Know all about Kitty O’Neil; 'World’s fastest woman’ and world record-holder stuntwoman

Google paid a tribute to legendary stuntwoman and speed racer Kitty O’Neil on Friday by dedicating her a doodle on her 77th birthday. O’Neil started off as a swimmer, before transitioning into a speed racer on water and land. Despite being growing up without her hearing ability, she didn’t let anything stop her and went on to script several world records in the stunting and racing world. As per Google Trent, Kitty O'Neil was searched over 10 million times in India on Friday, March 24.

Bone on March 24, 1946, O’Neil tragically lost her hearing due to a combination of childhood illnesses. Her mother then taught her to lip-read and use sign language as she joined a swimming team at the age of 12 in 1958. Four years later, she started training with diving coach Sammy Lee, who was the first Asian American to bring Olympic gold glory to the US. 

From Olympics dream to speed racing records

However, she broke her wrist right ahead of the Olympics trials in 1964. O’Neil’s diving career was cut short after she contracted spinal meningitis the same year. Six years later she took up racing on water, and land, racing motorcycles, and automobiles, and set the official women's water ski speed record by ing 104.85 mph.

After venturing into stunt work in the mid-70s, she started training with Hal Needham, Duffy Hambleton, and Dar Robinson. In 1976, O’Neil became one of the first stunt women to work with Stunts Unlimited, which was the leading stunt agency in Hollywood. However, she set one of her most elusive speed records on December 6, 1976.

Fastest female driver on land and water

She clocked a speed of 512.71 mph in a three-wheeled rocket car known as the SMI Motivator and set the land-speed record for female drivers. The record stayed intact till 2019 when it was broken by  “Mythbuster” Jessi Combs. Unfortunately, Combs lost her life in an attempt to break the record.

The list of records broken by O’Neil continued to double as she set the women's record for speed on water by clocking 275 mph in 1977. The same year, she drove a rocket dragster in the Mojave Desert at an average speed of 279.5 mph. However, this is not considered to be an official drag racing record as according to National Hot Rod Association rules, the run needs to be repeated to be recognized as a record.

Kitty O'Neil's record-shattering stunt in Wonder Woman

Meanwhile, she is also remembered for setting the high-fall record of jumping from 127-foot (12 stories) while working as a stunt woman in the TV show ‘Wonder Woman’ in 1979. She landed the part as a substitute for Jeannie Eppe, who was the regular stunt double for actor Lynda Carter. She took the jump from the Valley Hilton rooftop in Sherman Oaks, CA and landed into an inflatable air bag on the hotel's pool deck.

This is regarded as her most famous Hollywood stunt, and she was also set herself on fire during her career. Kitty also had her own Barbie doll action figure and her experiences served as the basis for a biographical movie called, “Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story.”  She relocated from Los Angeles to Eureka in 1993, where she sadly passed away in 2019. She left being no children and survivors and was never married.