Buford Pusser agreed to portray himself in this film but, hours after signing the contract, he was killed when his car ran off the road near his home in Adamsville, Tennessee. Some locals believe his car was sabotaged in retribution for his stamping out the illegal activities of the stateline mob on the Tennessee-Mississippi border.
Ironically, Bo Svenson met the real Dwana Pusser (Buford Pusser's daughter) and, while she was attempting to thank him for portraying her father in a favorable light, he told her that she needed to go on a diet.