Hal Needham dies at 82; legendary Hollywood stuntman turned director

[OmahaBlueDog]

Source: LA Times

Stuntman and director Hal Needham spoke with a down-home twang but was as Hollywood as air kisses and car chases — and had the scars to prove it.

In a career that spanned hundreds of TV episodes and feature films, he tumbled down cliffs, leaped off boulders, jumped from planes, tottered off balconies and plummeted from towers. He was rattled in blasts, was blistered in fires and broke 56 bones — including his back, twice.

But he maintained a sunny outlook, even after plunging into the unknown territory of film directing.

"I can go back and fall on my head any time," he told an interviewer in 1979.

Needham, 82, a legendary Hollywood stuntman before becoming the director of frothy, adrenaline-pumped films including "Smokey and the Bandit" and "The Cannonball Run," died Friday in Los Angeles, said a family spokesman, who declined to give the cause of death.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-hal-needham-20131026,0,673683.story?track=rss#axzz2inSntcS6

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Future generations will not understand why Jerry Reed and Burt Reynolds had to go to Texarkana to get Coors beer. Why Coors? ..and why not just go to Wal Mart?

I understand, and I understand excactly why Sally Field had to be involved in this caper.

RIP Hal, and give our regards to Jackie Gleason and Jerry Reed. God might just be in the mood for a multi-state car chase film!

[rrneck]

1. He made some of the best bad movies ever. nt

[Skittles]

2. I was gonna say

not always the best quality but damned entertaining

[sendero]

4. You got here first.

.... I was going to say basically the same thing. In the world of movies, these qualify as "guilty pleasures" as few do. I might hide the dvd in my bottom drawer, but I will watch it from time to time because it does what a movie is supposed to do, it makes you care about the characters.

[Skittles]

8. sometimes I don't care if the movie is cheap and there's no real "message"

sometimes I just wanna get lost in another world for a couple of hours, ya know?

[Cooley Hurd]

3. A larger than life fella!

Cross gent... oh hell, you don't need to cross gently, Hal. You can handle any tumble!!

[Kingofalldems]

5. RIP Mr. Needham

[reddread]

6. classic entertainment

huge Jerry Reed fan here.
those were some all time great car chase films.
top of the heap.

[Jack from Charlotte]

7. Did the stunts for Paladin... Have Gun- Will Travel.....

and appears in many of the 225 episodes. Frequently had speaking parts including one in which he was the main character.....(Episodes #177, "Dream Girl," Feb 10, 1962).

Did the stand in stunts for Richard Boone.

Wow. Hate to hear of his death as I'm in the process of watching all 225 Have Gun episodes. He was a huge part of that series. I've frequently done stop action and slo-mo on some of his incredible jumps and stunts.

Greatly sorry to hear this.