Burt Reynolds Calls Sally Field the 'Love of My Life'

Reynolds never got over his love for his former flame.

ByABC News
November 5, 2015, 4:57 PM

— -- It's been more than 30 years since Burt Reynolds and Sally Field broke up, but Reynolds still isn't over her.

Calling Field the "love of my life," Reynolds, now 79, confessed to Vanity Fair that "I miss her terribly."

"Even now, it’s hard on me. I don’t know why I was so stupid," he continued. "Men are like that, you know. You find the perfect person, and then you do everything you can to screw it up."

Reynolds and Field, 68, were on-and-off for five years starting in the late 1970s, during which time they co-starred in a slew of films, including "Smokey and the Bandit," "Smokey and the Bandit II," "The End" and "Hooper."

He blames his wandering eye for destroying his relationship with Field.

"There isn’t anything, no matter how good it is, or how good it tastes, or how much fun it is, where too much is good for you," he told Vanity Fair. "It can destroy you. And you have to learn. It’s a hard lesson. But you have to learn to back off and do as good as you can in your chosen profession. And don’t screw it up. And the best way to screw it up is having too much of a good thing."

These days, following a series of financial missteps and Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Reynolds is learning to live a simpler life. He's been downsizing, which includes selling his beloved Palm Beach estate and auctioning off his Hollywood memorabilia.

"I’ve lost more money than is possible because I just haven’t watched it," he said. "I’ve still done well in terms of owning property and things like that. But I haven’t been somebody who’s been smart about his money."

Still, he added, "I’m not bankrupt, by any means. I’m not even worried about it."