Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Hal Needham

 
Director: Hal Needham
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Mar 06, 1931 in Memphis, Tennessee
  • Occupation: Director, Actor, Writer
  • Active: '60s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Western, Action
  • Career Highlights: Little Big Man, Body Slam, The Longest Yard
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Way West (1967)

Biography

Following Korean War service as a paratrooper, Hal Needham drifted into movies as a bit player. His remarkable physical dexterity and willingness to "take it" enabled him to rise up the professional ladder from stuntman to stunt coordinator to 2nd unit director. A longtime chum of Burt Reynolds (himself an ex-stuntman), Needham was given his first chance to direct a theatrical feature with Reynolds' Smokey and the Bandit (1977); the film was a huge hit, assuring Needham future assignments as both director and scriptwriter. The 1980 Reynolds vehicle Hooper was widely recognized as Reynolds and Needham's tribute to the entire fraternity of Hollywood stunters. For television, Needham directed several installments 1989 Burt Reynolds adventure series B. L. Stryker (1989) and the pilot for the syndicated adventure semi-weekly Bandit (1994); there was also a 1992 animated cartoon series titled Stunt Dawgs, wherein the central character was named Needham. Founder of the troubleshooting aggregation Stunts Unlimited (which also served as the title of a 1980 TV movie), Needham has also served as chairman for another movie-industry organization, Camera Platforms International. In addition, Hal Needham is owner of the "world's fastest car," the Budweiser Rocket, now on display at the Smithsonian Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Hal Needham
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
 This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (March 2007) Find sources: (Hal Needham – news, books, scholar)
Hal Needham
Born March 6, 1931 (1931-03-06) (age 78)
Memphis, Tennessee

Hal Needham (born March 6, 1931) is an American stuntman and noted film director.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Needham was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Edith May (née Robinson) and Howard Needham.[1] He was raised in Arkansas and Missouri. Needham was a paratrooper during the Korean War, worked as a treetopper, and was a billboard model for Viceroy Cigarettes while beginning a career in Hollywood as a motion picture stuntman.

Career

Needham's first break was as the stunt double for actor Richard Boone on the popular TV western Have Gun, Will Travel. Needham trained under John Wayne's stunt double Chuck Roberson and quickly became one of the top stuntman of the 1960s on such films as How the West Was Won, McLintock, The War Lord, and Little Big Man. He doubled regularly for Clint Walker and Burt Reynolds. Needham moved into stunt coordinating and directing second unit action, while designing and introducing air bags and other innovative equipment to the industry.

In 1971, he and fellow stuntmen Glenn Wilder, and Ronnie Rondell, created Stunts Unlimited. Needham had written a screenplay titled Smokey and the Bandit and his friend Reynolds offered him the chance to direct. The film was a huge hit, and the two followed it with the popular Hooper and The Cannonball Run.

Needham moved out of stunt work, focusing his energy on the World Land Speed Record project that eventually became the Budweiser Rocket, driven most notably by stuntman Stan Barrett. The team failed to set an officially sanctioned World Land Speed Record with the vehicle, and their claims to have broken the sound barrier in 1979 have been heavily disputed. In the 1980s he was best known as the owner for the Harry Gant Skoal Bandit #33 car driven in the Winston Cup Series.

He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards.

References

  1. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/44/Hal-Needham.html

External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Hal Needham

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) · Hooper (1978) · The Villain (1979) · Death Car on the Freeway (1979) · Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) · The Cannonball Run (1981) · Megaforce (1982) · Stroker Ace (1983) · Cannonball Run II (1984) · Rad (1986) · Body Slam (1986)
Stub icon This article about an American businessperson born in the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2 This article about an United States entertainer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
The Naked Gun: Have Gun, Will Travel (TV Episode) (1959 Western TV Episode)
The Walking Years: Have Gun, Will Travel (TV Episode) (1963 TV Episode)
The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972 Western Film)

Who is Hal Evans? Read answer...
Who was Hal Morris? Read answer...
How is HAL derived? Read answer...

Help us answer these
What did john needham discover?
Who is Edward needham smith?
Is Kathryn Needham weird?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Director. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hal Needham".  Read more