United Kingdom, May 8 -- Sally Field has alleged the late Burt Reynolds tried to "control" her.

The 79-year-old actress had a five-year turbulent relationship with the actor after they met on the set of 1977's Smokey and the Bandit, and she has recalled how the beginning of the end of their romance came after Sally refused to give into "frightening" Burt's insistence she turn down a role in 1979's Norma Rae.

She told People magazine: "It was the beginning of me pulling away when he didn't want me to do Norma Rae, called her a whore, and it was because she had some sexual past. He threw the script at me.

"He wanted to control me, and because I was standing up, he said, 'Boy, you're letting this get the better of you.' And I said, 'This ...