1. Dick Richards Was Fired Because Burt Reynolds Hit Him (And Because He Injured Himself) - Heat
For a director that most people have probably even heard of, Dick Richards sure has had one hilariously awkward movie career - I don't think ol' Dick was supposed to be a director, you know. And that goes doubly when - fresh with the previous
Jaws story in your mind - you learn that he was brought in as a replacement director for the 1986 Burt Reynolds movie
Heat (no, not the Michael Mann one), only to find himself alienated from this project, too, although this time it wasn't because he failed to differentiate two animals. The production for this movie is famously insane, given that there were six different director utilised over just 30 days of shooting, one of whom was our friend Dick. On
Heat, he fell out with Reynolds, who opted to punch him ("That's for calling the shark a
whale!"). Because of this dispute, Richards left, but later returned - and here's the horrible/funny part (?) - he fell from a camera crane and ended up in hospital, forcing
another firing upon himself. The fact that he got injured isn't funny, but the fact that he kept getting himself sacked is just hilarious. An unsung hero of Hollywood, if ever there was one: the legendary Dick Richards, everyone. Superb.
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