Even before Burt Reynolds met Sally Field, he felt a strong attraction to her.
Field and Reynolds began a five-year relationship and worked on three additional movies together.
Decades after they split in the 1980s, Reynolds still maintained affection for Field.
“That sense of loss never goes away.”
He held out hope for an opportunity to have a chat with her one more time.
Sadly, Reynolds died in 2018 without reconnecting with his past love.
Even so, Field believed he viewed their relationship through rose-colored glasses because she was unattainable.
She started censoring herself, avoiding topics like past relationships or childhood struggles.
During their relationship, Reynolds indicated to Field that he wanted to marry her and have kids together.
However, Field declined his repeated offers of marriage.
In her memoir, Field noted that some of these proposals were uncomfortable.
Field thanked him, but she didn’t say yes.
She also noted neither one of them was ready to discuss their relationship problems.
She was also comforted that Reynolds wouldn’t read her memoir since he died shortly before it was published.
“I did not want to hurt him any further,” Field explained to The New York Times.
Field, however, recalled a different situation.
According to her memoir, Reynolds had negative emotions about the project from the start.
She claimed that after he insisted on reading the script, he was dismissive of the story.
Reynolds then went further and insulted the lead role by calling Norma a whore.
For Field, this conflict proved to be a turning point in their relationship.
She was determined to take the role.
While he was incredulous that Field would garner any awards, she won Best Actress at the 1979 festival.
