Burt Reynolds began his acting career in TV westerns before his breakout film performance in Deliverance. His other leading roles include films such as The Longest Yard, Hustle, Gator, Smokey and the Bandit, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Striptease, and Boogie Nights, for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Reynolds also received an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his starring role on the popular sitcom Evening Shade. He died at the age of eighty-two in 2018.

Jon Winokur is the author of two dozen nonfiction books, including Advice to Writers, The Big Book of Irony, and the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Garner Files, co-authored with James Garner. He lives in Los Angeles.