[attach id=288186 size="medium" align="left"]Hal Needham at the 2011 Texas Book Festival. Photo: Larry D. Moore[/attach]

Hal Needham, a top Hollywood stuntman who turned to directing rousing action films including Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run, has died at 82.

A former paratrooper, Needham appeared in thousands of TV episodes and hundreds of movies, performing and designing stunts and new equipment to execute them.

He jumped from planes and was dragged by horses and wrecked cars – breaking 56 bones in the process.

His best-known directing efforts involved 1970s Burt Reynolds action comedies, including Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Cannon-ball Run (1981) and Stroker Ace (1983).

He also directed Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Villain (1979).

In a Twitter posting, Schwarz-enegger called Needham an icon.

Needham received an honorary Oscar last year.