Men enjoyed viewing the female form in all its splendor and she wanted the same prerogative for women and the male physique.Īfter Burt had a chance to mull over Helen's offer, he was both flattered and intrigued. She believed that women had the same "visual appetites" as men. Helen Gurley Brown was both a revolutionary and a visionary. And although by 1972 nude women in magazines were as common as Frisbees, Slinkys, or McDonald's hamburgers, no man had ever appeared nude in a magazine before. Helen Gurley Brown remembered Burt Reynolds from that night: "He was handsome, humorous, wonderful body, frisky." Female nude centerfolds had been around since the early 1950's, when Hugh Hefner's first issue of Playboy featured the immortal Marilyn Monroe in her legendary nude calendar photo. Helen, honing in like a shark, answered Burt's question: "Because you're the only one who could do it with a twinkle in your eye." He finally managed to get out a simple question: "Why?" Intrigued by Burt's flippancy, during the commercial break, Helen asked him point-blank: "How would you like to be the nude centerfold in Cosmopolitan?" The very glib and verbose Burt was taken aback and, very un-customarily, was speechless for a moment. On the show, he and Helen started bantering back and forth.Īt one point, Burt sarcastically quipped that "Men only read Playboy magazine for the articles." During their semi-heated conversation, Helen asked Burt: "Are you a sexist?" Burt's icy response: "I bet in ten years that word will be very tired and so dated that you'll sound like a (expletive deleted) to ask." Appearing with him on the show was Helen Gurley Brown, editor of the popular women's magazine Cosmopolitan and author of the best-selling book Sex and the Single Girl. One night early in 1972, after he had finished filming Deliverance and was awaiting its release, he was hosting The Tonight Show. Because he was so naturally funny and quick on his feet, Burt became the first non-comedian Johnny Carson ever asked to host The Tonight Show in his absence. Unlike many good-looking actors, Burt displayed a quick wit and a very keen sense of humor.
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He knew he had done his finest acting to date in Deliverance.īurt Reynolds was also by this time gaining a reputation as "a personality." He enjoyed making the rounds of the TV talk shows, especially The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Burt was heavily counting on this major release (co-starring Academy Award nominee Jon Voight) to finally put him over into "grade A" films and roles. He had just wrapped on the film version of James Dickey's powerful novel Deliverance.
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Burt claims he was "the first actor in history to be in a cancelled TV series on each of the three networks" (CBS, ABC and NBC).īut the sweet smell of success seemed to finally be wafting Burt's way.
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Since then, he had appeared in several mediocre to bad films (usually typecast as a Native American) and had either starred or had recurring roles in three TV series- Gunsmoke, Dan August and Hawk. Now 36, Burt had been an actor since the late 1950's. In 1972, after a decade and a half in the business, Burt Reynolds was finally on the brink of stardom. "You may or may not ever see a male nude centerfold in Cosmopolitan, but I hope you do." Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook. Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen.