A Hollywood stuntman, whose career was fraught with 56 broken bones, details his exciting life, including his work in such films and TV shows as Mission: Impossible, The French Connection, The Spirit of St. Louis and more, as well as his work as a director and his ownership of a rocket car that broke the sound barrier. Yep, thats me, Hal Needham, on the cover doing a fire stunt. When youre on fire, you dont dare breathe, because if you do, youll suck those flames right down your throat. I was Hollywoods highest-paid stuntman, so I should know.Iwrecked hundreds of cars, fell from tall buildings, got blown up, was dragged by horses, and along the way broke fifty-six bones, my back twice, punctured a lung, and knocked out a few teeth....I hung upside down by my ankles under a biplane in The Spirit of St. Louis, jumped between galloping horses in Little Big Man, set a world record for a boat stunt in Gator, jumped a rocket-powered pickup truck across a canal for a GM commercial, was the first human to test the car air bag --- 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 and the sound barrier-breaking Budweiser Rocket Car, and I drove a souped-up fake ambulance in a little cross-country race called the Cannonball Run, which inspired 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 am a sharecroppers 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.Hollywoods not all sunglasses and autographs. Let me tell you a few stories... The incomparable, indestructible Hal Needham broke 56 bones and his back - twice - as a stuntman in movies and TV shows like Mission Impossible and TheFrench Connection. He hung upside down from an airplane in Spirit of St. Louis and jumped between galloping horses in Little Big Man. He taught John Wayne how really to throw a punch.When his stunt career working with the likes of Kirk Douglas and Steve McQueen was over, Needhams adventures continued. He directed the classics Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run, starring his roommate Burt Reynolds. He owned the Skoal Bandit NASCAR team and the Budweiser Rocket Car, which broke the sound barrier. Needham shares all the outrageous stories that could only come from a man who earned a living risking his life.
