Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
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Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
From Variety;
Hal Needham, longtime stuntman and director of “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run” for Burt Reynolds, died Friday in Los Angeles after a short battle with cancer, his manager confirmed. He was 82.
At one time the highest paid stuntman in the world, he was said to have broken 56 bones, broken his back twice, punctured a lung and knocked out a few teeth while working on 4500 TV episodes and 310 feature films. His work was admired by generations of filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino.
Needham, a native of Tennessee, broke into show business as a stunt double for Richard Boone on the series “Have Gun, Will Travel.” Among the hundreds of films on which he did stunts were “Stagecoach,” “How the West Was Won,” “The Bridge at Remagen,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and “Little Big Man.”
He became friends with Reynolds, who offered Needham the opportunity to direct “Smokey and the Bandit,” for which Needham had written the screenplay. Needham also directed “Hooper,” “Stroker Ace,”"Street Luge” and “Rad.”
Needham received a Governors Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences last year, where he was introduced by Tarantino, who said, “I have ripped off a lot of shots from you, and today I say, ‘Thank you very much.’” At the tribute, Needham called himself “the luckiest man alive and lucky to be alive.”
He developed numerous camera and production innovations, and won a Scientific and Engineering Oscar in 1987 for the design and development of the Shotmaker Elite camera car and crane. Among his other inventions were the air ram, air bag, car
cannon turnover, nitrogen ratchet, jerk-off ratchet and rocket power.
At one time the highest paid stuntman in the world, he was said to have broken 56 bones, broken his back twice, punctured a lung and knocked out a few teeth while working on 4500 TV episodes and 310 feature films. His work was admired by generations of filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino.
Needham, a native of Tennessee, broke into show business as a stunt double for Richard Boone on the series “Have Gun, Will Travel.” Among the hundreds of films on which he did stunts were “Stagecoach,” “How the West Was Won,” “The Bridge at Remagen,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and “Little Big Man.”
He became friends with Reynolds, who offered Needham the opportunity to direct “Smokey and the Bandit,” for which Needham had written the screenplay. Needham also directed “Hooper,” “Stroker Ace,”"Street Luge” and “Rad.”
Needham received a Governors Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences last year, where he was introduced by Tarantino, who said, “I have ripped off a lot of shots from you, and today I say, ‘Thank you very much.’” At the tribute, Needham called himself “the luckiest man alive and lucky to be alive.”
He developed numerous camera and production innovations, and won a Scientific and Engineering Oscar in 1987 for the design and development of the Shotmaker Elite camera car and crane. Among his other inventions were the air ram, air bag, car
cannon turnover, nitrogen ratchet, jerk-off ratchet and rocket power.
Wiki page
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Cannonball Run has long been a favorite of mine.
Last edited by MrSmearkase; 10-25-13 at 07:14 PM.
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
Legendary stuntman.
Directed one great movie, Smokey & the Bandit, a couple of okay ones, and a lot of junk.
Directed one great movie, Smokey & the Bandit, a couple of okay ones, and a lot of junk.
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
I always thought his Bandit follow-up Hooper was underrated. He made a lot of fun movies with fast cars.
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
I liked HOOPER a great deal.
Someone just invoked Needham a day or three ago in the "Bad Grandpa" thread when I suggested that they should have gotten an actual senior citizen to play the title character and do the actual stunts.
Someone just invoked Needham a day or three ago in the "Bad Grandpa" thread when I suggested that they should have gotten an actual senior citizen to play the title character and do the actual stunts.
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
Low budget film was second only to Star Wars receipts in 1977
Encouraged the ad-libbing from some very funny people. All those Jackie Gleason one-liners were his.
Some fantastic stunts, today they'd all be CGI'd/green screened. They really did jump the bridge, jump on to a moving truck and destroy those cars
The movie sold more Trans Ams the following year than all 8 years leading up to the movie
Down south, SATB is considered a documentary
The story certainly can't compare to the first 7 on your list, but for entertainment value, cultural impact, and ROI it blows away most of the stuff made since.
So sad to see him go but I had heard his health was failing.
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
Needham only made a couple classics that will be remembered forever, but I loved all of his work just the same because his movies were FUN, if nothing else.
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
Considering the 'age' he is to be playing, I doubt even Hal Needham would be able to get ejected through a glass window on a quarter machine ride. Knoxville himself is getting to the point where he wont be able to do these stunts in a couple years. I doubt there is ... wait ... what's Mae Young doing these days
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Re: Hal Needham 1931-2013 (Director of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run)
I remember they had a line of action figures of him when I was a kid.
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Hal Needham, stuntman, Smokey and the Bandit director has died at 82
I didn't see any threads with Needham's name in the title; mods, please delete if there's already one.
I stumbled across this on Wikipedia. Hal Needham, probably most famous for directing the first two Smokey and the Bandit movies and the two Cannonball Run movies, died October 25, 2013, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.
Needham worked as a stuntman for several years before becoming a director. I remember an action figure set featuring him, being marketed in the late 70's, after the success of Smokey ("Hal Needham, Stuntman! He's the real star of the movies!").
I stumbled across this on Wikipedia. Hal Needham, probably most famous for directing the first two Smokey and the Bandit movies and the two Cannonball Run movies, died October 25, 2013, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.
Needham worked as a stuntman for several years before becoming a director. I remember an action figure set featuring him, being marketed in the late 70's, after the success of Smokey ("Hal Needham, Stuntman! He's the real star of the movies!").
Last edited by digidoh; 11-07-13 at 11:56 AM. Reason: There WAS a thread, just not in search