Kitty O'Neil

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Kitty O'Neil (born March 24, 1946 in Corpus Christi , Texas , † November 2, 2018 in Eureka , South Dakota ) was an American racing driver and stunt woman . From 1976 to 2019 she was considered the "fastest woman in the world".

Life

Kitty O'Neil was the daughter of an Air Force officer and a Native American from the Cherokee tribe . She contracted mumps , measles and smallpox at the same time when she was five months old , and subsequently lost her hearing . Her mother managed to teach her to speak anyway, and she learned lip reading too . Later she could even play the piano and cello . Kitty O'Neil's father died in a plane crash when she was a child. As a teenager, she was a successful water diver and was considered a co-favorite for qualifying for the 1964 Olympic Games , but broke her wrist before the decisive competition.

As an adult, O'Neil developed severe meningitis . She ignored the doctors' diagnosis that she might never walk again, learned to control her legs, and was able to get out of bed two weeks later. Since she would have had to learn a lot from diving through the illness, she turned to new interests.

“I got sick and therefore had to start over. I got bored. I wanted to do something fast. Speed. Motorcycle. Water-skiing. Boat. Everything imaginable."

- Kitty O'Neil : In an interview with a small radio station in South Dakota

Before she was 30 years old, she developed cancer and had to undergo two operations.

In the 1970s, she broke several speed records on land and water and set new ones. Her husband had introduced her to William Fredrick, who was a Hollywood specialist in special effects , who also built rocket vehicles and gave her a cockpit seat. On December 6, 1976, in the Alvord Desert in the state of Oregon , she reached a speed of 990 km / h with the SMI Motivator rocket car , just a few km / h slower than the speed record for land vehicles at the time . However, since the SMI Motivator only had three wheels, the record was not recognized by the FIA - the world automobile association. The FIM - the world motorcycle association - however, awarded it the record speed of 825.13 km / h, which is calculated from an average of two runs. Kitty O'Neil exceeded the value of the fastest woman in a land vehicle to date and held this record until August 2019. O'Neil wanted to make a second attempt on December 7th to break the men's record, but was not allowed to start again . Her contract was only for breaking the women's record, with director Hal Needham going to drive more races . O'Neil tried unsuccessfully to get another start in the vehicle through a lawsuit, which she had only reached 60% of her record. Also in the 1970s, she took part in motorcycle, speedboat and drag races.

She then turned to the film business and worked for several years as a stunt woman , including in The Seven Million Dollar Woman , Baretta , Verschollen im Bermuda Triangle , September 30, 1955 , Blues Brothers and Das Auskochte Schlitzohr is on the move again . For the television series Wonder Woman , she jumped from the roof of the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles into an air cushion and set another record with a height of 40 meters. She broke this record a short time later when she jumped from a helicopter from a height of 55 meters.

Kitty O'Neil has set a total of 22 speed records on land and water in her life.

In 1982, after several stuntmen had fatal accidents while filming, Kitty O'Neil retired into private life. She got involved in an association that advocates the early detection and prevention of breast cancer . She died on November 2, 2018 at the age of 72 in Eureka of complications from pneumonia.

In 2019 she was awarded the Oscar in Memoriam .

Trivia

North American Eagle

Kitty O'Neil's speed record for women lasted until August 2019. TV presenter and racing driver Jessi Combs , who co- hosted Overhaulin ' , tried several times to break the record. O'Neil stated in an interview that she met Combs in person and was proud of her. She added that if Combs broke her record, she would see it as a challenge and set a new record. On August 27, 2019, less than a year after Kitty O'Neil passed away, Combs and the North American Eagle were killed in a new attempt to set a new speed record for women. In June 2020, Combs was awarded the new land speed record for women at a speed of 841.338 km / h.

Kitty O'Neil's life was filmed under the title Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story by Lou Antonio with Stockard Channing in the lead role. O'Neil said of the film that only half of it was true.

The Mattel toy company had Kitty O'Neil action figures in its range.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Martin Pfaffenzeller: Kitty O'Neil: The fastest woman in the world is dead. In: Spiegel Online . November 6, 2018, accessed August 29, 2019 .
  2. ^ The Guardian: Kitty O'Neil: the incredible story of the fastest woman in the world
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Harrison Smith: Obituaries: Kitty O'Neil, deaf daredevil who became 'world's fastest woman,' dies at 72. In: washingtonpost.com . November 4, 2018, accessed November 7, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Coles Phinizy: A rocket ride to glory and gloom , Sports Illustrated, Jan. 17, 1977, pp. 29-34
  5. ↑ Fastest land speed record (female) on guinnessworldrecords.com, accessed June 29, 2020
  6. ↑ This Day in History: December 06, 1976: Deaf stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil sets women's land speed record. In: history.com . November 13, 2009, accessed November 7, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Kitty O'Neil - Oscars in Memoriam 2019 on oscar.go.com, accessed May 13, 2020
  8. ↑ Jessi Combs: race car driver dies while trying to break speed record on theguardian.com, accessed August 29, 2019
personal data
SURNAME O'Neil, Kitty
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American racing driver and stunt woman
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Corpus Christi , Texas
DATE OF DEATH 2nd November 2018
Place of death Eureka , South Dakota