Kitty O’Neil Biography
Kitty O’Neil, officially known as Kitty Linn O’Neil was an American stuntwoman and racer born on March 24, 1946,
An illness in early childhood left her deaf, and more illnesses in early adulthood cut short a career in competitive diving.
Her subsequent career as a stuntwoman and race driver led to her depiction in a television movie and as an action figure.
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She had taken up racing on water and land, participating in the Baja 500 and Mint 400. Her women’s absolute land speed record stood until 2019 and was given the title of “the fastest woman in the world”.
In the mid-1970s, she entered stunt work, training with Needham, Hambleton, and Dar Robinson.
In 1976, she became the first woman to perform with Stunts Unlimited, the leading stunt agency. In December 1976, in southeastern Oregon’s Alvord Desert, O’Neil set the land-speed record for female drivers.
In 1977 in the Mojave Desert, O’Neil piloted a hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket dragster built by Ky Michaelson with an average speed of 279.5 mph (449.8 km/h).
In 1979, O’Neil’s experiences served as the basis for a biographical movie Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, starring Stockard Channing.
As a stuntwoman, she appeared in The Bionic Woman, Airport ’77, The Blues Brothers, Smokey and the Bandit II, and other television and movie productions.
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O’Neil stepped away from stunt and speed work in 1982 after stunt colleagues were killed while performing. When O’Neil retired, she had set 22-speed records on land and water.
She died on Friday, November 2, 2018, of pneumonia in Eureka, South Dakota, at age 72. On March 24, 2023, Google celebrated Kitty O’Neil’s 77th birthday with a doodle.
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Kitty O’Neil Parents
She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States to John O’Neil (father) and Patsy Compton O’Neil (mother).
Her mother was a native Cherokee while her father was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces, who had been an oil wildcatter. He died in an airplane crash during Kitty’s childhood.
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