Book Review: Stuntman bu Hal Needham


" 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…"




As a long time fan, Mom was thrilled to read this book for me when it came in! So here's another review from her!


Review: A most thrilling story of a poor farm boy turned academy award winner! A "very dramatic life" does not do this man justice! he is the life force of a Hollywood stuntman, the epitome that all look up to!


This book is a fast read, interesting reading on how the stunts on some of our classic movies were done, and the stories behind the movies and the stunts! He really gives you a different perspective on how movies are made!The stories are mostly ones the world never knew about (in the days before Twitter, YouTube and Facebook!). When you see movie stunts after reading this book, you will be more impressed and feel more for the stuntspeople, than the stars! 


After finishing this book, I turned on the tv and (cue Twilight Zone music), the movie Gator was on. We watched it and looked carefully at all the stunts that Needham had spoken about in his book. It was very interesting to put the two together!


Needham was invincible! As someone once said, he is "truly a man's man". Read this book and you will see for yourself!


This book would be perfect gift for Father's Day (or Mother's day!)!








Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this card for review purposes, free of charge, from Planned TV Arts.  No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about the book.

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