At age 82, Hollywood's most famous stuntman Hal Needham passed away yesterday. Such was this stunt artist's fame through the 60s and 70s that he was able to turn director, for films such as Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run. He frequently doubled for Burt Reynolds, with whom he became close friends. His final stunt credit was for Michael Cimino's 1996 The Sunchaser. One of his most successful enterprises in the film industry was in camera innovations, and he received a Scientific and Engineering Award in 1987 from AMPAS, alongside a Governors Award last year. He was married twice. Recently, Needham was diagnosed with cancer.
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