What do you think?
Rate this book
Stuntman!: My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life
The classic no-holds-barred memoir from Hollywood's most legendary stuntman -- an inspiration for Brad Pitt's character Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood -- is "full of incredible stories as told by a real man of action" (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
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...
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...
306 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
41 people are currently reading
527 people want to read
About the author
Hal Needham
3 books4 followersHal Needham's career has included work on 4,500 television episodes and 310 feature films. He directed 10 features, including the classics Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, and The Cannonball Run. He set trends in movies (the first director to show outtakes during end credits) and NASCAR (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. Hal set Guinness World Records and was the financier and owner of the Budweiser Rocket Car (now on display in the Smithsonian Museum), the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier - travelling at 739.666 mph. The highest paid stuntman in the world, he has broken fifty-six bones and his back (twice), was the first human to test the car airbag, and has fought for the respect and recognition that stuntmen and stuntwomen deserve for their contribution to the world of moviemaking. His many awards include an Emmy and an Academy Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
August 7, 2011
Prior to reading this book, I'd never heard of Hal Needham. Having grown up in the '70's, though, I was already familiar with the work of the man who conceived and directed the films Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run.
Needham didn't start out as a director. But his early careers jumping out of airplanes for the military and working as a tree surgeon nicely prepared him for a chance job hanging upside down on an airplane in an early Hollywood movie.
Needham was hooked on stunt work after his first shoot, and this book chronicles his life in that world. It talks about the shows he worked on, the stunts he did, the folks he doubled (from John Wayne to Burt Reynolds) and the politics of the business that was tightly controlled by a few stunt bosses when he first started.
Reading this book, it's easy to get the impression that there's nothing Hal Needham can't do. And it is pretty fascinating to hear him describe his stunts in detail; the ingenious ways he solved the technical problems of giving the directors the excitement they wanted without killing himself in the process. He also talks about his contributions to the development of things like new falling pads and camera rigging, but the most fascinating section for me was the one in which he talked about orchestrating the real world stunt of getting an entire Hollywood film crew out of Czechoslovakia after the sudden invasion of the Soviets in 1968.
Needham has a lifetime's worth of amazing stories to tell, and anyone with an interest in action film will find much to enjoy here. There's not much of the kind of introspection you might find in other memoirs - his discussion of the breakup of his first marriage is limited to his wife's observation that they might get along better if he paid as much attention to her as he did to his stunt horses - but I was too busy being entertained by his action adventures to notice.
Needham didn't start out as a director. But his early careers jumping out of airplanes for the military and working as a tree surgeon nicely prepared him for a chance job hanging upside down on an airplane in an early Hollywood movie.
Needham was hooked on stunt work after his first shoot, and this book chronicles his life in that world. It talks about the shows he worked on, the stunts he did, the folks he doubled (from John Wayne to Burt Reynolds) and the politics of the business that was tightly controlled by a few stunt bosses when he first started.
Reading this book, it's easy to get the impression that there's nothing Hal Needham can't do. And it is pretty fascinating to hear him describe his stunts in detail; the ingenious ways he solved the technical problems of giving the directors the excitement they wanted without killing himself in the process. He also talks about his contributions to the development of things like new falling pads and camera rigging, but the most fascinating section for me was the one in which he talked about orchestrating the real world stunt of getting an entire Hollywood film crew out of Czechoslovakia after the sudden invasion of the Soviets in 1968.
Needham has a lifetime's worth of amazing stories to tell, and anyone with an interest in action film will find much to enjoy here. There's not much of the kind of introspection you might find in other memoirs - his discussion of the breakup of his first marriage is limited to his wife's observation that they might get along better if he paid as much attention to her as he did to his stunt horses - but I was too busy being entertained by his action adventures to notice.
March 19, 2011
I loved this book. It is a fun read, all these stories about the people, TV shows, and movies I grew up watching. I meet Hal in the 70's as a kid. He was the stunt director on "Gator" with Burt Reynolds. They were filming on Hunter Army Airfield in Savanah Ga. I watched them film several scenes and on one late night he even brought my mom coffee during the filming of a scene outside the hospital on base. He was truely nice and very funny. He talked to us several times while they were setting up to shoot. Hal Needham brought a lot to the movie industry and was a lot more important than he lets on. His list of credits is massive and if you watched a movie or a television show in the 60's, 70's, 80's, or the 90's you have seen Hal's work even if you didn't know his name. He was at one time the highest paid stuntman in Hollywood, a movie director,a NASCAR team owner and a hard drinker who played hard and worked even harder. And if he ever needs me to hold his watch I'll be glad to help. As Joe Bob says, "Check it out."
August 23, 2012
I really liked this book so I feel guilty giving it two stars. I feel especially guilty because it is a biography, and who am I to give someone's life story two stars? Still...
This was sort of like listening to your really exciting and talkative old uncle tell you all of their "best ever" stories in one go. They can be great stories, especially when coming from someone as exciting and boisterous as Hal Needham. I just don't exactly have the patience to sit and listen to each one of these really cool little stories as they get shot out at rapid fire rates (and Hal Needham is like that friend who doesn't know when to stop talking and follows you out to the parking lot, yapping your ear off the whole way and preventing you from getting home by at least one more hour). It was his life; it was great fun reading his book. I feel like it could have been about a hundred pages shorter and been just as entertaining, and possibly even left me wanting more.
This was sort of like listening to your really exciting and talkative old uncle tell you all of their "best ever" stories in one go. They can be great stories, especially when coming from someone as exciting and boisterous as Hal Needham. I just don't exactly have the patience to sit and listen to each one of these really cool little stories as they get shot out at rapid fire rates (and Hal Needham is like that friend who doesn't know when to stop talking and follows you out to the parking lot, yapping your ear off the whole way and preventing you from getting home by at least one more hour). It was his life; it was great fun reading his book. I feel like it could have been about a hundred pages shorter and been just as entertaining, and possibly even left me wanting more.
January 2, 2016
While this book will not win any awards for its writing, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the author's fascinating life. Born into poverty and with only an eighth grade education Hal had a strong work ethic that helped him succeed with every new venture he tried. Lots of details about stunt work (he seemingly came up with many new standards on ways to accomplish stunts), his directing successes with Smokey and Bandit and other action films, and his ownership of a NASCAR team.
October 13, 2020
Hal Needham is someone to admire. His career in Hollywood started up when I was a young boy, so I watched him tumble through many a stunt on film throughout my life. Needham feels like an old buddy that you hang out with to talk about crazy ideas. You can't help but like him. This book was worthwhile for me, but it is not meant to be a polished book. It is just one pal talking to another.
May 28, 2022
Eastbound and Down
Loaded up and truckin'
We gonna do what they say can't be done
Film sets are always interesting places, but every set settles into the kind of place it has to in order for the cast and crew to get from one end of the day to the other. The director directs, the actors act, and craft services keeps the coffee hot (they'd better if they know what's good them). Then there's the stunt guys. Stuntmen are the one below the line movie job everyone thinks they know everything about- fall down or take a punch so the star stays good looking.
Hal Needham, in his autobiography STUNTMAN! is the first book I've encountered where the stunt man takes time to explain what he does… and why he got so good at doing it. Along the way we travel from Arkansas to Fort Bragg before ending up in Hollywood where we meet such luminaries as Richard Boone, Burt Reynolds, and John Wayne.
We got a long way to go
And a short time to get there
I'm eastbound just watch old bandit run!
Hal, or Roomie as Burt Reynolds calls him, started life as a sharecropper's son in the backhills of Arkansas, which is to say he grew up dirt poor and never got past an eighth grade education. From there he would move to St. Louis and into the US Army before making his way to Los Angeles, learning to climb very tall trees and jump out of airplanes along the way. After a spell trimming trees in Los Angeles, he ran into a fellow ex-paratrooper who was working as a stuntman for the show You Asked For It. That led to work doing stunts for TV and the movies, including early work for Billy Wilder on the movie THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS.
Along the way, Hal recounts all sorts of interesting episodes like how he was baffled by the concept of "salad" when first presented with one at a bar he'd gone to for meatloaf (this being the mid 1950s). Hal is a natural storyteller, and his yarns are spun so well you can feel as though you're there as they're happening.
There's even a couple of pages dedicated to when, while working on the show Riverboat, Hal recounts a compliment for an unnamed director about a huge fight scene Hal coordinated involving Burt Reynolds (probably their first meeting). This is an especially interesting anecdote to fans of Quinten Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD since it's possible that unnamed director was William Witney who Tarantino speaks of highly (and his characters Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth remember fondly [moreso in the novelization]). And Witney is almost forgotten which is unfortunate since he made a number of good movies.
With the foot hard on the pedal
Son, never mind them breaks
Let it all hang out cause we got a run to make
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta
And there's beer in Texarkana
And we'll bring it back no matter what it takes
And all this, I'm not even talking about his adventures doing stunt work with director Andrew McLaglen and doubling for John Wayne, or the time he and his crew got trapped by Soviet soldiers during their invasion of Czechoslovakia, I haven't even gotten to his biggest success in the creation of the classic SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT which he wrote and directed.
Hal thought up the idea for SMOKEY… after, during a shoot with Burt Reynolds, bottles of Coors beer kept disappearing from his hotel room refrigerator. He learned that Coors wasn't available east of the Mississippi River and from that… an idea was born.
Then the really crazy stories begin about funding a car that broke the speed of sound, or the one about how Hal and some friends raced the Cannon Ball Run race (which is a real thing) from New York to Redondo Beach, or the ones about how he funded a NASCAR team and ended up drugged and robbed a couple of times by the Rolex Queens ring.
There's not enough space to describe all of these stories but every word is entertaining.
My barometer for a successful show business story is… do I end up seeking out the movies or shows mentioned? In this case, I do. My library is holding a few Andrew McLaglen movies for me, and I'm about to put THE CANNONBALL RUN on hold. Why? Because knowing the stories makes the experiences a little better.
I'm eastbound just watch ol' bandit run!
Loaded up and truckin'
We gonna do what they say can't be done
Film sets are always interesting places, but every set settles into the kind of place it has to in order for the cast and crew to get from one end of the day to the other. The director directs, the actors act, and craft services keeps the coffee hot (they'd better if they know what's good them). Then there's the stunt guys. Stuntmen are the one below the line movie job everyone thinks they know everything about- fall down or take a punch so the star stays good looking.
Hal Needham, in his autobiography STUNTMAN! is the first book I've encountered where the stunt man takes time to explain what he does… and why he got so good at doing it. Along the way we travel from Arkansas to Fort Bragg before ending up in Hollywood where we meet such luminaries as Richard Boone, Burt Reynolds, and John Wayne.
We got a long way to go
And a short time to get there
I'm eastbound just watch old bandit run!
Hal, or Roomie as Burt Reynolds calls him, started life as a sharecropper's son in the backhills of Arkansas, which is to say he grew up dirt poor and never got past an eighth grade education. From there he would move to St. Louis and into the US Army before making his way to Los Angeles, learning to climb very tall trees and jump out of airplanes along the way. After a spell trimming trees in Los Angeles, he ran into a fellow ex-paratrooper who was working as a stuntman for the show You Asked For It. That led to work doing stunts for TV and the movies, including early work for Billy Wilder on the movie THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS.
Along the way, Hal recounts all sorts of interesting episodes like how he was baffled by the concept of "salad" when first presented with one at a bar he'd gone to for meatloaf (this being the mid 1950s). Hal is a natural storyteller, and his yarns are spun so well you can feel as though you're there as they're happening.
There's even a couple of pages dedicated to when, while working on the show Riverboat, Hal recounts a compliment for an unnamed director about a huge fight scene Hal coordinated involving Burt Reynolds (probably their first meeting). This is an especially interesting anecdote to fans of Quinten Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD since it's possible that unnamed director was William Witney who Tarantino speaks of highly (and his characters Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth remember fondly [moreso in the novelization]). And Witney is almost forgotten which is unfortunate since he made a number of good movies.
With the foot hard on the pedal
Son, never mind them breaks
Let it all hang out cause we got a run to make
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta
And there's beer in Texarkana
And we'll bring it back no matter what it takes
And all this, I'm not even talking about his adventures doing stunt work with director Andrew McLaglen and doubling for John Wayne, or the time he and his crew got trapped by Soviet soldiers during their invasion of Czechoslovakia, I haven't even gotten to his biggest success in the creation of the classic SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT which he wrote and directed.
Hal thought up the idea for SMOKEY… after, during a shoot with Burt Reynolds, bottles of Coors beer kept disappearing from his hotel room refrigerator. He learned that Coors wasn't available east of the Mississippi River and from that… an idea was born.
Then the really crazy stories begin about funding a car that broke the speed of sound, or the one about how Hal and some friends raced the Cannon Ball Run race (which is a real thing) from New York to Redondo Beach, or the ones about how he funded a NASCAR team and ended up drugged and robbed a couple of times by the Rolex Queens ring.
There's not enough space to describe all of these stories but every word is entertaining.
My barometer for a successful show business story is… do I end up seeking out the movies or shows mentioned? In this case, I do. My library is holding a few Andrew McLaglen movies for me, and I'm about to put THE CANNONBALL RUN on hold. Why? Because knowing the stories makes the experiences a little better.
I'm eastbound just watch ol' bandit run!
April 28, 2020
I could not put this book down. This is a great story and if you are a fan I recommend following it up with a viewing of The Bandit, a documentary about Hal and Burt's friendship.
The narrative was friendly, felt like you were listening to the stories of a well spoken man sitting next to you at a dive bar more than it felt like reading a book. The opening of the book was the literary equivalent of watching previews before a movie, giving you a little taste of what was to come in a way that was as surprising as it was well done. The book moves at a good pace, and the last chapter might even bring a tear to your eye.
What are you doing? Go start this book.
The narrative was friendly, felt like you were listening to the stories of a well spoken man sitting next to you at a dive bar more than it felt like reading a book. The opening of the book was the literary equivalent of watching previews before a movie, giving you a little taste of what was to come in a way that was as surprising as it was well done. The book moves at a good pace, and the last chapter might even bring a tear to your eye.
What are you doing? Go start this book.
March 14, 2024
Be it great
Or be it small,
Do it well
Or not at all.
Or be it small,
Do it well
Or not at all.
September 21, 2024
Fantastic stories from an era of Hollywood where every effect was a practical one. A must read for any fan of classic film and television.
February 22, 2025
This man was truly insane. No wonder Burt Reynolds was in love with him.
August 23, 2022
Hal Needham certainly has done a lot of impressive things as one of those rags-to-riches self-made people. He spends a good tale too. However, to keep him from sounding like a blowhard bragging his ego even bigger, read this in little doses. It is much more enjoyable that way.
April 11, 2013
I found Stuntman! to be nearly unreadable. Needham's interesting life would have been better chronicled by a good ghost writer.
November 19, 2013
Very entertaining book by Mr. Needham. A lot of fun to read about all his exploits and opinions of people and situations.
April 12, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “WHEN YOU TEACH JOHN WAYNE TO PUNCH… DRINK WITH JACKIE GLEASON… & LIVE WITH BURT REYNOLDS… YOU’VE GOT A GREAT STORY!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the biography of the “Father” of the modern stuntman, Hal Needham. Hal leads you from his impoverished childhood as the step-son of a hardworking Arkansas sharecropper, and son of a depression era hardworking, non-complaining Mother… through his almost mythical rise to the top of the Hollywood stuntman empire. Along the way, more Hollywood big star names are dropped than you would hear by watching “Entertainment Tonight” for a week. Additionally you will learn the inside “tricks” and dare devil approaches to movie’s magic stunts. **BUT-FIRST**… in a surprisingly unique beginning to this never dull, even for a minute story… when the introduction is presented exactly like the “coming-attractions” or “previews” when you watch a movie. The first nine pages are just enough name dropping and action teases to make you “run” at full speed into the rest of the book.
The story traces Hal’s less than humble beginnings in Arkansas to his less than stellar school education which ended in the ninth grade. Hal volunteered for the armed services during the Korean War and later becomes a tree climber… which without knowing it got him ready to change the world of Hollywood stunts. From stuntman to stunt doubles for everyone from Richard Boone in his heyday as Paladin in “Have Gun Will Travel” to John Wayne. (Whom Hal says was his favorite actor to work with of all time. “THE DUKE, DUKE WAS DEDICATED. HE KNEW EVERY JOB ON THE SET AND COULD DO MOST OF THEM. HE WASN’T AFRAID TO GET HIS HANDS DIRTY. HE ALWAYS LOOKED OUT FOR HIS CREW AND TREATED PEOPLE WITH RESPECT. BUT HE ALSO KNEW ABOUT HARD WORK AND WASN’T AFRAID TO TELL SOMEONE THE TRUTH IF HE FELT THEY WEREN’T PUTTING FORTH ENOUGH EFFORT.”) And yet Hal had the cajones to offer a suggestion to Wayne on how to throw a punch in a fight scene early in Hal’s career.
Needham shares some of his secrets (Along with being a little insane.) in how stunts that include but are not limited to: walking and hanging on a plane’s wings… jumping off buildings before air bags were invented (Which of course he assisted in… and not just the ones stuntmen landed on… but in being the first human guinea pig in a car crash test of air bags.)… controlling a stampede of over 2,000 horses… building and driving rocket powered cars… which led to him going over 600 miles per hour… and in him financing the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier (739.666 mph)… doing the research that led to the longest human drop from a helicopter in history… taking filmed car crashes to a whole new level… which helped create the whole large scale product placement explosion such as on “Smokey And The Bandit II” which… did I mention he directed along with “Smokey And The Bandit”… “Hooper”… and “The Cannonball Run”… among others… BUT getting back to product placement in “Smokey And The Bandit II”… required “TEN TRANS AMS AND FIFTY-FIVE BONNEVILLES “(FIVE FOR JACKIE GLEASON AND FIFTY FOR GLEASON’S CANADIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT BUDDIES.)…
And along this entire fuel injected sojourn… enough *ADULT-COCKTAILS* are consumed to drench the thirst of the Russian Army. Hal never met a job or a stunt that he not only thought he could perform… but he never met one that he didn’t feel he could perform better than anyone had before. Along the way Needham somehow found the time for multiple marriages and redefining aspects of NASCAR… as well as breaking his back twice and breaking fifty-six bones. But as you can imagine… a stuntman doesn’t call in sick very often… and playing hurt is part of the unwritten code. As great as this rollicking raconteur’s stories are… you’ll find yourself hungering for more!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the biography of the “Father” of the modern stuntman, Hal Needham. Hal leads you from his impoverished childhood as the step-son of a hardworking Arkansas sharecropper, and son of a depression era hardworking, non-complaining Mother… through his almost mythical rise to the top of the Hollywood stuntman empire. Along the way, more Hollywood big star names are dropped than you would hear by watching “Entertainment Tonight” for a week. Additionally you will learn the inside “tricks” and dare devil approaches to movie’s magic stunts. **BUT-FIRST**… in a surprisingly unique beginning to this never dull, even for a minute story… when the introduction is presented exactly like the “coming-attractions” or “previews” when you watch a movie. The first nine pages are just enough name dropping and action teases to make you “run” at full speed into the rest of the book.
The story traces Hal’s less than humble beginnings in Arkansas to his less than stellar school education which ended in the ninth grade. Hal volunteered for the armed services during the Korean War and later becomes a tree climber… which without knowing it got him ready to change the world of Hollywood stunts. From stuntman to stunt doubles for everyone from Richard Boone in his heyday as Paladin in “Have Gun Will Travel” to John Wayne. (Whom Hal says was his favorite actor to work with of all time. “THE DUKE, DUKE WAS DEDICATED. HE KNEW EVERY JOB ON THE SET AND COULD DO MOST OF THEM. HE WASN’T AFRAID TO GET HIS HANDS DIRTY. HE ALWAYS LOOKED OUT FOR HIS CREW AND TREATED PEOPLE WITH RESPECT. BUT HE ALSO KNEW ABOUT HARD WORK AND WASN’T AFRAID TO TELL SOMEONE THE TRUTH IF HE FELT THEY WEREN’T PUTTING FORTH ENOUGH EFFORT.”) And yet Hal had the cajones to offer a suggestion to Wayne on how to throw a punch in a fight scene early in Hal’s career.
Needham shares some of his secrets (Along with being a little insane.) in how stunts that include but are not limited to: walking and hanging on a plane’s wings… jumping off buildings before air bags were invented (Which of course he assisted in… and not just the ones stuntmen landed on… but in being the first human guinea pig in a car crash test of air bags.)… controlling a stampede of over 2,000 horses… building and driving rocket powered cars… which led to him going over 600 miles per hour… and in him financing the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier (739.666 mph)… doing the research that led to the longest human drop from a helicopter in history… taking filmed car crashes to a whole new level… which helped create the whole large scale product placement explosion such as on “Smokey And The Bandit II” which… did I mention he directed along with “Smokey And The Bandit”… “Hooper”… and “The Cannonball Run”… among others… BUT getting back to product placement in “Smokey And The Bandit II”… required “TEN TRANS AMS AND FIFTY-FIVE BONNEVILLES “(FIVE FOR JACKIE GLEASON AND FIFTY FOR GLEASON’S CANADIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT BUDDIES.)…
And along this entire fuel injected sojourn… enough *ADULT-COCKTAILS* are consumed to drench the thirst of the Russian Army. Hal never met a job or a stunt that he not only thought he could perform… but he never met one that he didn’t feel he could perform better than anyone had before. Along the way Needham somehow found the time for multiple marriages and redefining aspects of NASCAR… as well as breaking his back twice and breaking fifty-six bones. But as you can imagine… a stuntman doesn’t call in sick very often… and playing hurt is part of the unwritten code. As great as this rollicking raconteur’s stories are… you’ll find yourself hungering for more!
February 8, 2018
I heard the author interviewed on Terry Gross's Fresh Air. Liked what I heard enough to get his book.
Warning: If the book is on your nightstand, it will keep you from getting to sleep. The pages just keep turning.
Needham has lived an amazing rags-to-riches life, an honorable life. The book may skim the surface, but let's enjoy what we were given.
If you're a fan of westerns, the Smokey and the Bandit/Cannonball Run movies, or of NASCAR, you'll especially like this book. I guess I'm not. I saw just a few of the westerns and none of the car flicks. I've never been to a NASCAR race. I still liked the book. It's about a lot more than just Hollywood stunts.
The few paragraphs about his biological father are Shakespearean tragedy. ("I never had a father.") The description of his mother's last decades will warm your heart.
And when he talks about using a Sidewinder missile, arranged by Chuck Yeager no less, to break the land sound barrier...it doesn't get any better than that.
Is there anyone who's packed more living into one lifetime than Mr Needham?
A man among men.
-----
October 25, 2013, Mr Hal Needham dies of cancer. Rest in Peace, sir.
December 3, 2015, I watch the remarkable film, "The Fall." The last couple minutes have film clips of early 20th century stuntmen in action. The danger and difficulty take the breath away. So many must have died before safety began to be considered.
Warning: If the book is on your nightstand, it will keep you from getting to sleep. The pages just keep turning.
Needham has lived an amazing rags-to-riches life, an honorable life. The book may skim the surface, but let's enjoy what we were given.
If you're a fan of westerns, the Smokey and the Bandit/Cannonball Run movies, or of NASCAR, you'll especially like this book. I guess I'm not. I saw just a few of the westerns and none of the car flicks. I've never been to a NASCAR race. I still liked the book. It's about a lot more than just Hollywood stunts.
The few paragraphs about his biological father are Shakespearean tragedy. ("I never had a father.") The description of his mother's last decades will warm your heart.
And when he talks about using a Sidewinder missile, arranged by Chuck Yeager no less, to break the land sound barrier...it doesn't get any better than that.
Is there anyone who's packed more living into one lifetime than Mr Needham?
A man among men.
-----
October 25, 2013, Mr Hal Needham dies of cancer. Rest in Peace, sir.
December 3, 2015, I watch the remarkable film, "The Fall." The last couple minutes have film clips of early 20th century stuntmen in action. The danger and difficulty take the breath away. So many must have died before safety began to be considered.
March 7, 2020
Thoroughly Enjoyable
If you’re an action movie buff who remembers the Burt Reynolds chase films of the 1970s, you’ll get a kick out of this book. It is the autobiography of Hal Needham, a Hollywood stunt double for stars like John Wayne, Richard Boone and Reynolds, who would become hails great friend and install Needham as a semi-permanent housemate. Needham would go on to be the stunt coordinator and director of most of Burt’s classics.
But Needham was also a great innovator in the worlds of NASXAR racing, stunt horse and stuntperson training and product placement. He led a very interesting life and this book about his exploits reads like you’re sitting around with him and hus buddies as they tell stories about their lives and the stars they worked with. It’s a funny, honest look at a sharecropper’s son who made it big and had no regrets.
If you’re an action movie buff who remembers the Burt Reynolds chase films of the 1970s, you’ll get a kick out of this book. It is the autobiography of Hal Needham, a Hollywood stunt double for stars like John Wayne, Richard Boone and Reynolds, who would become hails great friend and install Needham as a semi-permanent housemate. Needham would go on to be the stunt coordinator and director of most of Burt’s classics.
But Needham was also a great innovator in the worlds of NASXAR racing, stunt horse and stuntperson training and product placement. He led a very interesting life and this book about his exploits reads like you’re sitting around with him and hus buddies as they tell stories about their lives and the stars they worked with. It’s a funny, honest look at a sharecropper’s son who made it big and had no regrets.
June 30, 2017
I took my time reading this book, but I overall enjoyed it. I picked it up to learn more about behind the scenes stunt work. I thought what better way than from the perspective of a lifelong stuntman. I do feel like a learned a lot and got the perspective I was after. Though I did grit my teeth every now and then when a racist or sexist type comment/story was told, mostly in context of movies. And the history of movies is well racist and sexist at times. Still it was hard to read. Also he was a womanizer so brace yourself for many stories of exploits. MANY. Now I'd be curious to read another stunt workers experience to compare and contrast, perhaps from a non-male point of view.
July 18, 2020
If anyone ever did a series like THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA, but for the film industry (and from a technical standpoint), I don’t see how you don’t include Needham. The stuntman’s stuntman, a proficient action director, successful daredevil, landmark NASCAR team owner...I’m really surprised that the book’s only a tick over 300 pages (and even quizzically repeats events).
Some of his stories have to be read to be believed. Pretty wild stuff. Bummed that MEGAFORCE was only mentioned once in passing, as it’s a rich film in and of itself.
Some of his stories have to be read to be believed. Pretty wild stuff. Bummed that MEGAFORCE was only mentioned once in passing, as it’s a rich film in and of itself.
September 8, 2021
Hal Needham has some interesting stories. Man hung out with John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Burt Reynolds and more, first as stuntman then as director. This book is a breezy read through some of those exploits, and if it wasn't for the final boring-to-me Nascar chapter, this is a 5 star book. Either way, it's worth reading if you like these sorts of things. (and now I have a bunch of movies I want to watch to see the stunts he talked about coming up with in them)
June 1, 2017
I agree it was just too indulgent. I can just hear his peeps saying "wow, man you should write a book!" The and I'm sure they thought so, but they only heard 5 out of a few hundred stories. A bit self-righteous if you ask me.
November 11, 2019
What a refreshing joy it is to read a book about Hollywood that's all fun and no bull. The world needs more people like Hal Needham who tell it like it is. I enjoyed this slice of pie so much that I picked up four more copies to give to friends over the holidays. Bravo!
November 5, 2018
Enjoyed this biography of Hal Needhman, stuntman and director.
November 10, 2018
Vic Armstrong's book, but still a great read.
March 7, 2020
Almost as much fun as when Burt told me the stories himself.
May 20, 2023
I'm glad he survived long enough to write this book
September 30, 2023
A fun read - Hal Needham has a million fun Hollywood stories. It’s too bad he spent most of his life partying.
January 24, 2026
Hal Needham has a lifetime of great stories. That doesn't make this a great book, but it IS a fun read.
April 21, 2021
I won't say that Hal Needham doesn't tell good stories and, as he says, he was never bashful. I was impressed with his resourcefulness and work ethic. Until he was finished with his stories about Cannonball Run. There is a pretty important story-- that was a big part of his life-- that he left out. Maybe due to the fact that none of it shows him in a good light. He is eternally proud that "he made a lot of money." And, Cannonball Run is painted as such.
"Heidi von Beltz, a stuntwoman who was paralyzed when a stunt went terribly wrong on the set of The Cannonball Run, died Wednesday at Tarzana (Calif.) Medical Center. She was 59 and had, with the aid of her sister, courageously battled quadriplegia for the last 35 years of her life.
Von Beltz was a stunningly beautiful 24-year-old stuntwoman, actress and world-class skier in 1980 when she got the call from her fiancée, stunt coordinator Bobby Bass, to come to the desert outside of Las Vegas to double for Farrah Fawcett on the ensemble action comedy starring Burt Reynolds.
The stunt, Bass told her, was going to be a piece of cake. All she’d have to do was ride as a passenger in the front seat of a car as it wove its way through a line of speeding oncoming cars. But the car, an Aston Martin, had no seatbelts, bald tires, defective steering and a malfunctioning clutch. When they tried to get it running on the morning of the stunt, another car had to push it to get it started, and then it couldn’t go faster than 8 mph. Director Hal Needham had a mechanic work on the car for a while, and Bass then took it out for a test run. He told von Beltz it was fine, but it wasn’t – and it still didn’t have seat belts.
When it came time to film the stunt, the car’s driver, Jimmy Nickerson, still didn’t think it was ready. He wanted more repairs but was told that the parts from Los Angeles had not arrived and that he’d have to “make do.”
“The last thing I remember before the crash was somebody yelling, ‘Faster! Faster!’ over the walkie-talkie,” von Beltz recalled. The Aston Martin then slammed head-on into the first in the line of onrushing cars, and she was hurtled into the windshield. When members of the film crew got to the scene of the burning wreck, they found her unconscious inside the car, her head hanging limply on her chest, her neck crushed. In that moment, everything changed: She was paralyzed from the neck down, and would remain so for the rest of her life.
In the wake of the accident, the industry adopted new safety guidelines that made seat belts mandatory on all stunt cars. “I’m very proud to have been a part of that,” she said, characteristically optimistic.
Von Beltz spent the next six months in the hospital before returning home to her apartment in Hollywood, where her whole family – father Brad, mother Patty, aunt Joanna, sister Christy and niece Allison – moved in with her and took care of her around the clock.
Her lawyer, famed San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli, filed a wrongful-injury suit on her behalf, and during the ensuing trial, Bass — who had abandoned her — testified that he and Needham thought the car was safe. The jury didn’t believe him and awarded her $4.6 million. “He knew the car didn’t have seat belts, but Needham didn’t want to stop. He wanted to save money,” recalled Von Beltz’s trial attorney, David Sabih. “It would have taken an hour or two to put them in. All the other cars had seat belts. He whitewashed it for Hal Needham.”
Needham, Hollywood’s most famous stuntman, had been the chief defendant in von Beltz’s civil suit, but he didn’t even mention the accident or the trial in his 2011 autobiography, Stuntman! He wrote about a “big mishap” that happened during filming of Cannonball Run, but it had nothing to do with von Beltz or the accident that left her a quadriplegic.
There was no mention in the entire book of Heidi von Beltz – just a funny story about the “big mishap,” when a crane that fell over and crushed a Ferrari. There was no mention of the fiery crash that nearly killed her, crushed her spinal cord and left her in a wheelchair for life. There was no mention of the subsequent civil trial and verdict, in which a jury ordered Needham and his corporation, Stuntman Inc., to pay Heidi $4.6 million in damages – just the other funny story about "$12,000 worth of lights that got broken."
"Heidi von Beltz, a stuntwoman who was paralyzed when a stunt went terribly wrong on the set of The Cannonball Run, died Wednesday at Tarzana (Calif.) Medical Center. She was 59 and had, with the aid of her sister, courageously battled quadriplegia for the last 35 years of her life.
Von Beltz was a stunningly beautiful 24-year-old stuntwoman, actress and world-class skier in 1980 when she got the call from her fiancée, stunt coordinator Bobby Bass, to come to the desert outside of Las Vegas to double for Farrah Fawcett on the ensemble action comedy starring Burt Reynolds.
The stunt, Bass told her, was going to be a piece of cake. All she’d have to do was ride as a passenger in the front seat of a car as it wove its way through a line of speeding oncoming cars. But the car, an Aston Martin, had no seatbelts, bald tires, defective steering and a malfunctioning clutch. When they tried to get it running on the morning of the stunt, another car had to push it to get it started, and then it couldn’t go faster than 8 mph. Director Hal Needham had a mechanic work on the car for a while, and Bass then took it out for a test run. He told von Beltz it was fine, but it wasn’t – and it still didn’t have seat belts.
When it came time to film the stunt, the car’s driver, Jimmy Nickerson, still didn’t think it was ready. He wanted more repairs but was told that the parts from Los Angeles had not arrived and that he’d have to “make do.”
“The last thing I remember before the crash was somebody yelling, ‘Faster! Faster!’ over the walkie-talkie,” von Beltz recalled. The Aston Martin then slammed head-on into the first in the line of onrushing cars, and she was hurtled into the windshield. When members of the film crew got to the scene of the burning wreck, they found her unconscious inside the car, her head hanging limply on her chest, her neck crushed. In that moment, everything changed: She was paralyzed from the neck down, and would remain so for the rest of her life.
In the wake of the accident, the industry adopted new safety guidelines that made seat belts mandatory on all stunt cars. “I’m very proud to have been a part of that,” she said, characteristically optimistic.
Von Beltz spent the next six months in the hospital before returning home to her apartment in Hollywood, where her whole family – father Brad, mother Patty, aunt Joanna, sister Christy and niece Allison – moved in with her and took care of her around the clock.
Her lawyer, famed San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli, filed a wrongful-injury suit on her behalf, and during the ensuing trial, Bass — who had abandoned her — testified that he and Needham thought the car was safe. The jury didn’t believe him and awarded her $4.6 million. “He knew the car didn’t have seat belts, but Needham didn’t want to stop. He wanted to save money,” recalled Von Beltz’s trial attorney, David Sabih. “It would have taken an hour or two to put them in. All the other cars had seat belts. He whitewashed it for Hal Needham.”
Needham, Hollywood’s most famous stuntman, had been the chief defendant in von Beltz’s civil suit, but he didn’t even mention the accident or the trial in his 2011 autobiography, Stuntman! He wrote about a “big mishap” that happened during filming of Cannonball Run, but it had nothing to do with von Beltz or the accident that left her a quadriplegic.
There was no mention in the entire book of Heidi von Beltz – just a funny story about the “big mishap,” when a crane that fell over and crushed a Ferrari. There was no mention of the fiery crash that nearly killed her, crushed her spinal cord and left her in a wheelchair for life. There was no mention of the subsequent civil trial and verdict, in which a jury ordered Needham and his corporation, Stuntman Inc., to pay Heidi $4.6 million in damages – just the other funny story about "$12,000 worth of lights that got broken."
March 10, 2012
I looked at this book several times before I picked it up. I thought "Hal Needham is one of the best stuntmen in the history of film. But, he did direct Hooper." He also gave us Smokey and the Bandit I and II, Stroker Ace and The Cannonball Run. Under no circumstances did I anticipate a good book, well written and interesting. I thought it would be filled with crashes and stories about Burt Reynolds.
I was right except the stories were all about Mr. Needham and name dropping. Burt Reynolds, Kirk Douglass, Arnold Shcwarzenegger...even Have Gun, Will Travel makes an appearance. This has got to be the single most boring book about a man who has broken 56 bones that has ever been written. Here is a sample:
"He sounded like Burt Reynolds and looked like Burt Reynolds, but why was he talking to us (the women wondered)...Burt was always ready to help a couple of buddies in need." (201) or "I scratched him (the horse Alamo) affectionately under the chin. Arlene walked over and said if I treated her that well, maybe we'd have a better relationship." (131)
No crummy hotel in the country was safe from Hal Needham in the 1970s as long as Burt Reynolds was around. Needham's first marriage is summed up in about 3 pages, wherein he manages to say that "Hollywood types don't like cowboys". Probably because the fuckin' cowboy is chasing tail as Burt Reynold's wingman. When this magic association began to wear off (around the time Evening Shade became popular) Needham was owning a stock car team, which he calls "the second most popular in to The King, Richard Petty." Before the advent of ESPN and TNT, this was somewhat akin to saying you were the second most popular football team in Alabama. Personally, I thought Harry Gant was one hell of a driver, but I liked Dale Earnhardt's Wrangler machine more.
Even the description of the stunts in his films are devoid of any sort of emotion. I suppose that is good, as a lesser man (me) would have been scared shitless to fall backwards off a 45 foot cliff. Believe it or not, even Smokey and the Bandit is based on a real event, namely "a maid stealing Coors beer out of my fridge in Miami." What got Needham the money to do these films was one man, Burt Reynolds. Needham would probably never have become a director without him, and Needham seems a little wary of this. Reynolds had to be talked into doing the Cannonball Run because he did not want to do another fast car picture. I mean, who the fuck is going to give you money to do a movie about a fucked up race across the U.S.? Even if Needham is the man who tried to bring Jackie Chan to an American audience, that film is not made without Reynolds.
By that time, Farrah Fawcett had left Charlie's Angels and would not make a post-Run film for more than three years; Roger Moore had three unremarkable Bond films left in the tank. The Rat Pack leftovers were reduced to doing shtick. Needham acts as if this was a "cavalcade of stars" when in fact it was a group of people whose careers were in decline. This book would have been much better if it stuck to the stunts and the technical details and dangers of making films. In some ways, Needham seems least comfortable in writing about these things. We actually hear more in Needham's autobiography about who Burt Reynolds was dating. That's sad. Needham is due a lot of respect for his tireless work on behalf of stuntmen and women in Hollywood; give him that but don't bother with this book.
I was right except the stories were all about Mr. Needham and name dropping. Burt Reynolds, Kirk Douglass, Arnold Shcwarzenegger...even Have Gun, Will Travel makes an appearance. This has got to be the single most boring book about a man who has broken 56 bones that has ever been written. Here is a sample:
"He sounded like Burt Reynolds and looked like Burt Reynolds, but why was he talking to us (the women wondered)...Burt was always ready to help a couple of buddies in need." (201) or "I scratched him (the horse Alamo) affectionately under the chin. Arlene walked over and said if I treated her that well, maybe we'd have a better relationship." (131)
No crummy hotel in the country was safe from Hal Needham in the 1970s as long as Burt Reynolds was around. Needham's first marriage is summed up in about 3 pages, wherein he manages to say that "Hollywood types don't like cowboys". Probably because the fuckin' cowboy is chasing tail as Burt Reynold's wingman. When this magic association began to wear off (around the time Evening Shade became popular) Needham was owning a stock car team, which he calls "the second most popular in to The King, Richard Petty." Before the advent of ESPN and TNT, this was somewhat akin to saying you were the second most popular football team in Alabama. Personally, I thought Harry Gant was one hell of a driver, but I liked Dale Earnhardt's Wrangler machine more.
Even the description of the stunts in his films are devoid of any sort of emotion. I suppose that is good, as a lesser man (me) would have been scared shitless to fall backwards off a 45 foot cliff. Believe it or not, even Smokey and the Bandit is based on a real event, namely "a maid stealing Coors beer out of my fridge in Miami." What got Needham the money to do these films was one man, Burt Reynolds. Needham would probably never have become a director without him, and Needham seems a little wary of this. Reynolds had to be talked into doing the Cannonball Run because he did not want to do another fast car picture. I mean, who the fuck is going to give you money to do a movie about a fucked up race across the U.S.? Even if Needham is the man who tried to bring Jackie Chan to an American audience, that film is not made without Reynolds.
By that time, Farrah Fawcett had left Charlie's Angels and would not make a post-Run film for more than three years; Roger Moore had three unremarkable Bond films left in the tank. The Rat Pack leftovers were reduced to doing shtick. Needham acts as if this was a "cavalcade of stars" when in fact it was a group of people whose careers were in decline. This book would have been much better if it stuck to the stunts and the technical details and dangers of making films. In some ways, Needham seems least comfortable in writing about these things. We actually hear more in Needham's autobiography about who Burt Reynolds was dating. That's sad. Needham is due a lot of respect for his tireless work on behalf of stuntmen and women in Hollywood; give him that but don't bother with this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews