Burt Reynolds indeed began his career as a stuntman in Hollywood before he went on to become a renowned actor, most famous in the 70s and 80s. However, did he ever double for Alec Baldwin? No, it does not seem so.
It’s difficult to say where the rumor started, but Reynolds was never a stunt double for Baldwin. There is no credible evidence supporting the claim, and then there is the fact that both actors are separated in generation.
Baldwin was born in 1958, and his career took off in the 80s. By then, Reynolds was already a well-established actor, doing films like Rent-a-Cop and Heat. It’s highly unlikely that he would become someone’s stunt double after reaching the height of his career.
Burt Reynolds Reflects on His Days as a Stuntman
Before he began doing his own stunts in his films, Burt Reynolds worked as a stuntman for a living. His first gig was in the television show, Frontiers of Faith, which ran from 1952-1970.
In an interview available online, Reynolds recalled, “The first job I had was in this show called ‘Frontiers of Faith’. They didn’t know what a stuntman was…” He opened up about how exactly he was hired to do the film’s stunts:
I was hanging around a village with a bunch of actors, the producer of the show mentioned that they had to throw a guy through a window, and They’d never done that before. I said, ‘I’ll do that.’ They threw me through the window, and they gave me 220 bucks, and I said, ‘This is terrific. What a terrific way of making a living.’
From then on, every time that producer worked on a project that required a man to be thrown through the window or down the stairs, he knew Reynolds was the man to call.
In 2015, the actor was awarded the Richard “Diamond” Farnsworth Award by the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures.
Burt Reynolds Did Not Want a Stunt Double for Himself
Burt Reynolds, who almost played Superman, loved doing his own stunts in his projects, and he was not afraid of anything that was thrown at him. His fall over the waterfall in Deliverance (1972) remains iconic, even if he walked away with an injured tailbone (via Film School Rejects).
However, there came a time when a stunt double, Hal Needham, was brought in to fill for him, and let’s just say that Reynolds was not happy with the decision. Before they went on to become lifelong friends and frequent collaborators, the actor remembers telling Needham on Riverboat that he didn’t need him.
Describing himself as “cocky“, Reynolds told Variety, “I was so cocky. I didn’t want a stunt double. I told him, ‘Look, I don’t want to take away from your talent. I’m sure you’re very good, but I do my own stunts.”
Needham’s reaction? He simply smiled at Reynolds and said,
‘If you knew how many actors I’ve taken to the hospital that said that to me. But I want to watch you do this.’ I said, ‘OK,’ and I did the stunt. He said I was pretty good and asked me what else I could do. I said, ‘Anything you can teach me.’ He said, ‘OK, come out to my house.’
Once Reynolds reached his new friend’s house, he found a rope net in the backyard, and their competitive spirit turned into a friendship that would last for years:
In his backyard, he had a rope net, and we’d climb this tree as high as we could go. We’d try to outdo each other. He’d do a flip, and then I’d have to do what he did. But it taught me so much about heights, and I’d had a fear of heights. He’d say, ‘You’re not 10,000 feet up without a net. Just jump!’ And I loved it. You couldn’t keep me out of that damned tree.
Needham worked with Reynolds in films like Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run, and Stroker Ace. Later in his career, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards and a Governors Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Needham passed away in October 2013 at the age of 82.
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