The Love of Burt Reynolds’ Life, Sally Field, Did Not Speak to Him in His Final 30 Years

They met on the set of “Smokey and the Bandit,” two rising stars falling in love in front of rolling cameras and millions of future fans. Burt Reynolds fought to get Sally Field cast, defended her when producers said she wasn’t “sexy,” and later admitted he’d loved her since seeing her as a child star. On screen, their chemistry was electric; off screen, it was intoxicating and destructive. Field has said she stopped “existing” in those years, swallowed by his fame, his control, and the rumors of infidelity that left her feeling humiliated and foolish.

When the relationship ended after about five years, Burt never stopped talking about her. Decades later, he still called her the love of his life and blamed himself for losing her. Field, however, chose distance. She didn’t speak to him for 30 years, even as he reached out through interviews and public declarations. In her memoir, she described him as confusing, complicated, hurtful—and still undeniably important. When he died in 2018, she finally answered with honesty: he would always live in her history and in her heart, but some wounds were too deep to reopen, even for a great love.