Bandit Darville

"For the good old American life: For the money, for the glory, and for the fun...mostly for the money."

- Bandit, on why he and Cledus have to make their run.

Bandit "Bo" Darville was the protagonist of the movie Smokey and the Bandit and its sequel Smokey and the Bandit 2. As the "Real Bandit" he made a cameo appearance in Smokey and the Bandit 3.

Bandit was portrayed by the late Burt Reynolds.

Smokey and the Bandit
A truck driver, by 1977 Bandit was a living legend in the trucker community, known for his skills and exploits. Big Enos and Little Enos Burdette approached Bandit to make run from Atlanta, Georgia to Texarkana, Texas to grab some Coors and bring it back in 28 hours or less. Since beer was not available east of Texas that was considered bootlegging and a criminal act. The Burdettes promised Bandit $80,000 if he could pull that feat off. Bandit talked them into giving him the money to buy a Trans-Am that he could drive as a blocker for the truck.

Talking his friend Cledus Snow into making the run with him, the pair made it to Texarkana fairly trouble free. On the way back to Georgia, Bandit encountered the runaway bride Carrie, who was being chased by Buford T. Justice to bring her back to marry his son. Along with various law enforcement untis, Justice chased Bandit all the way back to Atlanta, wrecking his car in the process. By the end of the film even with his car almost undriveable Justice still chased after Bandit as he left to make a run up to Boston for some clam chowder.

Smokey and the Bandit 2
The Burdett brothers hired Bandit, Snow, and Carrie to deliver an elephant to the GOP convention in Texas. Learning that the elephant was pregnant, and after a great deal of soul searching Bandit called off delivering the elephant to the Burdetts, even though he would lose out on the money they promised him.

Smokey and the Bandit 3
Thoroughly tired of Bandit by then, the Burdetts turned to Cledus Snow to take over as Bandit to keep Sheriff Justice from making a run to their new seafood resturant. As The Real Bandit, Bo made a brief cameo at the end of the film as he encouraged Justice to keep chasing after Bandit.

Trivia

 * In the film Texarkana is noted as being 900 miles away from Atlanta. In reality, the two cities are about 620 miles apart.