HOW AND WHY DID BANDIT PAL JERRY REED DIE AND WHAT WAS THE CAUSE?”
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol’ boy actor in car chase movies like “Smokey and the Bandit,” has died of complications from emphysema at 71. Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jerry Reed was known for his roles in Burt Reynolds films. His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday. “He’s one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That’s the way I feel about him,” Moore-Reed said. Reed was a gifted guitarist who later became a songwriter, singer and actor. As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, he had a string of hits that included “Amos Moses,” “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “East Bound and Down” and “The Bird.” In the mid-1970s, he began acting in movies such as “Smokey and the Bandit” with Burt Reynolds, usually as a good ol’ boy. But he was an ornery heavy in “Gator,” directed by Reynolds, and a hateful coach in 1998’s “The Waterboy,” starring Adam Sandler. Reynolds gave him a shiny
