Burt Reynolds

“Smokey, the Bandit, and the most charming lip in the South.”

95STACH SCORE

✂ Chevron Celebrity Era: 1970s Born 1936 🏆 HOF Inductee

Is this a Legendary Stach?

Stach Stats

Stash Power95

Ruggedness90

Curl Factor35

Legend Status97

Stats are for entertainment purposes. The mustache committee's decisions are final and occasionally arbitrary.

Style: Chevron
Peak Era: 1970s
Born: 1936
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2024
Fan Votes: 0 legendary · 0 meh

The Story

About Burt Reynolds

Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (1936–2018) was born in Lansing, Michigan, and raised in Florida, where he was a promising halfback at Florida State University until injuries ended his football hopes. Acting was Plan B, and Plan B worked out. After a decade of television work (including Gunsmoke), he broke through in Deliverance (1972) and then spent the rest of the 1970s being the most popular movie star in America.

The Longest Yard (1974), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), and The Cannonball Run (1981) cemented the persona: the grinning good ol' boy who drove fast, winked faster, and did a good portion of his own stunt work. He was the top box-office draw in the country for five consecutive years, 1978 through 1982, a run very few actors have matched.

After a rough patch in the late 1980s he rebounded on television with Evening Shade (1990–1994), winning an Emmy, and then earned an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Boogie Nights (1997). He kept working, and kept the mustache, until his death in 2018.

The Verdict

Why the Stach Became Iconic

If Selleck's mustache is the reference specimen, Reynolds' is the one that made the whole thing fun. Thick, dark, and paired with a laugh that could start a bar fight or end one, it was the mustache of a man who was clearly enjoying himself and wanted you to know it.

The Bandit look (mustache, cowboy hat, red Firebird Trans Am) is arguably the most imitated costume in the history of the American road movie. Reynolds made the mustache a symbol of swagger in an era when swagger was the whole point.

On the Record

Appearances

Deliverance (1972)
The Longest Yard (1974)
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Hooper (1978)
The Cannonball Run (1981)
Evening Shade (1990–1994)
Boogie Nights (1997)
The Last Movie Star (2017)

Fun Facts

He was the number one box-office star in the U.S. for five straight years, 1978–1982.
His 1972 nude centerfold in Cosmopolitan became one of the most famous magazine spreads of the decade; he later said he regretted it.
He played halfback at Florida State University before a knee injury and a car accident ended his football career.
He won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination for Boogie Nights (1997).
He won the 1991 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Evening Shade.