It Took Burt Reynolds a Lifetime to Admit He Was Born in Lansing

Yes, it's true. Burt Reynolds was indeed born in Lansing.....and lived here for a few years as a child.

After becoming a famous celebrity and wildly popular movie star, he often stated in interviews and biographies that he was born and spent his childhood in Waycross, Georgia.

Why would he do this? Why would he avoid mentioning the years he spent in Lansing?

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Let's start at the beginning:
Burt was born in Lansing on February 11, 1936 and the family lived in a small two-bedroom house at 1703 Donora Street. He spent his first five years living in that Lansing home and then the family began moving; from there they went to Lake City, Michigan and worked their way down to Florida, where Burt spent the rest of his formative years.

So where did he come up with the town of Waycross, Georgia as his hometown?

His TV and movie roles were mostly made up of good ol' down-home southern country boys; so to keep that image in his civilian life, he came up with the Georgia address and presented himself as that good-time country boy off-screen as well as on.

Seemingly accepting his birth home, Burt came to Lansing in 1987 and paid a visit to his childhood house. When his 2015 autobiography was released, he finally admitted in print he was born in Lansing.

Burt Reynolds passed away on September 6, 2018 at the age of 82.