Earl Moseman "Lucky" Teter (October 1, 1901 – July 5, 1942) was an American stunt driver, showman and entrepreneur. He pioneered and popularized the touring stunt driving show, performing across the country until his death in a car jumping stunt.
20-555: Teter may refer to: People [ edit ] Earl Lucky Teter (1901–1942), American stunt driver and promoter F. B. Teter (1873–1922), American politician Hannah Teter (born 1987), American snowboarder Nicole Teter (born 1973), American middle distance runner Geography [ edit ] Teter, West Virginia , United States, an unincorporated community Teter Creek , West Virginia See also [ edit ] Teter Myers French House , Hedgesville, West Virginia,
40-650: A character known as 'Chief Wahoo.' Audiences found the act believable on account of Chitwood having a darker skin tone. He also performed a ramp-to-ramp jump, using a car that devised by Teter. Later on he and his son, Joie Jr., perfected driving a car on two wheels. Chitwood's show was so popular that in January 1967, their performance at the Islip Speedway in New York was broadcast on ABC television's Wide World of Sports . Chitwood's sons, Joie Jr. and Tim, both joined
60-578: A dancer; she quit dancing after their marriage. The couple had two sons, Timmy and Joie Jr., born 1944. Joie Jr. had a son Joie Chitwood III (born 1971). After Chitwood retired, his sons took over the business. Joie Chitwood died on January 3, 1988, in Tampa Bay, Florida. Chitwood was named the President of the 100 Mile An Hour Club at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1967. The Eastern Auto Racing Club Old Timers Club inducted him in 1979, and he received
80-692: A daredevil in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show. Chitwood was born in Denison, Texas . He was orphaned as a 14-year-old and he ended school after eighth grade. He lived in Topeka, Kansas during the Dust Bowl -era, and was seeking employment during the Great Depression . His main job was a shoe shiner ; he also worked as a candy butcher for a burlesque show to earn additional income. He started learning
100-634: A guest challenger on the TV game show To Tell The Truth . Joie Jr. worked in over 60 feature films and national commercials. In 1983 Chitwood's show was featured in the movie Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 , where Sheriff Justice ends up the star of the show during his pursuit of The Bandit. Chitwood's show was credited by Evel Knievel as being his inspiration to become a daredevil when his show appeared in his home town of Butte, Montana. World-champion auto dive bomber Dusty Russell began his 50+ year career as
120-483: A mansion built by Teter French in 1860, on the National Register of Historic Places Charlene Teters (born 1952), Native American artist, educator and lecturer Teeter or Teater, a surname Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Teter . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
140-515: A stunt driver in 1951, when he performed at the age of 15 for Joie Chitwood's Auto Daredevils show in Idaho. Chitwood was frequently hired by Hollywood film studios to either do stunt driving for films or to act as auto-stunt coordinator. Chitwood was one of the stunt drivers in the Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck 1950 film about auto racing, To Please a Lady . Chitwood's wife, Marie, worked as
160-551: A trade by helping at a welding shop. Chitwood built his first race car from an Essex , driving the car after the driver failed to appear; he finished second. He started his racing career in 1934 at a dirt track in Winfield, Kansas . From there, he began racing big cars . In 1937 and 1938, he finished second in the Central States Racing Association (CSRA) season points standings. In 1939 and 1940 he switched to
180-447: The AAA / USAC National Championship . Chitwood participated in one World Drivers' Championship race at Indianapolis. He finished in fifth place, scoring one World Drivers' Championship point. Chitwood was dubbed "Joie" during his racing career, after a newspaper reporter misheard and misspelled Chitwood's name in an article. The writer confused St. Joe, Missouri (where Chitwood's race car
200-585: The American Automobile Association (AAA) East Coast Sprint car championship. He switched back to the CSRA and won its title in 1942, winning 14 consecutive CSRA features that season. Between 1940 and 1950, Chitwood raced in the Indianapolis 500 seven times, finishing fifth on three occasions. He was the first man ever to wear a safety belt, beginning at the 1941 Indianapolis 500 . Chitwood took
220-591: The New York State Fair at night, which required two sets of equipment. He is credited with creating such now-staple stunts as jumping a car from ramp to ramp and rolling a car. He was also the first to team up with an automobile company, in his case Plymouth , promoting its products in exchange for backing. Teter submitted entries for the 1936 Indianapolis 500 and the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup , but did not appear for either race. He also appeared in some documentary shorts and did some (uncredited) stunt driving for
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#1733092265764240-514: The 1936 film Speed , which featured James Stewart in his first starring role. On July 5, 1942, Teter was the last performer at an Army Relief benefit at the Indiana State Fair Grounds. He planned to break his own world distance record by jumping 150 feet (46 m) over a transport truck. He drove a 1938 Plymouth at 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and jumped off the first ramp, but came down several feet short and crashed into
260-435: The belt out of his dirt car because he liked how he was jostled around less, and could keep his foot on the throttle easier. Chitwood promised AAA officials Rex Mays and Wilbur Shaw that he would release the belt in the event of a crash, because drivers thought that it was safer to be thrown from a car during an accident. He won six major sprint car races in 1946. Chitwood won nine AAA East Coast features in 1947, including
280-468: The first race at Williams Grove Speedway . He retired from racing in 1950. The AAA / USAC -sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship participation, and were eligible to score WDC points alongside those which they may have scored towards
300-511: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teter&oldid=1241448224 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Lucky Teter Born in Noblesville, Indiana , Teter
320-406: The supports of the landing ramp. He died in the ambulance taking him to the hospital. After his death, his widow sold the show to Joie Chitwood . Teter was the subject of a 2011 documentary, Lucky Teter and His Hell Drivers . Joie Chitwood George Rice "Joie" Chitwood (April 14, 1912 – January 3, 1988) was an American stuntman , racing driver and businessman. He is best known as
340-444: The thrill show, and continued to run it after their father's retirement. The Chitwood show toured the U.S. from 1945 until 1998. On May 13, 1978, Joie Jr. set a world record when he drove a Chevrolet Chevette for 5.6 miles (9.0 km) on just two wheels. Chitwood's show was featured during season 3 of CHiPs in an episode entitled "Thrill Show". Joie Jr. did stunts for Miami Vice on several occasions. Joie Jr. also appeared as
360-581: Was a gas station attendant who, by 1932, was performing automobile and motorcycle stunts. "Lucky Teter and His Hell Drivers" performed across the United States and Canada beginning in 1936, and had great success for six years. His show was so popular that, in some years, he performed at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in the afternoons, then flew to Syracuse, New York , to appear in
380-408: Was an exhibition of auto stunt driving, and became so successful Chitwood cut back his racing endeavors significantly. Often called "Hell Drivers," Chitwood had five units that for more than forty years toured across North America , thrilling audiences in large and small towns alike with death-defying automobile stunts. Although not claiming to be of Native American descent, Chitwood often portrayed
400-462: Was built) with "George", and when typesetting the article, added an "i" by mistake to spell "Joie." The nickname stuck for life. In 1942, stuntman Lucky Teter died, and Chitwood took over the show after being asked by Teter's widow to sell the equipment. Chitwood was unable to find a buyer during World War II . Chitwood was deemed 4-F , and taught welding at factories. He began operating what he called "the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show." The show
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