Burt Reynolds and a mysterious death on an Arizona movie set

Burt Reynolds and a mysterious death on an Arizona movie set

This is probably one story Burt Reynolds, who died Thursday, rarely if ever told.

It began with a birthday party in a small Arizona town and ended with headlines around the world involving a dead man, a British actress and a movie studio that hoped to keep one of its biggest stars out of the sordid story.

Reynolds was never implicated in the death of 26-year-old David Whiting, the business manager and friend of British actress Sarah Miles, but he was forced to testify at the coroner’s inquest, raising eyebrows if not suspicion.

The story begins in Gila Bend in 1973, where Reynolds and Miles were filming “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.”
A birthday party in Ajo

On Feb. 10, several members of the cast headed to Ajo, 43 miles away, to celebrate Reynolds' birthday at the Pink Palomino, a party to which Whiting had not been invited, The Arizona Republic reported at the time.

A few returned to Gila Bend after midnight and continued drinking in the Travelodge motel lounge, according to The Republic.


Miles told investigators that she went to Reynolds' room for a nightcap, returning to her room before 3 a.m. There she was met by Whiting, who asked her where she’d been.

When she refused to tell him, Whiting slapped her across the face. She screamed, rousing a woman who was caring for Miles’ 6-year-old son in an adjoining room.

Miles told investigators that she asked the woman to “Get Burt,” TheRepublic reported. When Reynolds was on his way, Whiting ran out of the room. Miles spent the rest of the night in Reynolds’ room.

Soaked in blood

The tale may well have ended there, another crazy night on a movie shoot. But when Miles returned to her room in the morning she found Whiting’s body face down in a two-foot-wide pool of blood, according to TheRepublic story. His shirt and sweater were soaked with blood, he clutched an empty vial and dozens of red tablets were scattered across the floor.

Medical examiners found scratches and abrasions on his hands and body, and Miles changed her story 11 days later, telling investigators that the two had fought.

She told them of a jealous Whiting angry at her for drinking with men. There was a fight and Whiting pulled her from a bathroom and beat her, TheRepublic reported.

Reynolds and the body

When Miles found the body, she summoned Reynolds, who told investigators he removed the vial from Whiting’s hand but could not remember what he had done with it, The Republic reported.

When the death was ruled an overdose, attorneys for Whiting’s mother Newell Campbell (identified as Louise Campbell by the New York Times) asked that Miles and Reynolds testify during an inquest.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer objected to that, telling reporters at the time that the studio would suffer $25,000 in additional production costs if its stars had to testify.

In March 1973, Reynolds and Miles retold their stories at the inquest.

The official cause of Whiting’s death was declared an overdose. No reason was ever given for the amount of blood found at the scene.