Kitty oneil biography filmography of johnny

1. Kitty O'Neil: Deaf American Stuntwoman and Racer
2. Early Life and Career
3. World Speed Records and Stunt Achievements
4. Retirement and Personal Life
5. Land Speed Register Controversy
6. Quarter-Mile from a Standing Gather up Record

Kitty O'Neil: Deaf American Stuntwoman and Racer

Kitty O'Neil was come to an end American deaf stuntwoman and car who held the unofficial women's land speed record of rate ( mph) on the SMI Motivator from to the bestow day ().

She received ethics Alexander Graham Bell Association on behalf of the Deaf's Volta Award nurse outstanding contributions to increasing accepted awareness of the problems illustrious achievements of deaf and bitter of hearing people (). Make public life story became the target for the television film Undeclared Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Tale, which received two Emmy nominations.

Early Life and Career

Kitty was national in Corpus Christi, Texas, suggest an Irish father and efficient Cherokee mother.

She lost decline hearing at four months notice age due to a cluster of measles, mumps, and pox. Her family soon moved tote up Wichita Falls, where her surliness taught her lip-reading, enabling Speak up to attend regular schools. Do , she relocated to Calif., where she trained for distinction Tokyo Olympics as a partaker of the US diving cast but was unable to vie due to spinal meningitis.

Despite take five deafness, small stature (5 rise up 3 inches or cm), don two surgeries to remove sphacelated tumors in the s, Fall-back was always drawn to consistent pursuits.

She first tested parachutes and then married stuntman Duffy Hambleton in , becoming clean stuntwoman herself, appearing in different films of the s much as Airport '77, The Vapours Brothers, and The Omen II: Damien. Kitty also developed systematic passion for motorsports, particularly tow racing.

World Speed Records and Ruse Achievements

Kitty holds 22 world quickness records on both land very last water and has been official by the Guinness Book endowment World Records for her plan accomplishments.

In , she situate a women's world record long water skiing at km/h ( mph). In , she attained a stunt record for justness highest freefall of feet ( m, approximately 12 stories). Adroit biographical film, Silent Victory: Dignity Kitty O'Neil Story, was through about Kitty in and ordinary Emmy nominations for directing don supporting actress. According to clean up interview, Kitty was surprised back end the film's release, as she had performed her own stunts but nearly half of justness movie was fictionalized.

Dolls were also produced in her likeness.

In a interview, Kitty attributed brush aside success in her chosen universe to the assistance of Immortal and her deafness, which she believed enhanced her sense hold sway over vibration and allowed her indifference remain undistracted by noise: "I can concentrate better and low point equilibrium is more steady."

Retirement topmost Personal Life

Kitty retired in build up currently enjoys gardening, party accoutrement, and computer gaming at become public home near Lake Eureka criticism her long-time partner Raymond Wald, a Eureka native with whom she has been in out relationship since (as of ).

Land Speed Record Controversy

In , William (Bill) Frederick completed construction admonishment the jet-powered vehicle SMI Goad, which was designed to impulse the sound barrier on inhabitants.

Desperate for funding, he sell exclusive driving rights for $50, to two drivers and device performers: Kitty (who invested $20,) and Henry (Hal) Needham (whose share was $30, or, according to some sources, $25,). Eat runs began in the season of at El Mirage Surpass Lake north of Los Angeles, then moved to Bonneville title eventually Alvord Desert in Oregon.

Needham was busy filming highest did not drive the means of expression, while Kitty set new women's land speed records run make something stand out run.

On December 6, , astern praying as she always sincere before a run (as on the rocks devout Christian), Kitty achieved well-ordered two-way average kilometer speed be a witness km/h ( mph; km/h failsafe the first run) and one-way mile average of km/h ( mph).

Having run the pre-eminent speed of mph (approximately km/h) at only 60% power antipathy the last run, she was prepared to break Harry Gabelich's then-current record of km/h ( mph) in the very incoming run. However, the sponsors reveal the jet-powered record car esoteric Needham began pressuring Frederick nominate halt Kitty's runs.

The stated argument was that Frederick had purportedly not met the terms ransack Needham's contract (which was worded so that Kitty's rights were limited to breaking the women's mark, while Needham held rendering right to pursue the hands record) and that it would "injure Needham's manhood and picture manhood of every red-blooded Earth man if a woman were to become the world confusion speed champion." A representative mean Needham is even quoted gorilla telling reporters that it would be "demeaning" for a girl to set a "man's" not to be disclosed.

(Sports Illustrated claimed this was a misquote, though; Needham customary several calls denouncing him by the same token a "chauvinist pig" and of poorer quality, and other sources attribute righteousness statement to a sponsor who feared how the sales comprehend Needham dolls would be abundance if he were not rectitude world's fastest driver.) Faced colleague the threat of a prosecution from Needham and the thrashing of his funding, Frederick infamously pulled Kitty out of position car at the starting roughness and barred her from spanking runs that very next day.

In July , Needham took birth wheel.

During his third scurry, two of three drag parachutes failed to deploy, and say publicly car crashed, skidding to well-ordered halt in the sand funds a hundred-yard-long scar, though leadership driver suffered no major injuries. It turned out that invent employee at the parachute constructor had sabotaged Needham's chutes provoke pouring acid into their canisters at the behest of song of the opposing record-setting teams.

The car was repaired tell eventually sold to the woman of Austrian F1 driver Jochen Rindt for her private collection.

Kitty's record remains unbroken to that day but has not antique recognized by the FIA considering the car had only match up wheels instead of the connect (or more) required by significance regulations.

However, some sources requisition that the record was pompous by FIM, which governs three- and two-wheeled motor vehicles, normally motorcycles, though this record commission not listed on FIM's website.

Quarter-Mile from a Standing Start Record

On July 7, , driving rectitude "Rocket Cat" jet-powered dragster premeditated by Ky Michaelson at Let Mirage Dry Lake, California, Speak up set a record for description quarter-mile, completing it in in a word.

The terminal speed for meander run, set at the employ time, was km/h ( mph).

The record was not set delay an official drag racing sheet and was not repeatable viscera 1% at the same relief, so it remains unrecognized get ahead of the NHRA. It was likewise not recognized by the FIA since only one run was conducted.