From the late 1970s into the early 1980s, Sally Field and Burt Reynolds were among Hollywood’s most closely watched couples. Their romance followed their appearances together in the “Smokey and the Bandit” films, “Hooper,” and “The End.” They dated on and off for about five years before ending their relationship in 1982, but the tensions between them were apparent from the beginning. Field later recalled that Reynolds asked her out after she auditioned for the role of Carrie in “Smokey and the Bandit,” even though they had only recently met.
“He called me up. I was in a hotel, a different hotel than he. … And, he said, ‘Well, I’ll take you out to dinner.’ And of course, I was so nervous, I thought I would pass out,” Field recalled on HBO Max’s “Talking Pictures” podcast in June 2026. Although she had been married before, Field said she had little experience with romantic dating, making Reynolds’ invitation especially overwhelming. “I started when I was 18 in television, and the whole world of that ilk was swept away from me,” she explained.
Field said Reynolds was too recognizable to come inside the hotel, so he sent his bodyguard, Pete, to pick her up instead. She remembered feeling self-conscious about how visibly nervous she was. “I remember just sort of being a fool, a clown,” the “Steel Magnolias” star said. Much of the evening remains unclear in her memory. “We went to dinner. I think there were others there. I remember that there were others there,” Field recalled. “I just was nervous. It was all just a blur.”
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They ultimately broke up, though Reynolds said he still loved Field decades later
Behind the glamorous public image, Field recalled painful experiences from her relationship with Reynolds, saying he could make her feel adored one moment and diminish her the next. “He was very much like my stepfather. … my stepfather was both wonderful and evil,” she told People in 2026. Field also described Reynolds as controlling and remembered his anger when she pursued a role in the 1979 film “Norma Rae,” a performance that ultimately earned her the Academy Award for best actress.
Taking the part marked an important step in Field’s decision to assert her independence after years of trying to accommodate Reynolds. “I went and did meet with [the director] Marty Ritt. I did the film, but it was the beginning of me finding my legs,” she said. Field married her second husband, Alan Greisman, two years after her breakup with Reynolds. The couple had a son before eventually divorcing. Field also has two sons from her first marriage, and all three of her children have gone on to make major changes in their lives. Reynolds later married Loni Anderson in 1988, a relationship he would eventually call a major mistake. Even so, he never fully moved past Field.
Reynolds spent years acknowledging his regret over the way he treated Field and eventually called her the true “love of my life.” “I miss her terribly. Even now, it’s hard on me,” he told Vanity Fair in 2015. “I don’t know why I was so stupid.” Reynolds died at age 82 in September 2018.