I well remember watching the 1973 movie Walking Tall at the theater. I don’t recall the sequels, but years later I had some professional dealings with Buford Pusser’s daughter in west Tennessee. The late sheriff had a thoroughly interesting story, which was made into a movie that was more or less accurate story of his life, but when it was a hit, the producers were compelled to make a sequel. And that meant the “true story” has to extend past reality, because the reality was, um, complicated. Joe Don Baker didn’t want to star in a sequel, so they hired Buford Pusser to portray himself.
Well, a few hours after signing the contract, Pusser went to the local county fair and apparently had a few to celebrate his forthcoming movie stardom. On his way home in his supercharged sports car, he slammed into a median, flying through the windshield before the car burst into flames. He was declared dead at the scene. Despite the reported blood alcohol level (twice the legal limit), to this day more than a few still insist the accident was the result of sabotage.
Pusser's death was incorporated into the second movie, which was also a hit, so somehow they came up with a third movie, which was even weirder. Read the strange and complex saga of the Walking Tall trilogy at Den of Geek.