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Veteran character actor Eddie Driscoll, who appeared on shows such as Entourage, Mad Men, Sex and the City, and This Is Us, has died. He was 60. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the passing was confirmed by actor Jimmy Palumbo, who said Driscoll died from a saddle pulmonary embolism after suffering from stomach cancer for several months. Born on September 26, 1963, in New York, Driscoll studied acting at the University of Miami and enrolled in an apprenticeship program at the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film & Theatre in North Palm Beach, Florida. He would go on to appear in several projects with Reynolds, including the 1989 films Physical Evidence and Breaking In and the 1990s television shows B.L. Stryker and Evening Shade. Driscoll appeared in bit parts in countless hit TV programs over the years, including Days of Our Lives, The King of Queens, 24, Heroes, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, Desperate Housewives,...

Mark Wahlberg isn’t the only “Boogie Nights” star saddened by the death of Burt Reynolds. Julianne Moore, who also acted alongside the actor in his Oscar-nominated role, tells Variety, “I loved Burt. I loved him” in a new Variety interview occasioned by the Tiff premiere of her new film “Gloria Bell.”

“Not only did I work with him in ‘Boogie Nights’ but he had a TV show in the ‘80s called ‘B.L. Stryker.’ I got a job on it and it was shot in Jupiter, Florida and I came down and shot for two weeks. He was so gracious and so lovely,” the actress says.

Reynolds died on Thursday at age 82. In addition to “Boogie Nights,” he was best known for such films as “Deliverance” and “The Longest Yard.”

“All those years later when we worked on ‘Boogie Nights,’ I went and knocked on his door was like, ‘Hey,...

Julianne Moore’s working relationship with Burt Reynolds dates back to the 1980s.

Although most fans associate the two with Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 drama “Boogie Nights,” they actually first worked together on the detective drama “B.L. Stryker.”

“I loved Burt. I loved him,” Moore said while promoting “Gloria Bell” at the Variety Studio presented by At&T at the Toronto Film Festival. “Not only did I work with him in ‘Boogie Nights,’ but he had a TV show in the ‘80s called ‘B.L. Stryker.’ I got a job on it and it was shot in Jupiter, Fla., and I came down and shot for two weeks. He was so gracious and so lovely.”

And Reynolds never forgot Moore. “All those years later when we worked on ‘Boogie Nights,’ I went and knocked on his door and was like, ‘Hey, Burt, do you remember me?’ And he was like, ‘Yes, come in,...

Burt Reynolds, a staple of machismo-fueled, good ol’ boy movies from the 1970s and 1980s and an Emmy winner for his role on TV’s Evening Shade, died of a heart attack on Thursday. He was 82.

Reynolds’ long film resume includes free-wheeling larks such as Smokey and the Bandit and Stroker Ace, the comedies Semi-Tough and Cannonball Run, and more serious fare such as Deliverance (which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture), Starting Over, Hustle and The Longest Yard.

In 1998, Reynolds received his first Academy Award nod, for a supporting role in Boogie Nights that also earned him a Golden Globe.

Burt Reynolds, who has starred in films like “The Longest Yard,” “Boogie Nights” and “Deliverance,” died of cardiac arrest on Thursday. He was 82.

Reynolds received an Oscar nomination for his role in 1997’s “Boogie Nights,” and also had major roles in movies like 1982’s “Best Friends,” 1977’s “Smokey and the Bandit” and “The Man Who Loved Women” (1983).

He was filming Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” before his death.

Also Read: Burt Reynolds ‘Deeply Saddened’ by Death of “Great Friend’ Jim Nabors

Reynolds was born in 1936 in Lansing, Michigan. Although initially a football player, but quickly became interested in a career in theater. He was cast in “Tea and Sympathy” at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and debuted on Broadway with “Look, We’ve Come Through.”

He also gained prominence by starring in the TV series “Gunsmoke” and made his film debut with 1961’s “Angel Baby.

Burt Reynolds, one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men during the ’70s and early ’80s in such films as “Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit, “The Longest Yard” and “Semi-Tough,” has died. His rep confirmed that he died Thursday in Jupiter, Fla. He was 82.

He later earned an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to skin flicks, “Boogie Nights.” He had been set to appear in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Hollywood.”

Reynolds’ appeal lay in his post-modern macho posture undercut by a wry self-awareness, which he used to good effect in comedies as well as action films. For a period during the ’70s he was the nation’s top box office draw. But after one too many bad movies, his popularity waned. He returned to television, where he’d gotten his start, mostly in Westerns, and produced his own sitcom, “Evening Shade,” which brought him an Emmy.

Burt Reynolds has seen both sides of America, and he stands at the center of a great divide. Shortly before Hillary Clinton announced her second presidential campaign, Reynolds joined her and Bill for a high school football game in Arkansas. The actor has deep roots in the state, where he’d shot the early ’90s show “Evening Shade” and the 1973 rural action drama “White Lightning.” In the audience with the Clintons, Reynolds found himself witnessing a very different country from the fast-paced world of entertainment figures and political pundits.

“Nobody paid much attention to us,” said Reynolds, 80, during a recent conversation in Key West, Florida. “It was a hell of a lot of fun. I love Bill. Mrs. Clinton and I had a lot of laughs. I had never that experience any place, before or since.” The crowd was respectful but ambivalent about the famous faces in the room. “It was important to them,...

Hollywood stuntman and film director who scored huge successes with Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run

Upset by the critical response to his work, the stuntman turned film director Hal Needham, who has died aged 82, took out advertisements in Variety and other trade papers. They featured quotes from negative reviews for his movies including Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Cannonball Run (1981), alongside a wheelbarrow overflowing with dollar bills.

Needham made a point. His rumbustious 1977 directorial debut had grossed over $100m – an enormous return on its modest budget. He was still milking that particular creation some 20 years later, producing and directing a series of television movies, including Bandit Goes Country and Beauty and the Bandit.

These and other films, many of which starred Burt Reynolds, were seen by an audience of hundreds of millions worldwide, yet few reference books acknowledged his 45-year-long career — an unjustified omission, if only...

Maureen Stapleton, the Oscar-winning actress who was revered for her roles on the stage and screen, passed away today in Lenox, Massachusetts, from chronic pulmonary disease. She was 80. Stapleton's matronly appearance belied a fiery emotional core, one she used to devastating effect in her most recognized dramatic roles. She began her career in the theater, attending the Herbert Berghof Acting School, then the Actor's Studio which she parlayed into her Broadway debut in nothing less than Burgess Meredith's 1946 production of "The Playboy of the Western World." She appeared in numerous stage productions including Lillian Hellman's "Toys in the Attic," and several Tennessee Williams efforts, including "The Rose Tattoo," for which she won her first Tony in 1951 for her role as Serafina Delle Rose. Her first film role was no less auspicious and presaged a storied career on film. She received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination in 1958 for her part in Lonelyhearts, opposite another Broadway lion, Montgomery Clift. She was nominated again for Best Supporting Actress in 1971 for her role as the unsuspecting wife of the despondent bomber in Airport and again in 1978 for her role as Pearl in Woody Allen's first "serious" film, the dour Interiors. She finally won the Oscar for her role as the brusque, radical anarchist Emma Goldman in Warren Beatty's Reds. Her second Tony was awarded to her for her part in Neil Simon's "The Gingerbread Lady" in 1971. She also won notice for her television roles, including winning the Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Lead for Among the Paths to Eden and nominations for All the King's Men, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, The Gathering, B.L. Styker, Miss Rose White and Road to Avonlea. Stapleton was also notable in Bye, Bye, Birdie, Plaza Suite (with another long-time collaborator, Neil Simon), and Cocoon. She is survived by her son, Daniel Allentuck, a daughter, Katharine Bambery, and a brother, Jack Stapleton.