{"product_id":"stuntman","title":"Stuntman!","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe classic no-holds-barred memoir from Hollywood's most legendary stuntman -- an inspiration for Brad Pitt's character Cliff Booth in \u003ci\u003eOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood \u003c\/i\u003e-- is \"full of incredible stories as told by a real man of action\" (Arnold Schwarzenegger). \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYep 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Spirit of St. Louis\u003c\/i\u003e, jumped between galloping horses in\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLittle Big Man\u003c\/i\u003e, set a world record for a boat stunt on \u003ci\u003eGator\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLife 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Cannonball Run\u003c\/i\u003e, which became the movie I directed by the same name. Oh yeah, I also directed \u003ci\u003eSmokey and the Bandit\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHooper\u003c\/i\u003e and several other action\/comedy movies that I liked a bunch.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHollywood's not all sunglasses and autographs. Let me tell you a few stories...\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown and Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41514571792562,"sku":"9780316078993","price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0536\/7418\/0786\/files\/O_9cd89904-8904-454c-89fe-922ef941af18.jpg?v=1769176926","url":"https:\/\/shop.hachettebookgroup.com\/products\/stuntman","provider":"Hachette Book Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}