Burt Reynolds, Quinton Aaron honored at film fest
Tags: Al Zucaro, Burt Aaronson, Burt Reynolds, George Elsmore, Jose Lambiet's Page2Live, Meredith Scott Lynn, Palm Beach, Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners, Palm Beach International Film Festival, Quinton Aaron, Randi Emerman, Silver Splash, Suzanne Niedland, The Omphoy, Veronica De Laurentiis, Yvonne Boice
| Saturday 24 April 2010 5:28 pm
On a week when the buzz centered around the rumored demise of the 15-year-old Palm Beach International Film Festival, the spotlight turned to Hobe Sound resident Burt Reynolds, the veteran of 150 movies and TV shows, and 25-year-old showbiz newbie Quinton Aaron.
Aaron and Reynolds, on the red carpet Friday night (Click on the Mike Jachles photo for the gallery)
So far, the latter’s name has appeared on the credits of two films. One, The Blind Side, got co-star Sandra Bullock her first Oscar. Reynolds, meanwhile, appeared on American classics such as Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit and Boogie Nights.
The unlikely duo was feted by about 200 guests at the 15th Annual Palm Beach International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Splash party Friday night at Palm Beach’s new Omphoy Resort.
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The get-together was a pale stand-in for the canceled, usually lavish black-tie at the Boca Raton Resort. But then, the festival’s budget (a combination of private and local government money) has shrunk by two third since it reached $1 million a few years back. At the time, it lured the likes of Michael Jackson, Adrien Brody weeks after he won his Oscar for The Pianist, Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Hopkins.
Still, don’t stick a fork in the ole’ festival just yet!
“The festival is here today, it’ll be here after I’m gone and it’ll be here for a long time,” said a defiant Burt Aaronson, the county commissioner who founded the event and poured millions in tax dollars into it. “The economy has hurt us. But we’re not going anywhere.”
The 74-year-old Reynolds, meanwhile, looked slightly more frail than in the past. He’s still recovering from a February heart bypass surgery. He was given a lifetime achievement award.
Reynolds, Friday at the film festival (Click on the Mike Jachles photo for the gallery)
With a hint of emotion in his voice, he said that considering the area his home has been one of the proudest things in his life.
“This county! This area! Whenever I was feeling a little blue,” he told the audience, “I’d jump on an airplane and came home.”
By the way, at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the city of West Palm Beach will make it official: A street adjacent to the Dreyfoos School of the Arts will be renamed Burt Reynolds Road. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
He needs to do another movie, action/thriller/drama…bet he’s still got it after all these years…
Hi Jose- Great post about Burt,film festival,etc.I am planning to to meet some friends at o-bar at the hotel-but is there a better venue in palm beach tonight to enjoy.thanks for any advice-
rob
I love Burt Reynolds …He is a great Actor, Artist, and
he gives back which is great..We love you here in Lake Worth,Palm Beach, Jupiter and all of Florida ..Thanks for making us your home Burt and Congrats on all you have done, and will do. Luv ya in florida….
Time’s a B.tch.
Nice to see that Burt is mellowing with age. He hasn’t always been this nice a guy. Just ask anyone who had business dealings with him in his younger days.
Its good to see Burt Reynolds looking well for his age.
Maybe Burt can do another movie about West Palm Beach?
You’ll find a great story here
http://wwww.jfkmurdersolved.com/tippit.htm
Theres a “KKK” and or “Skull & Bones” Assassin ring
operating for over 40 years in West Palm Beach, I was only a child when they began…
A really happy ending to the WPB Assassin story is that the Irish and USA Community finally gets some justice for the killing of President Joh F Kennedy! those assassins in name and the ones who ordered them to kill our president need to stop sunning themselves and playing golf everyday and finally get punished and get some jail-time no matter how elderly or senile they are now! And the politicians like ARlen Spector and Hilary Clinron who were accessories after the fact with their LIES SIngle Biullet theory and Warren Commish need to be punished too!
Burt Reynolds had his quintuple heart bypass in mid March (not February) - only 2 months ago. It is amazing what he gave of himself on Friday - starting with Student Showcase of Films at 9am and ending the day at 11:30pm when he left the Palm Beach Omphoy event. Enough to make a healthy 30 year old exhausted! He is known for his amazing work ethic and standing by his commitments.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is well overdue for him in PB County! Congratulations Burt!
Rolling out Burt Reynolds is a properly ironic event to end the Film Festival, for this year and for good. He needs to retire as does the Festival. If not for the free cruises Yvonne Boice gave County Commissioner Burt Aronsolotti, this festival would have been dead five years ago. Instead our tax dollars are continuing to fund this cultural wasteland. Its only purpose is to provide Aronsolotti an opportunity to put on a tux and rub elbows with Hollywood has-beens and never-beens.
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