Random Access Memories, on the disco-influenced song “Touch,” and turned in a crackerjack performance as a colorful crooked lawyer in Goliath.
He’s currently 83 years old.
Pat McCormick – Big Enos Burdette
Pat McCormick played Big Enos Burdette, half of the wealthy duo that hires Bandit and Cledus for the smuggling job. In addition to his screen work, he was a comedian and writer, and got to work for comedy legends like Johnny Carson.
He appeared in various projects over the years after he had a career resurgence with Bandit, all the way up until he was forced to retire in 1988 after he was partially paralyzed by a stroke. However, he lived all the way to 2005, where he passed away peacefully at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.
