( CNN ) -- Having fended off sheriffs , car racers , backwoods locals and more during his long career on the silver screen , actor Burt Reynolds is successfully fighting flu symptoms in a Florida hospital , his representative said Saturday . Reynolds was dehydrated and suffering from flu symptoms when he went to the hospital , then was transferred to its intensive care unit , his representative Erik Kritzer said Friday . By the next day , Reynolds ' fever had gone down as his overall condition improved , the representative said . Still , he remained in the ICU on Saturday evening . `` He is feeling better , '' Kritzer said , predicting that Reynolds would be released Monday from the hospital . The representative has declined to divulge what hospital the actor was in , saying Reynolds wanted to keep that information private . Born in southern Georgia , Reynolds and his family moved to Michigan and eventually to southeastern Florida , according to his profile on the website of the Florida Artists Hall of Fame , in which he was inducted in 1993 . At Palm Beach High School , he first made a name for himself as a football star and earned an athletic scholarship to Florida State University . When injuries derailed his promising athletic career , Reynolds turned to acting . He scored small parts in the late 1950s , then broke through a few years later in the role of Quint on the TV series `` Gunsmoke . '' His career took another leap with the 1972 release of `` Deliverance , '' in which he played an Atlanta businessman exploring the remote north Georgia wilderness with friends . `` The Longest Yard '' came out two years later , starring Reynolds as an ex-football player who lands in prison . Get the latest update on the flu . His charismatic notoriety soared through the late 1970s and into the 1980s , during which he spearheaded the `` Smokey and the Bandit '' and `` Cannonball Run '' movie franchises . While his popularity waned relatively , Reynolds continued to score movie and TV roles into the 1990s . That included on `` Evening Shade , '' where he earned an Emmy in 1991 playing Wood Newton -- once again , a former football player . His lone Oscar nomination came in 1998 , in the best supporting actor category , for his portrayal of pornographic film producer Jack Horner in the film `` Boogie Nights . '' From the archives : Heart surgery gives Reynolds 'new pipes '
Burt Reynolds is `` feeling better , '' though still in the ICU with flu symptoms , his rep says . The actor was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital on Friday after suffering from flu-like symptoms, and he has been released but remains under observation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to TMZ. Reynolds was one of America 's most popular actors in the 1970s and 1980s . He starred in `` Deliverance , '' the `` Smokey and the Bandit '' series and `` Boogie Nights ''