Richard Petty

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BIRTHDAY

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RECENT CREDITS

Swing Vote (FILM) Aug. 1, 2008

Cars (FILM) Jun. 9, 2006

Speedway (FILM) Jun. 1, 1968

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BIOGRAPHY

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Stock car racer extraordinaire Richard Petty enjoyed not one but four distinct careers. In addition to chalking up a remarkable series of racing honors that included winning a Sprint Cup seven times and winning the Daytona 500 seven times (among countless other laurels), Petty parlayed his celebrity from these events into a lucrative and highly visible stint as a corporate spokesperson for brands including Goody's Headache Powder, Pepsi, and the STP motor oil company. Petty also embarked on a political career and -- as early as 1965 -- enjoyed periodic film roles, including many cameos as himself. Features included the sports dramas Thunder in Dixie (1965) and Corky (1972), a biopic of his own life and racing career starring himself and entitled 43: The Petty Story (1974) and (appropriately enough) the Disney-Pixar CG-animated family film Cars (2006), in which he voiced an automobile named The King. In 2008, Petty cameoed as himself to the Kevin Costner political comedy Swing Vote.

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

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