Universal Once Fired Clint Eastwood & Burt Reynolds For The Weirdest Reasons

Believe it or not, back when Clint Eastwood convinced Burt Reynolds to star in one of his worst Westerns, the two were actually friends. It seems there was some confusion over Eastwood's suggestion that Reynolds star in a Spaghetti Western of the type that had made him a big name. This resulted in a regrettable role for Reynolds as a Native American in "Navajo Joe," a movie that the actor openly criticized for the remainder of his life. Despite all this, Eastwood and Reynolds had been friends prior to "Navajo Joe" and remained friends in the years that came after, even working together on an equally unfortunate film that brought the pair together at the height of their powers yet failed to live up to such a billing.

In 1984, Eastwood and Reynolds starred in "City Heat," a forgotten gangster movie that Roger Ebert absolutely hated, enough so as to label it a "travesty." The film has lived in infamy ever since, bearing a pitiful 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and generally being remembered as one of the biggest missteps in both actors' careers. But "City Heat" couldn't derail Eastwood or Reynolds' careers, and they remained two of the biggest box office draws in the world. As time went on, the former transitioned from legendary action hero to celebrated director. Meanwhile, the latter didn't quite reach the same artistic heights, even though he remains a legend in his own right.

Who'd have thought that any of this was possible back in the 1950s, when both actors were fired by Universal? Well, the reasons why they were fired are, to be sure, ridiculous. But if Reynolds' recollection of how they were let go is accurate, the reasons also sort of speak to the way in which these two screen icons' careers diverged as the years went by.

Back in the 1950s, both Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds signed contracts with Universal Pictures. As the New York Times put it in a 1966 piece, Reynolds "signed a seven-year contract with Universal and was put through his paces frolicking with starlets for the fan magazines." But it seems he didn't quite live up to the studio's expectations in that regard as, according to the actor, he was eventually let go — along with Eastwood.

In a 2000 interview with Larry King, Reynolds recalled how he'd signed a contract with Universal in 1958 before being fired the following year, which was the same time that Eastwood was let go from the studio. As Reynolds remembered it:

"I always tell the story that we were fired the same day, but we weren't. We were fired the same year. And he was fired because his Adam's apple stuck out too far. He talked too slow. And he had a chipped tooth and he wouldn't get it fixed. And I said, 'Why are you firing me?' And they said, 'You can't act.'"

In a later Conan interview, Reynolds did indeed claim that he and Eastwood were actually fired on the same day. "We're walking to his truck, you know, afterwards," he recalled, "and I said, 'You know you're in a hell of a lot of trouble,' and he said, 'Why?' and I said, 'I can learn to act, you'll never get rid of that Adam's apple.'"

Whether Reynolds' anecdote is accurate or embellished for the sake of a good story remains unclear. But if Universal really did let him go for not being able to act, while Eastwood was cut for cosmetic reasons, it was an early indication of how the pair's careers would progress. Now, nobody doubts that Eastwood can act. Reynolds, who passed away in 2018, never quite enjoyed the same unwavering esteem, but he clearly had a good sense of humor about it.