Fort lauderdale in the 1980s (Jupiter, Madison: law, legal, beaches)

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Rumann Koch

Sad news that Burt Reynolds died today at age 82.

Burt Reynolds was the biggest box office star in the world in the Seventies, but never took himself seriously. He always looked like he was genuinely having a great time on screen with the other actors, many of whom were his real-life friends, and provided great entertainment. Back in the 80s I met him at a casting for the movie 'Stick' at Shooters here in Ft Lauderdale, and he was very nice to everyone, giving no airs. When he wasn't making films he was making made a great impact here in Florida, opening a theater training institute, and also owned Burt & Jacks restaurant in Port Everglades for years until it was closed due to port security after 9/11. He has lived here in Florida his entire adult life, and I have never read anything bad about him. Eventually he was driven to financial ruin due to two horrible divorces. RIP Burt, and thanks for all the laughs!

That's a big Ten Four Bandit, Over and Out

Rumann, I chose to rep this post, but I wish I could have repped every single one of your posts. You really filled in some gaps for me.

I was just talking about Burt Reynolds with one of my friends who also lived in South Florida back in the day, recalling how there was a family in the neighborhood where I used to live where one of the daughters dated Reynolds for a time. I guess the daughter looked like a younger version of Sally Fields and that was the attraction. I forget how she met him, the mother told me the story, but I've forgotten. She said the same as you, he was nice and gracious with no airs. This was a regular working class family, too, not celebrities or anything like that. Very decent people, salt of the earth. The relationship didn't last, as I recall he was still carrying a torch for Fields, or so it was said.

Anyway, thanks for all the great information.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by floridarebel

Pretty certain Ft. Lauderdale was a wild place in the 80s.

Like I said way earlier in this thread, Ft. Lauderdale basically invented the 1980s.

[Rumann Koch]

Originally Posted by kmarc

I was just talking about Burt Reynolds with one of my friends who also lived in South Florida back in the day, recalling how there was a family in the neighborhood where I used to live where one of the daughters dated Reynolds for a time. I guess the daughter looked like a younger version of Sally Fields and that was the attraction. I forget how she met him, the mother told me the story, but I've forgotten. She said the same as you, he was nice and gracious with no airs. This was a regular working class family, too, not celebrities or anything like that. Very decent people, salt of the earth. The relationship didn't last, as I recall he was still carrying a torch for Fields, or so it was said.

Not sure which girlfriend you are talking about (pick a number!), if she was from FTL or Palm Beach County, but I hope that relationship ended better than many of his others.

Poor Burt: he really seemed to get pulled through the wringer, especially beginning after he reached mid-life, by the women he had long relationships with. There was one, much younger, a former cocktail waitress from PB, with whom he had a very LT live-in relationship, who tried to blackmail him for millions.

[Rumann Koch]

Originally Posted by kmarc

Like I said way earlier in this thread, Ft. Lauderdale basically invented the 1980s.

I used to travel extensively to many large cities throughout the US, on business, during the 1980s, and experienced their nightlife.

In my opinion, only New York City and Chicago, and maybe isolated parts of LA came close to the excitement, quality and quantity of the entertainment we had available here. But they didn't have the year-round sun, sandy beaches, and hot bods and uninhibited behavior on display that we had.

If someone has another choice for a city that competed with Fort Liquordale in the 1980s, please respond with your choice and detail reasons why.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by Rumann Koch

I used to travel extensively to many large cities throughout the US, on business, during the 1980s, and experienced their nightlife.

In my opinion, only New York City and Chicago, and maybe isolated parts of LA came close to the excitement, quality and quantity of the entertainment we had available here. But they didn't have the year-round sun, sandy beaches, and hot bods and uninhibited behavior on display that we had.

If someone has another choice for a city that competed with Fort Liquordale in the 1980s, please respond with your choice and detail reasons why.

How come it all fizzed out?

[floridarebel]

Originally Posted by ruski

How come it all fizzed out?

Crime rates and drug usage was high starting in the 70s and peaked into the 90s. Cities have been trying to clean up their acts since then. Things that were allowed then aren’t tolerated anymore. You had boomers and xers who were wild youths change things around as they enter midlife and elderhood. I’ve been told downtown areas all around the country were bleak places until recent. The younger generation is less wild and stay at home chilling on Netflix versus going out.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Rumann Koch

Not sure which girlfriend you are talking about (pick a number!), if she was from FTL or Palm Beach County, but I hope that relationship ended better than many of his others.

Poor Burt: he really seemed to get pulled through the wringer, especially beginning after he reached mid-life, by the women he had long relationships with. There was one, much younger, a former cocktail waitress from PB, with whom he had a very LT live-in relationship, who tried to blackmail him for millions.

She was from Ft. Lauderdale, Riverland area. I never met her, just other members of the family, at the time (mid 1980s) she had moved out and I think was pursuing a career in nursing. As I recall, the relationship ended because it was understood Reynolds was on the rebound from Sally Fields. Short lived, whirlwind type of thing and rather awkward, at least according to the mother, although she said Reynolds was very respectful. So it just ended quietly. Funny thing is, when you think about it, Reynolds was basically from the same type of background the family was, until he became a star. Middle class Floridian.

Sometimes people forget that, during the 1980s, there was a whole other Ft. Lauderdale besides the beaches and the glitz and nightlife. Working class families in neighborhoods like Riverland who rarely interacted with all the glitz and glamour.

[Rumann Koch]

Originally Posted by kmarc

Sometimes people forget that, during the 1980s, there was a whole other Ft. Lauderdale besides the beaches and the glitz and nightlife. Working class families in neighborhoods like Riverland who rarely interacted with all the glitz and glamour.

I was exactly that - a young man from a working family, yet thrown into the glitz of a decadent FTL.

My mom worked at the most popular restaurant on ELO, and came home with stories about serving all the power players in FTL at the time. She got me a job at the busiest gas station on ELO where I worked all during high school where I met, and became friendly with, EVERYONE that was anyone in FTL at the time.

[Rumann Koch]

Originally Posted by kmarc

She was from Ft. Lauderdale, Riverland area.

Don't recall anything about that. She may have been from FTL, but they may have been doing all their cavorting and canoodling up in PB.

I got around, a lot, in the mid-80s, and I never saw or heard about Burt in FTL with the one exception I mentioned. I think he was really most comfortable around his ranch up in Jupiter (at that time-he later moved to his water-front home on the Intracoastal). People up there probably left him alone, like he wanted. Unlike what he would have encountered down here in FTL. However, I am sure he visited his restaurant often, but that was a straight shot off I-95 to Port Everglades at the time (before the 9/11 restrictions), so no need to deal with all the riffraff.

[Rumann Koch]

Originally Posted by ruski

How come it all fizzed out?

Basically the residents and business owners, especially those along A1A, got sick and tired of dealing with the drunken antics of the college students (and locals), and after they left, spending millions of dollars repairing the damages the Spring Breakers caused during their brief annual pilgrimage.

It all changed after the craziest Spring Break year of them all - 1984, during which there were several deaths from the careless actions of drunken college students. Thereafter, police cracked down and enforced laws they previously turned a blind eye to: public drunkenness, open containers, disorderly conduct, indecency, etc.

The 'City Fathers' decided to change the image of the City, and cater to more affluent year-round tourist dollars of upscale families. Now we have many 5-Star hotels where there used to be dilapidated motels.