Burt Reynolds as Alec Baldwin's Stunt Double? Inside the Real Story
Burt Reynolds launched his Hollywood career as a stuntman before becoming a 70s and 80s icon—but the rumor he ever doubled for Alec Baldwin is pure fiction.
File this under Hollywood trivia that refuses to die: did Burt Reynolds ever strap on a wig and double for Alec Baldwin? Short answer: no. Longer answer: absolutely not, and the timelines make that clear.
Why the rumor does not add up
Reynolds did get his start as a stuntman and then became one of the biggest movie stars of the 70s and 80s. Baldwin was born in 1958 and his career didn’t really pop until the 80s. By that point, Reynolds was already headlining movies like 'Heat' (the 1986 Reynolds one, not the Pacino/De Niro one) and 'Rent-a-Cop'. There is zero credible evidence that Reynolds ever doubled Baldwin, and it makes no sense that a top-billed star would be moonlighting as another actor’s stunt guy at that stage of his career. Where the rumor started is anyone’s guess, but it’s not real.
Reynolds before the mustache was a thing
Before he was insisting on doing his own falls, Reynolds literally got paid to be thrown through things. His first professional stunt job was on the TV show 'Frontiers of Faith', which ran from 1952 to 1970. He told the story of hanging around with a bunch of actors when a producer mentioned they needed a guy tossed through a window. Reynolds volunteered, went through the glass, walked away 220 dollars richer, and decided this was a pretty great way to make rent. After that, whenever that producer needed someone hurled through a window or down a staircase, Reynolds got the call.
Decades later, in 2015, the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures honored him with the Richard "Diamond" Farnsworth Award. Well earned.
He loved doing his own stunts... maybe a little too much
Reynolds was all about doing the dangerous stuff himself. The waterfall plunge in 'Deliverance' (1972) is still a jaw-dropper; he did it, and he paid for it with a wrecked tailbone. He was even in the Superman conversations at one point, because of course he was.
Enter Hal Needham, and the beginning of a legendary duo
There was a time, early on, when producers brought in a stunt double for Reynolds on the series 'Riverboat'. The double was Hal Needham, who would go on to become a stunt icon and one of Reynolds’s closest collaborators. Reynolds wasn’t thrilled at first and basically told Needham he didn’t need him. Needham’s response is a classic:
"If you knew how many actors I’ve taken to the hospital that said that to me. But I want to watch you do this."
Reynolds did the stunt, impressed Needham, and asked what else he could learn. Needham invited him over, where he had a rope net in the backyard and a tall tree. The two started trying to one-up each other with flips and jumps, and Needham helped Reynolds get over his fear of heights with a very simple note: you’re not miles up without a net, just jump. That backyard turned into a training ground and a friendship that lasted for decades.
The Reynolds-Needham run, and how it ended
- They teamed up on 'Smokey and the Bandit', 'Hooper', 'The Cannonball Run', and 'Stroker Ace', among others.
- Needham was later honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards and a Governors Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
- He passed away in October 2013 at the age of 82.
Bottom line
Burt Reynolds did a ton of his own stunts, helped redefine how stars worked with stunt teams, and partnered with one of the best to ever do it. What he did not do is double for Alec Baldwin. The math, the career arcs, and the receipts all say the same thing: that rumor’s a stunt that never happened.