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Buford PusserBuford Pusser (December 12, 1937 - August 21, 1974) was the sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee from 1964 to 1970. Pusser's life was the subject of Walking Tall, a 1973 film that became a cult classic (with two direct sequels of its own). This was remade in 2004 as a somewhat less realistic and more mainstream film by the same name (also dedicated to Pusser), starring The Rock. Pusser waged a virtual one-man war on moonshining, gambling and other vices on the Mississippi-Tennessee border. During his tenure as Sheriff he was shot eight times and stabbed seven. His "war" on the "State Line Mob" was brought to national prominence when his wife was killed in an ambush that was meant for him on August 12, 1967. Pusser was the subject of three biographical books written by W.R. Morris: The Twelfth Of August, Buford: A Biography, and The State Line Mob. The movie, Walking Tall, is a combination of loosely based fact and Hollywood revisionism sold as a biography. There is a Buford Pusser Museum at the house where Pusser was living at the time of his death in 1974. One newspaper article on the wall at the museum has Buford saying that Walking Tall was "60 percent true." It should be noted that there are those who believe that he was corrupt and was involved in much of the vice that took place at the State Line establishments. Some local residents report that he took bribes from moonshiners and the owners of the State Line bars and brothels. They contend the violence was the result of conflicts between the corrupt Sheriff and the criminal element that thrived in the area. This is vigorously disputed by others and each year in May there is a Buford Pusser Day in Adamsville, Tennessee, his hometown. External links Pusser, Buford Pusser, Buford
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