Former stuntman, NASCAR owner Hal Needham dies

 
   Hal Needham, a longtime stuntman, movie director and NASCAR team owner, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 82.

  

   Needhamserved as director of “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run” for Burt Reynolds and from 1981 to 1989 he and Reynolds co-owned Harry Gant’s No. 33 with which he won nine races and 13 poles.

   During his Hollywood career, Needham won an Emmy and an Oscar, appeared in 4,500 television episodes and 350 feature films.

 

   Read more on Needham here.