Hal Needham

HAL NEEDHAM

Information from IMDb

Date of Birth
6 March 1931
Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Birth Name
Hal Brett Needham

Spouse
Ellyn Wynne Williams (31 December 1996 - present)
Dani Crayne (29 June 1981 - August 1987) (divorced)

Trade Mark
His films feature many stunts (car chases, fights, etc)
Usually ends his films by showing outtakes during the credits

Trivia
Doubled for Burt Reynolds, Christopher George, and Richard Boone.

Billboard model for Viceroy Cigarettes.

When he began directing, his films were usually blasted by the critics but did well at the box office. He once took out an ad in the trade papers quoting his negative reviews but showing a wheel barrel filled with money to sum up his career.

Served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper.

Former father-in-law of Connie Needham.

Father of David Needham.

Mini Biography
As the highest paid stuntman in the world, Hal Needham broke 56 bones, his back twice, punctured a lung and knocked out a few teeth. His career has included work on 4500 television episodes and 310 feature films as a stuntman, stunt coordinator, 2nd unit director and ultimately, director.

He wrote and directed some of the most financially successful action comedy films, making his directorial debut with the box office smash, Smokey and the Bandit. The ten features he directed include Hooper and The Cannonball Run... A real outlaw race from coast-to-coast, where he drove a fake ambulance that could peg the speedometer at 150 mph, on which the movie Cannonball Run, was based. He also set trends in movies - the first director to show outtakes during end credits.

Needham wrecked hundreds of cars, fell from tall buildings, got blown up, was dragged by horses, rescued the cast and crew from a Russian invasion in Czechoslovakia, set a world record for a boat stunt on Gator, jumped a rocket powered pick-up truck across a canal for a GM commercial and was the first human to test the car airbag.

He invented and introduced to the film industry, the air ram, air bag, the car cannon turnover, the nitrogen ratchet, the jerk-off ratchet, rocket power and The Shotmaker Camera Car to make stunts safer and yet more spectacular at the same time.

Needham revolutionized the art of the stuntman - from new devices and techniques, to conceptualizing the organization and execution of complicated action set pieces. To a large degree, he elevated the stuntman and his craft to become important and critical elements in contemporary American Film.

He mentored a new generation of stuntmen and fought for the respect and recognition that stuntmen and stuntwomen deserve for their contribution to moviemaking.

Life also got exciting outside of the movie business. Needham owned a NASCAR race team and was the first team owner to use telemetry technology. His Skoal-Bandit race team was one of the most popular NASCAR teams ever - second only to that of the King, Richard Petty. Needham set Guinness World Records and was the financier and owner of The Budweiser Rocket Car, the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier traveling at 739.666 mph. The car is now on display in the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum.

His many awards include an Emmy and an Academy Award.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Laura Lizer and Associates

Personal Quotes
[on Burt Reynolds] Burt's a very private person. And he has the capacity for loyalty and caring. Here's a man who has made it okay and he forgets no one he's ever cared for -- men or women. He certainly has tried to keep me from breaking my neck in all the years I've been doubling him.

[on stuntman for John Wayne in In Harm's Way (1965)] Otto [Preminger] treated the cast like they were dirt, except Wayne. The crew hated him. I thought, 'If I ever become a director, I don't ever want to do that crud. Yeah, I learned a lot of things from those big, big directors. And a lot of it was what I didn't want to do.

Filmography
Stunts
1996 The Sunchaser (stunts)
1996 Street Luge (short) (stunt design)
1978 Foul Play (stunt performer)
1978 The End (stunt coordinator)
1977 Smokey and the Bandit (stunts - uncredited)
1977 Billy Jack Goes to Washington (stunt coordinator)
1976 Nickelodeon (stunt coordinator, stunts)
1976 A Star Is Born (stunts - uncredited)
1976 Gator (stunt coordinator - uncredited)
1976 Gable and Lombard (stunts - uncredited)
1976 Peeper (stunt coordinator)
1975 Lucky Lady (stunts - uncredited)
1975 Take a Hard Ride (stunts)
1975 W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (stunt coordinator)
1975 French Connection II (stunt coordinator)
1974 Kodiak (TV series) (stunt double: Clint Walker)
1974 The Mean Machine (stunt coordinator - uncredited, stunts - uncredited)
1974 Three the Hard Way (stunt coordinator)
1974 Chinatown (stunt coordinator - uncredited)
1974 Busting (stunt gaffer)
1974 Blazing Saddles (stunts - uncredited)
1974 McQ (stunt driver - uncredited)
1973 White Lightning (stunt coordinator - uncredited, stunt double: Burt Reynolds - uncredited)
1973 The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (stunt coordinator - uncredited)
1973 Call to Danger (TV movie) (stunts - uncredited)
1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (stunts - uncredited)
1972 The Heist (TV movie) (stunts - uncredited)
1972 Goodnight, My Love (TV movie) (stunt coordinator)
1972 The Culpepper Cattle Co. (stunt coordinator)
1972 Man on a String (TV movie) (stunts - uncredited)
1972 Hardcase (TV movie) (stunt coordinator)
1972 The Night Stalker (TV movie) (stunts - uncredited)
1971 Mission: Impossible (TV series) (stunt double: Christopher George - 1 episode)
– Nerves (1971) (stunt double: Christopher George - uncredited)
1971 Something Big (stunt coordinator)
1971 The Organization (stunts - uncredited)
1971 Chrome and Hot Leather (stunts - uncredited)
1971 Escape (TV movie) (stunt coordinator, stunts - uncredited)
1971 One More Train to Rob (stunt coordinator)
1970 Never Give an Inch (stunts - uncredited)
1970 Rio Lobo (stunts - uncredited)
1970 Little Big Man (stunt gaffer)
1970 Dirty Dingus Magee (stunts - uncredited)
1970 C.C. and Company (stunts - uncredited)
1970 Dan August (TV series) (stunt double: Burt Reynolds)
1970 Chisum (stunt coordinator - uncredited)
1970 Five Savage Men (stunts - uncredited)
1969 The Undefeated (stunt coordinator, stunts - uncredited)
1969 The Great Bank Robbery (stunts - uncredited)
1969 The Bridge at Remagen (stunt supervisor)
1969 Che! (stunts - uncredited)
1969 100 Rifles (stunts - uncredited)
1969 The Immortal (TV series) (stunt coordinator)
1968 Hellfighters (stunt coordinator, stunts - uncredited)
1968 Bandolero! (stunt coordinator)
1968 The Devil's Brigade (stunt supervisor)
1967 Mannix (TV series) (stunts)
1967 Hells Angels on Wheels (stunts - uncredited)
1967 The War Wagon (stunts - uncredited)
1967 The Way West (stunts - uncredited)
1967 Camelot (stunts - uncredited)
1967 Tobruk (stunts - uncredited)
1967 The Ballad of Josie (stunts - uncredited)
1966 The Big Valley (TV series) (stunt double: Richard Long - 1 episode)
– A Day of Terror (1966) (stunt double: Richard Long - uncredited)
1966 Alvarez Kelly (stunts - uncredited)
1966 Star Trek (TV series) (stunt double: Gary Lockwood - 1 episode)
– Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966) (stunt double: Gary Lockwood - uncredited)
1966 The Rat Patrol (TV series) (stunt double)
1966 Beau Geste (stunt coordinator)
1966 Stagecoach (stunts - uncredited)
1966 The Rare Breed (action coordinator)
1966 Our Man Flint (stunts - uncredited)
1965 The War Lord (stunts)
1965 Laredo (TV series) (stunt double: Peter Brown)
1965 The Great Race (stunts - uncredited)
1965 Shenandoah (stunts - uncredited)
1965 In Harm's Way (stunts - uncredited)
1965 Major Dundee (stunts - uncredited)
1964 Company of Cowards? (stunts - uncredited)
1964 West of Montana (stunts - uncredited)
1963 The Raiders (stunts - uncredited)
1963 4 for Texas (stunts - uncredited)
1963 McLintock! (stunts - uncredited)
Have Gun - Will Travel (TV series) (stunt double: Richard Boone - 225 episodes, 1957-1963) (stunt double: Crahan Denton - 1 episode, 1960)
– Squatter's Rights (1963) (stunt double: Richard Boone - uncredited)
– The Sanctuary (1963) (stunt double: Richard Boone - uncredited)
– Face of a Shadow (1963) (stunt double: Richard Boone - uncredited)
– The Black Bull (1963) (stunt double: Richard Boone - uncredited)
– Two Plus One (1963) (stunt double: Richard Boone - uncredited)
See all 226 episodes »
1963 Donovan's Reef (stunts - uncredited)
1963 Gun Law (TV series) (stunt double: Burt Reynolds - 2 episodes, 1963) (stunt double: Michael Higgins - 1 episode, 1963)
– Two of a Kind (1963) (stunt double: Michael Higgins - uncredited)
– The Bad One (1963) (stunt double: Burt Reynolds - uncredited)
– The Renegades (1963) (stunt double: Burt Reynolds - uncredited)
1962 How the West Was Won (stunts - uncredited)
1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (stunts - uncredited)
1961 A Thunder of Drums (stunts - uncredited)
1960 Hong Kong (TV series) (stunts)
1960 Black Saddle (TV series) (stunt double: Peter Breck - 1 episode)
– The Indian Tree (1960) (stunt double: Peter Breck - uncredited)
1960 Coronado 9 (TV series) (stunts)
1959 Laramie (TV series) (stunts)
1959 Pork Chop Hill (stunts - uncredited)
1959 Thunder in the Sun (stunts - uncredited)
1959 Paratroop Command (stunts)
1958 The Big Country (stunts - uncredited)
1957 The Spirit of St. Louis (stunts - uncredited)
1956 Mike Hammer (TV series) (stunts)

Actor
1987 Sledge Hammer! (TV series)– Play It Again Sledge (1987) … Bartender
1984 Cannonball Run II...Porsche 928 Driver with Cowboy Hat (uncredited)
1983 Stroker Ace...Man Punching Stroker Into Ladies Room (uncredited)
1982 Simon & Simon (TV series)– Rough Rider Rides Again (1982) … Oldtimer #3 in Saloon (uncredited)
1982 Megaforce...Technician (uncredited)
1981 The Cannonball Run...Ambulance EMT (uncredited)
1980 Stunts Unlimited (TV movie)...H.N.
1979 Death Car on the Freeway (TV movie)...Mr. Blanchard
1979 Fantasy Island (TV series)– Photographs/Royal Flush (1979) … Orville 'Boots' Pierce
1976-1977 Charlie's Angels (TV series)
Julio / Spencer
– Angels in the Wings (1977) … Julio
– The Killing Kind (1976) … Spencer
1976 Jackson County Jail...Chief of Fallsburg Police
1975 Take a Hard Ride...Garmes (uncredited)
1975 W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings...Trooper Carson
1975 French Connection II...Doyle Kidnapper (uncredited)
1974 Blazing Saddles...Outlaw (uncredited)
1973 Egan (TV movie)...Policeman
1972 The Bounty Man (TV movie)...Pike
1972 Mission: Impossible (TV series)– Break! (1972) … Mork (uncredited)
1972 The Culpepper Cattle Co....Burgess
1971-1972 Alias Smith and Jones (TV series)
Devil's Hole Gang Leader / Duke
– The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone (1972) … Duke (uncredited)
– Wrong Train to Brimstone (1971) … Devil's Hole Gang Leader (uncredited)
1971 Mannix (TV series)– Wine from These Grapes (1971) … Arnie
1971 One More Train to Rob...Bert Gant
1970 Never Give an Inch...Bit Part
1962-1969 Gun Law (TV series)
Barfly / Billy Joe Carter / Brawler / …
– Hawk (1969) … Renegade Indian #3
– Deputy Festus (1965) … Cowboy in Long Branch (uncredited)
– Double Entry (1965) … Charlie (uncredited)
– Hammerhead (1964) … Henchman (uncredited)
– Jonah Hutchinson (1964) … Poker Player (uncredited)
In all 14 episodes
1969 The Undefeated...Yankee Corporal at River Crossing (uncredited)
1968 The Devil's Brigade...The Sgt.
1962-1968 The Virginian (TV series)
Bounty Hunter / Brawler / Jaimie McIntosh / …
– The Handy Man (1968) … Ranch Hand
– Long Ride to Wind River (1966) … Jaimie McIntosh
– Jennifer (1965) … Bounty Hunter
– 50 Days to Moose Jaw (1962) … Brawler (uncredited)
– Riff-Raff (1962) … The Man
1968 Ironside (TV series)
– To Kill a Cop (1968) … Connell
1967 Cimarron Strip (TV series)
– The Battleground (1967) … Yewcie
1967 The War Wagon...Hite
1965 The Wild Wild West (TV series)
Assailant / Henchman
– The Night That Terror Stalked the Town (1965) … Assailant (uncredited)
– The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth (1965) … Henchman (uncredited)
1965 Laredo (TV series)
– A Matter of Policy (1965) … Cole
1961-1964 Wagon Train (TV series)
– The Race Town Story (1964)
– Wagon to Fort Anderson (1961) … Warrior (uncredited)
1962-1964 Rawhide (TV series)
Corporal Williams / Tom
– The Race (1964) … Tom (uncredited)
– The Deserters' Patrol (1962) … Corporal Williams
1964 The Richard Boone Show (TV series)– Run, Pony, Run (1964)
1964 The Great Adventure (TV series)
– Rodger Young (1964) … Recruiting Officer
1963 McLintock!- Carter (uncredited)
1959-1963 Have Gun - Will Travel (TV series)
Cowhand / Henchman / 2nd Deputy / …
– Squatter's Rights (1963) … Sim
– The Black Bull (1963) … Henchman (uncredited)
– Sweet Lady of the Moon (1963) … Jimmy Traynor (uncredited)
– The Walking Years (1963) … Wiggen
– Caravan (1963) … The Apache
In all 46 episodes
1963 Laramie (TV series)– The Renegade Brand (1963) … Collins
1963 Stoney Burke (TV series)– Webb of Fear (1963) … Stan Fremont
1961-1962 Tales of Wells Fargo (TV series)
2nd Cowhand / Indian Brave
– Portrait of Teresa (1962) … 2nd Cowhand
– Tanoa (1961) … Indian Brave
1962 Frontier Circus (TV series)– The Balloon Girl (1962) … Ralph Wexler
1960-1961 The Rebel (TV series)
– The Uncourageous (1961) … Indian
– The Scalp Hunter (1960) … Indian
1961 The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV series)– The Good Mule and the Bad Mule (1961) … Printer (uncredited)
1959-1961 Riverboat (TV series)
2nd Ruffian / River Pirate
– Listen to the Nightingale (1961) … 2nd Ruffian
– The Unwilling (1959) … River Pirate (uncredited)
1960 Dante (TV series)– Opening Night (1960) … Bill Armstrong
1960 Coronado 9 (TV series)– Doomtown (1960) … Joe
1960 Tate (TV series)– Before Sunup (1960) … Sedon Henchman (uncredited)
1959 Playhouse 90 (TV series)– The Tunnel (1959) … Soldier
1959 Yancy Derringer (TV series)
Guard / Judge Randall's guard
– Two Tickets to Promontory (1959) … Guard (uncredited)
– Gone But Not Forgotten (1959) … Judge Randall's guard
1959 The Restless Gun (TV series)-Ambusher #1
– Code for a Killer (1959) … Ambusher #1 (uncredited)
1959 The Rifleman (TV series)– The Indian (1959) … Townsman (uncredited)

Director
1999 Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (TV movie)
1996 Street Luge (short)
1994 Bandit: Bandit's Silver Angel (TV movie)
1994 Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (TV movie)
1994 Bandit: Bandit Bandit (TV movie)
1994 Bandit: Bandit Goes Country (TV movie)
1990 B.L. Stryker (TV series)– Grand Theft Hotel (1990)
1986 Body Slam
1986 Rad
1984 Cannonball Run II
1983 Stroker Ace
1982 Megaforce
1981 The Cannonball Run
1981 Stockers (TV movie)
1980 Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again
1980 Stunts Unlimited (TV movie)
1979 Death Car on the Freeway (TV movie)
1979 Cactus Jack
1978 Hooper
1977 Smokey and the Bandit

As the highest paid stuntman in the world, Hal Needham broke 56 bones,
his back twice, punctured a lung and knocked out a few teeth.
His career has included work on 4500 television episodes and 310 feature films
as a stuntman, stunt coordinator, 2nd unit director and ultimately, director.

Hal's first break was as the stunt double for actor
Richard Boone on the popular TV western Have Gun, Will Travel.

Hal trained under Duke's stunt double Chuck Roberson
and quickly became one of the top stuntmen 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.
Hal moved into stunt coordinating and directing second unit action,
while designing and introducing air bags and other innovative equipment to the industry.

Hal told Adam Carolla during an interview that he lived in Burt Reynolds'
guesthouse for the better part of 12 years.

He wrote and directed some of the most financially successful action comedy films,
making his directorial debut with the box office smash, Smokey and the Bandit.
The ten features he directed include Hooper and The Cannonball Run

He mentored a new generation of stuntmen and fought for the respect and recognition
that stuntmen and stunt women deserve for their contribution to movie making.

His many awards include an Emmy and an Academy Award.

With Duke in McLintock

Hal appeared in 11 movies with Duke

McQ. 1974... (stunt driver - uncredited)
Rio Lobo. 1971...(stunts - uncredited)
Chisum. 1970 .. (stunt coordinator - uncredited)
The Undefeated.1969 ...Yankee Corporal at River Crossing (uncredited)... (stunt coordinator, stunts - uncredited)
Hellfighters. 1968... (stunt coordinator, stunts - uncredited)
The War Wagon. 1967...Hite.. (stunts - uncredited)
In Harm's Way. 1965 ... Carter (uncredited)...(stunts - uncredited)
McLintock!.1963... (stunts - uncredited)
Donovan's Reef. 1963... (stunts - uncredited)
How the West Was Won. 1962... (stunts - uncredited)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.1962... (stunts - uncredited)

STUNTMAN!: My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life..
Hal Needham. (2011)

A new Book by stuntman Hal Needham.
Probably more famous for his collaborations with Burt Reynolds in the 70s and 80s, he also worked often with Duke.

Looks like a great read, but one of the "blurbs" I read had a comment from Hal stating he taught Duke how to throw a movie punch(?!).

Yep that's me, Hal Needham, on the cover doing a fire stunt. When you're on fire you don't dare breathe because if you do, you'll suck those flames right down your throat. I was Hollywood's highest paid stuntman so I should know.

I wrecked hundreds of cars, fell from tall buildings, got blown up, was dragged by horses, and along the way broke 56 bones, my back twice, punctured a lung and knocked out a few teeth...I hung upside down by my ankles under a bi-plane in The Spirit of St. Louis, jumped between galloping horses in Little Big Man, set a world record for a boat stunt on Gator, jumped a rocket powered pick-up truck across a canal for a GM commercial, was the first human to test the car airbag-and taught John Wayne how to really throw a movie punch.

Life also got exciting outside of the movie business. I had my Ferrari stolen right from under my nose, flew in a twin-engine Cessna with a passed out pilot, rescued the cast and crew from a Russian invasion in Czechoslovakia, and once took six flight attendants on a date. I owned the Skoal-Bandit NASCAR race team, the sound-barrier breaking Budweiser Rocket Car and drove a souped-up, fake ambulance in a "little" cross-country race called The Cannonball Run, which became the movie I directed by the same name. Oh yeah, I also directed Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper and several other action/comedy movies that I liked a bunch.

I was a sharecropper's son from the hills of Arkansas who became a Hollywood stuntman. That journey was a tough row to hoe. I continually risked my life but that was the career I chose. I was never late to the set and did whatever I had to do to get the job done.

Hollywood's not all sunglasses and autographs. Let me tell you a few stories..

Quote from alamo221

I was a bit disappointed in the above book because I was hoping for more behind-the-scenes info on his films and stuntwork. The first half to maybe 3/4s of the book does just that, but once he gets into directing and his later career, for me, it just wasn't that interesting.

Thanks for this personal note,
it's just what I require for the book thread,
Books: On Pals Of The Saddle- Part 3
It greatly helps if our members can have first hand knowledge from their fellows.
I will add it now