1. Kitty Linn O'Neil was an American stuntwoman and auto-racer, often called "the fastest woman in the world" for her various speed records.
21 Facts About Kitty O'Neil
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Kitty O'Neil appeared in numerous television and film projects, lent her likeness to an action figure, was honored at the 91st Academy Awards, and in March 2023 with a Doodle in the Google search.
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Kitty Linn O'Neil was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on March 24,1946.
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Kitty O'Neil's father, was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces, who had been an oil wildcatter.
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Kitty O'Neil died in an airplane crash during Kitty's childhood.
6.
At five months of age, Kitty O'Neil contracted simultaneous childhood diseases, losing her hearing.
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Kitty O'Neil trained beginning in 1964 with diving coach Sammy Lee.
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Kitty O'Neil competed in 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle swimming at the 1965 Summer Deaflympics.
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Kitty O'Neil met stuntmen Hal Needham and Ron Hambleton while racing motorcycles, and lived with Hambleton, giving up racing for a time.
10.
In filming for a 1979 episode of Wonder Woman, Kitty O'Neil was hired to perform a stunt of high difficulty for Jeannie Epper, Lynda Carter's usual stunt double.
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Kitty O'Neil later broke her record with a 180-foot fall from a helicopter.
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In 1977, Kitty O'Neil set a women's record for speed on water of 275 miles per hour, and she held a 1970 women's water skiing record of 104.85 miles per hour.
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On 6 December 1976, in southeastern Oregon's Alvord Desert, Kitty O'Neil set the land-speed record for female drivers.
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Kitty O'Neil piloted a $350,000 hydrogen peroxide powered three-wheeled rocket car built by Bill Fredrick called the "SMI Motivator".
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Kitty O'Neil was contracted to break only the women's land speed record, and was obligated to allow Hal Needham to set the overall record.
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In 1979, O'Neil's experiences served as the basis for a biographical film, Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story, starring Stockard Channing.
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Kitty O'Neil commented that about half of the film was an accurate depiction.
18.
Kitty O'Neil stepped away from stunt and speed work in 1982 after stunt colleagues were killed while performing.
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Kitty O'Neil moved to Minneapolis with Michaelson, and eventually moved to Eureka, South Dakota, with Raymond Wald.
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When she retired, Kitty O'Neil had set 22 speed records on land and water.
21.
Kitty O'Neil died on November 2,2018, of pneumonia in Eureka, South Dakota, at age 72.