Burt did lose a lot of weight in the ’80s, but it was not due to him having contracted AIDS. Actually, it was because he was addicted to prescription pain killers, following a jaw injury, as Burt discusses in his memoir. It was a truly difficult time in his life, but Burt worked through it the only way he knew how to. “I just kept working,” he said, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I thought the only way to make these rumors go away is to keep working… it really was an awful period.”
Also in the memoir, Burt looks back on his relationship with two-time Oscar winner, Sally, 69, whom he calls “the love of my life.” Burt admits that, today, he still thinks about her. “I do miss her,” he said. “I think she was one of the most underrated actresses, you know? She was the best actress I ever worked with.” The former couple starred together in the 1977 film, Smokey and the Bandit.
Are you going to check out Burt’s new memoir?
— Casey Mink