Hal Needham

Hal Brett Needham March 6 1931 October 25 2013 was an American stuntman film director actor and writer He is best known for his frequent collaborations with actor Burt Reynolds usually in films involving fast cars such as Smokey and the Bandit 1977 Hooper 1978 The Cannonball Run 1981 and Stroker Ace 1983 In his later years Needham moved out of stunt work and focused his energy on the World land speed record project In 2001 Needham received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards and in 2012 he was awarded a Governors Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Description above from the Wikipedia article Hal Needham licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia