Alfie Wise, frequent onscreen partner and assistant to Burt Reynolds, dead at 82

Alfie Wise, who often appeared in films and TV shows with his friend Burt Reynolds, has died. He reportedly died July 22 of natural causes at the Thomas H. Corey VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., his longtime fiancée Stephanie Bliss told the Hollywood Reporter. He was 82.

Wise and Reynolds shared the screen in film and TV, including some of Reynolds’ greatest hits: the 1974 film “The Longest Yard,” the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit,” and the 1981 film “The Cannonball Run.” Wise also appeared with his friend in the CBS sitcom “Evening Shade” and ABC’s crime series “B.L Stryker.”

“His films were like an ongoing block party,” Wise told the New York Daily News after the death of Reynolds in 2018.

“You always knew you were going to have a great time with a Burt Reynolds movie,” he added.

Off screen, Wise worked as Reynolds’ assistant.

Wise graduated in 1964 from Penn State and joined the U.S. Navy, where he would produce and host shows. He later worked as an NBC page in Los Angeles. He made his acting debut in the 1972 TV movie “Call Her Mom.”

His filmography included “Midway” (1976), “Swashbuckler” (1976), and “Hot Stuff” (1979). Wise also appeared on the short-lived children’s show “Uncle Croc’s Block” with Lou Ferrigno and Charles Nelson Reilly in the titular role and the ABC series “The Fall Guy” with Lee Majors.

Wise’s last credit was 15 episodes of the CBBC show “S Club 7 in Miami.”
After retiring from acting in 2000, he worked as a real estate agent in Juniper, Fla.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.