Person Biography:
Sonny Shroyer, born Otis Burt Shroyer Jr., is a native of Valdosta, Georgia, a small city on the Georgia-Florida border. Growing up, he was immersed in the traditions of the deep South, working in tobacco warehouses and helping his father with their fruit stand-ice cream parlor business.
Shroyer's high school football prowess earned him a scholarship to Florida State University, where he played football alongside fellow FSU player Burt Reynolds. However, an injury cut short his football career, and he went on to earn his degree in business from the University of Georgia.
Shroyer's professional career began when he posed for a photographer for the back cover of the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game program in 1961. This led to numerous print ads and commercials, as well as his first movie roles in Sixteen (1972) and Payday (1973).
His film career continued to blossom with roles in Gator (1976),The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977),Smokey and the Bandit (1977),and many more. Shroyer's popularity as a "bad guy" led to his casting as Enos, the big-grinned, bumbling deputy, in The Dukes of Hazzard (1979) television series. This role prompted Warner Brothers and CBS to spin him off into his own series, Enos (1980).
Shroyer has continued to work in television and film, appearing in notable roles such as I'll Fly Away (1991),American Gothic (1995),Love Boat: The Next Wave (1998),and Today's F.B.I. (1981). He has also made numerous benefit appearances, supporting projects such as the Los Angeles Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy, and the American Cancer Society.
In his personal life, Shroyer returns to his hometown of Valdosta, Georgia, where he lives with his wife, Paula, when not busy with public appearances and film or television commitments.
