Kitty O'Neil Death
Kitty passed away on November 2, 2018 at the age of 72 in Eureka, South Dakota, USA. Kitty's cause of death was pneumonia.
When did Kitty O'Neil die?
November 2, 2018How did Kitty O'Neil die? What was the cause of death?
PneumoniaHow old was Kitty O'Neil when died?
72Where did Kitty O'Neil die? What was the location of death?
Eureka, South Dakota, USA
Kitty O'Neil Birthday and Date of Death
Kitty O'Neil was born on March 24, 1946 and died on November 2, 2018. Kitty was 72 years old at the time of death.
Birthday: March 24, 1946
Date of Death: November 2, 2018
Age at Death: 72
Kitty O'Neil - Biography
Kitty O'Neil (born March 24, 1946 in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American former stuntwoman and racer noted for a handful of exceptional accomplishments, despite becoming deaf when she was four months old. However she did not let this disability become an obstacle to achievement. She became a stunt woman at Hollywood because she was married to a stunt man, Duffy Hambleton.
By 1970 O'Neil had taken up racing on water and land, participating in the Baja 500 and Mint 400. She met stuntmen Hal Needham and Ron Hambleton while racing motorcycles, and lived with Hambleton, giving up racing for a time. In the mid-1970s she entered stunt work, training with Needham, Hambleton and Dar Robinson. In 1976 she became the first woman to perform with the leading stunt agency Stunts Unlimited. As a stuntwoman, she appeared in The Bionic Woman, Airport '77, The Blues Brothers, Smokey and the Bandit II and other television and movie productions.
In filming for a 1979 episode of Wonder Woman, she set a women's high-fall record of 127 feet (39 m) at the Valley Hilton in Sherman Oaks, California, later breaking the record with a 180-foot (55 m) fall from a helicopter. She credited her small size, at 5'-2" and 97 pounds (44 kg), for allowing her to withstand impact forces. In 1977 O'Neil set a women's record for speed on water of 275 miles per hour (443 km/h), and she held a 1970 women's water skiing record of 104.85 miles per hour (168.74 km/h). In 1978 her stunt career inspired a Kitty O'Neil action figure, made by Mattel.
O'Neil stepped away from stunt and speed work in 1982, after stunt colleagues were killed while performing. She moved to Minneapolis with Michaelson, and eventually moved to Eureka, South Dakota with Raymond Wald. When she retired, O'Neil had set 22 speed records on land and water.
