Kitty O'Neil

March 24 marks the 77th birth anniversary of a legendary stuntwoman and racer Kitty O'Neil. Google paid tribute to her with its Doodle.

Kitty refused to see her deafness as a roadblock, often referring to it as an asset. Mar 24, 2023 IST4 Min(s) Read In the Doodle, O’Neil could be seen racing a vehicle, jumping out of a helicopter and posing victoriously while wearing an orange suit.

Google celebrates the life of stunt performer Kitty O'Neil who set a land speed record in 1976 in a rocket-powered vehicle.

[ she crashed and died](https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2019/08/28/Fastest-woman-on-4-wheels-Jessi-Combs-dies-in-crash/4661567021867/) while doing so, stunt driver Jessi Combs broke the mark set by O'Neil, also at the Alvord Desert in 2019. After she established the mark, she was told she couldn't try to set the men's record because Needham's sponsors had already paid for him to do so. March 24 (UPI) -- Kitty O'Neil was once dubbed the "fastest woman in the world." Her father is Irish and her mother is a member of the Cherokee Nation. But her biggest accomplishment was setting a women's speed record. But she forged ahead despite the disability first becoming a diver, then a stunt performer when her diving career ended due to injury.

Today is the 77th birthday of Kitty O'Neil, a renowned American stuntwoman and actress who was hearing-impaired from a very young age. Get to know about ...

Also, she became the first woman to join Stunts Unlimited, an organization for top stunt performers in Hollywood. Apart from this, she set a women’s high fall record of 127 feet in his performance as a stunt double in an episode of the Wonder Woman Series. In 1976, she received the honorable title of ‘fastest woman alive’ for breaking previous records for rocket-powered car drivers. Kitty O’Neil was an American stuntwoman and actor who suffered from an illness in her childhood which affected her hearing capacity to the extent that she became deaf. She was the reason Kitty learned lip-reading after losing her hearing ability. Despite numerous challenges that she faced since her childhood, she went on to become one of the most recognized stunt performers in Hollywood.

Kitty O'Neil was a stuntwoman for Lynda Carter in the 1970s TV series "Wonder Woman."

[Consider supporting local journalism with a subscription to the Caller-Times](https://offers.caller.com/specialoffer?gps-source=CPTOPNAVBAR&utm_campaign=specialoffer&utm_medium=onsite&utm_source=topnavbar). "She was an absolute daredevil who paved the way for many future stunt athletes. Thank you for the memories. "Kitty O’Neil was a beautiful, amazing dear friend," Carter wrote. I say to people I can do anything I want." "People say I can't do anything.

In 1976, O'Neil was crowned “the fastest woman alive” after speeding across the Alvord Desert at 512.76 MPH.

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The barrier-breaking driver set the women's land-speed record in 1976, reaching 512.710 mph. She would have turned 77 today.

According to various accounts, O’Neil’s vehicle was limited to roughly 60-percent power, allegedly to allow her stunt partner, movie legend Hal Needham, to break the outright record and fulfill the wishes of their sponsors. By her mid-20s, O’Neil had become an off-road racer, competing in the Baja 500 and the Mint 400 during the early 1970s. O’Neil later broke her own record by taking a 180-foot stunt fall from a helicopter. However, she broke her wrist and contracted spinal meningitis before the trials for the 1964 Tokyo Games. O’Neil grew up as a competitive diver and was aiming to qualify for the U.S. In case you missed it: [These Are the Worst Automotive Products on Amazon](https://jalopnik.com/worst-car-truck-parts-products-to-buy-off-amazon-1850253824) [America’s Nasty Diesel Fuel Keeps Ruining Bosch Fuel Pumps](https://jalopnik.com/diesel-fuel-pump-failure-ram-jeep-bmw-bosch-nhtsa-probe-1850256303) [More of the Best New 2023 Motorcycles for Beginners](https://jalopnik.com/new-2023-beginner-motorcycles-honda-ktm-yamaha-kawasaki-1850243662) [Kitty O’Neil](https://jalopnik.com/kitty-oneil-deaf-daredevil-and-worlds-fastest-woman-d-1830239603) was born in 1946 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In 1976, she was dubbed the 'fastest woman alive,' after driving a car at more than 500mph.

She died in 2018 at the age of 72. She was the first woman to join Stunts Unlimited, an organisation for Hollywood’s top stunt performers. [record](/topic/record) by nearly 200mph.

Today, Google honored Kitty O'Neil, the original "fastest woman alive," and one impressive land speed driver.

Kitty O'Neil, a stuntwoman and stunt driver, earned the title of “fastest woman in the world” when she drove a rocket-powered car called The Motivator in ...

When O’Neil tried to set the overall record later, she was told it wasn’t possible because of Needham’s sponsorship commitments. This is a testament to the incredible contributions that O’Neil made to the world of entertainment, despite facing challenges that would have prevented many other people from pursuing their dreams. Despite being deaf, O’Neil accomplished this impressive feat, and went on to become a respected figure in the world of stunts in movies and TV shows.