Burt Reynolds, a Hollywood icon, was the top box office draw for five years from 1978, but he never received the same level of adulation and respect as Marlon Brando.

Burt turned down a significant number of high-profile and subsequently lucrative roles, including James Bond, Han Solo, Richard Gere’s role in Pretty Woman, and Jack Nicholson’s roles in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Terms of Endearment, both of which won Oscars.

Burt was formally offered the Al Pacino role in The Godfather first but one problem stood in his way.

Brando and Reynolds had a longstanding feud, which started due to Reynolds’ chiselled and brooding looks resembling that of a young Marlon Brando in his prime.

In May 1963, Burt’s character, Rocky Rhodes, in an episode of The Twilight Zone called The Bard, deliberately exploited the resemblance with Marlon Brando.

Burt’s acting in the episode was impressive, where he channelled every method acting tick and mannerism of Marlon with uncanny and hilarious accuracy.

However, the physical comparisons started bothering Burt, so much so that he grew his iconic 1970s s** symbol moustache.

In the early 1970s, Burt was still searching for his breakthrough role that would establish him as more than a pretty face.

Burt almost starred in two of the most significant films of 1972, starting with gritty Western Deliverance, which garnered his first Oscar nomination.

However, he somewhat jeopardised this honour by posing n^ked for Cosmopolitan that June.

Brando never took Burt seriously as an actor and took little pains to hide his disdain, particularly when they were cast as father and son in what would become one of the most legendary films of all time.

Burt spoke later in his life about turning down the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather.

In his memoir, But Enough About Me, Burt revealed that tensions grew so high between him and Brando that the latter threatened to quit the movie if Burt was cast.

In recent years, an outrageously vicious recording came to light of Brando on the set of Apocalypse Now in 1979.

In the recording, Brando launches into a no-holds-barred decimation of Burt.

Brando called Burt “the epitome of something that makes me want to throw up.”

“I don’t know why I hate him… He is the epitome of everything that is disgusting about the thespian.

“He worships at the temple of his own narcissism. Totally narcissistic person.”

Burt seized the opportunity to unleash another brutal impersonation of Marlon on TV the following year, this time on Saturday Night Live.

In the sketch, the host ‘Baba Wawa’ is trying to interview ‘Marlon Brando’ in bed, but all he wants to do is stuff his face with food, which was a painfully sharp commentary on the actor’s notorious weight issues.

In 2019, Burt was on the talk show circuit once more, promoting his final film, The Last Movie Star, before his untimely death.

Burt told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Next that he was not upset about how much notoriety the film had without him.