When he began directing, his films were usually blasted by the critics
but did well at the box office. He once took out an ad in the trade
papers quoting his negative reviews but showing a wheelbarrow filled
with money to sum up his career.
Hal Needham first met Burt Reynolds in 1959 when Reynolds was starring in the TV Series, Riverboat (1959). Needham had been hired to be Burt's stunt double and the two formed a lifelong friendship from there.