She Was Deaf, She Was A Daredevil, And She Was Named The Fastest Woman In The World After She Drove A Rocket Car Through The Desert At 512 Miles Per Hour
When thinking about America’s most famous stunt people and daredevils, the first person that usually comes to mind is the legend Evil Knievel. But have you ever heard of Kitty O’Neil?
Kitty was an American racer, stuntwoman, and full-blown daredevil. Born in 1946 in Corpus Christi, Texas, Kitty was very sick as a baby.
She suffered from multiple illnesses at once, and all of the high fevers she lived through made her deaf. But did that stop her? No way!
Kitty loved various sports and hobbies at a young age, including swimming, diving, and playing the cello. In 1962, her family moved to California so she could train to dive in the Olympics with professional gold medalists. Unfortunately, not long after their move, she broke her wrist and contracted spinal meningitis.
Once Kitty had healed, she decided that she wanted to pursue something else, something more thrilling. So, in the 1970s, she got into racing.
It was like there was nothing Kitty wouldn’t try. She raced cars, boats, motorcycles, dune buggies, etc. She participated in events like the Baja 500 and Mint 400.
During her racing days, she met people who worked on film and TV as stuntmen. By the mid-1970s, she decided to give it a try herself.
Kitty became the first woman to work for Stunts Unlimited, which was the leading stunt agency at the time. She performed in big films like The Blues Brothers and The Bionic Woman.
Perhaps her most famous television stunt was when she set the women’s high-fall record on the set of an episode of Wonder Woman in 1979.
click_and_photo – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Kitty fell 127 feet from the 12-story tall Valley Hilton in Sherman Oaks, California. She broke her record one year later from a helicopter! Kitty was undoubtedly a star and even had her own action-figure Barbie doll made for her by Mattel in 1978.
That wasn’t the only record she broke. In 1976, Kitty was named the fastest woman in the world when she drove in the Oregon desert in a rocket car called the SMI Motivator. She drove at an average of 512 miles per hour. Don’t try it at home!
As thrilling and fascinating Kitty’s work in the stunt and racing world was, she eventually stopped, especially after seeing colleagues get brutally injured or die.
She retired in 1982 and eventually settled in Eureka, South Dakota, before passing away from pneumonia in 2018 at the age of 72.
Overall, she had set 22 land and water speed records throughout her career. Amazing, right? To this day, Kitty’s career inspires thrill-seekers everywhere.
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