The 'Love of My Life': The Sweetest Photos of Burt Reynolds and Sally Field

Reynolds and Field met on the set of Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, fell in love and dated for five years, making three more movies together in the process.

In a revealing interview given to Vanity Fair in November 2015, the screen legend called his former costar “the love of my life.”

In his 2015 memoir, But Enough About Me, the actor revealed one of his biggest regrets was not making their relationship work.

That same year, Reynolds told PEOPLE he “really adored” Field, calling their relationship “real.”

“She’s very, very special,” he said.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2015, Reynolds further revealed his regrets.

“I do miss her. I think she was one of the most underrated actresses, you know?” he told the outlet. “She was the best actress I ever worked with.”

Together at a 1977 event.

Asked about being the one who got away, Field told EW and PEOPLE Editorial Director Jess Cagle in 2016, “Well, yeah.”

Upon Reynolds' passing at age 82 on Sept. 6, 2018, Field issued a statement to PEOPLE.

“There are times in your life that are so indelible, they never fade away. They stay alive, even forty years later. My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live. Rest, Buddy.”

At Ma Maison restaurant in L.A. in 1978.

“I miss her terribly,” Reynolds told Vanity Fair in 2015. “Even now, it’s hard on me. I don’t know why I was so stupid. Men are like that, you know. You find the perfect person, and then you do everything you can to screw it up.”

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2015, Field said she had “no response” to Reynolds’ proclamations.

“Any response I would have would belong to him,” she said.

Cozy at the Los Angeles Television Critics Awards at Bel Air Hotel in L.A. in 1977.

Field's own memoir, In Pieces, is out on Sept. 18, 2018; in it, she shares her own perspective on her relationship with Reynolds.

Together at the Golda Gala at Tower Suite in New York City in 1977.

"I loved her mother," Reynolds told PEOPLE in 2015. "She said, ‘Now I know you’re going to break her heart, but please be gentle.’ I said, ‘I don’t know how you could break somebody’s heart and be gentle, but I don’t intend to break her heart.’ You never intend to. She was great. I mean, she still is. I’m surprised she isn’t married by now, and I’m glad.”

Dining out at the Steak Pit restaurant in Los Angeles on March 15, 1978.

In his chat with Vanity Fair, Reynolds said he gave every new girlfriend a similar speech.

“It’s going to be awful sometimes, and I want to warn you,” he explained. “And they say, ‘Oh, no, you’re not. That’s not you.’ And I say, ‘It is me, and I don’t want to be that way. I hate that guy. But you’re going to see him, and I hope you don’t run away from me.’ And they haven’t.”

Reynolds added, “They always say, ‘I’ll be able to handle it.’ They can’t handle it. And they don’t understand what they’ve done. And it’s not them. It’s me.”