Will the Bank Boot Burt Reynolds From his Florida Estate?

Once upon a time mustachioed actor/beloved geriatric sex symbol Burt Reynolds was the Hollywood shit. Women swooned over his thickly haired chest and cavalier masculinity while men practiced smacking wads of gum and making stupid wisecracks in an effort to adopt that special brand of Burt Reynoldsian good ol' boy man-sexy.



He popped into the Tinseltown scene way back in the late 1950 but Mister Reynolds' professional salad days were without a doubt the 1970s and 80s when he appeared in dozens of films that include Smokey and the Bandit (I, II and III), The Cannonball Run (I and II), Stroker Ace, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with top-heavy country queen Dolly Parton. In the late eighties and well in to the 1990s he switched from the silver screen to the tee-vee screen with starring rolls on B.L. Stryker, Out of This World, and Evening Shade. In 1997 his all but moribund movie career was revived when he portrayed porn director Jack Horner in Boogie Nights, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination. Since then he's appeared in scads of movies and television programs, most of which we've never heard of let alone seen.



The last couple of years have not been particularly kind professionally, personally or financially for the one-time superstar. In 2009 he reportedly checked himself into rehab to cope with an addiction to pain killers and in 2010 he underwent a quintuple bypass surgery. Now, here we area in the dogs days of summer 2011 and word slips and slides down the celebrity real estate gossip grapevine that Mister Reynolds is more than a million dollars behind on the mortgage for Valhalla, his waterfront estate in hoity-toity Hobe Sound, FL



It seems almost inconceivable that a man with such a long and presumably lucrative career in the Show Business would find himself in the sort of financial pickle that would keep him from making his mortgage. However, according to earlier reports, a lawsuit filed last week in Martin County (FL) Mister Reynolds stopped paying his mortgage about a year ago and owes Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation (MLCC) around $1,200,000 in unmade payments. Should Mister Reynolds not make good on what he owes, MLCC could move to foreclose on the luxuriously appointed but decoratively kitch property, a maneuver that would put Mister Reynolds out on his 70-something year old keister.



Mister Reynolds has owned the property since 1980 when records show he paid $700,000 for the three-plus acre water front spread that includes a 12,538 square foot main mansion with 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. Interior spaces include a cavernous living room, formal dining room that opens to a screened in party-porch, office with antique wood-paneling and waterfalls–yes, water falls–extensively equipped fitness facility, wine cellar, saloon-like billiard/game room, and a huge home theater with wide screen, portable popcorn maker and small organ.



The secluded and deliciously private property also includes an additional 2 bedroom guest house, caretaker's cottage, heated swimming pool with adjacent gazebo, floating helipad, and private dock plenty large enough to park a big boat (and a helicopter).



Mister Reynolds attempted to sell the estate in 2005 when it was listed with an optimistic asking price of $15,000,000 that was later raised to $15,900,000. Within a year of the price increase the price tag had plummeted to $12,900,000. Eventually the price was dropped again to $10,500,000 and then again to $8,995,000. A few flicks of the well-worn beads of Your Mama's bejeweled abacus shows the last asking price–or at least the last asking price we're aware of–represents a punishing 44% reduction from the highest number put on the property.



As of this morning, Mister Reynold's Hobe Sound residence remains on the market with an asking price of $8,995,000.



listing photos: JIC Realty