George Rice "Joie" Chitwood (April 14, 1912 – January 3, 1988) was an American stuntman, racing driver and businessman. He is best known as a daredevil in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show.

Early life

Chitwood was born in Denison, Texas. He was orphaned as a 14-year-old and he ended school after eighth grade. He switched back to the CSRA and won its title in 1942, Chitwood often portrayed a character known as 'Chief Wahoo.' Later on he and his son, Joie Jr., perfected driving a car on two wheels.

Chitwood's son Tim Chitwood became a highly prominent stunt driver and appeared in a number of movies. Chitwood's older son Joie Chitwood Jr., also worked as a stunt driver. In 2010, his grandson Joie Chitwood III became president of Daytona International Speedway.

Personal life

Chitwood's wife, Marie, worked as a dancer; she quit dancing after their marriage.

Retirement and death

After Chitwood retired, his sons took over the business. Joie Chitwood died on January 3, 1988, in Tampa Bay, Florida. Chitwood was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010. Among his contributions to the sport was the supervision of the construction of Pennsylvania's Selinsgrove Speedway in 1945.

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

!Year

!Car

!Start

!Qual

!Rank

!Finish

!Laps

!Led

!Retired

|-

!1940

|42

|26

|121.757

|25

|15

|190

|0

|Flagged

|-

!1941

|25

|27

|120.329

|29

|14

|177

|0

|Flagged

|-

!1946

|24

|12

|119.816

|28

|5

|200

|0

|Running

|-

!1947

|8

|22

|123.157

|10

|22

|51

|0

|Gears

|-

!1948

|55

|10

|124.619

|15

|17

|138

|0

|Fuel leak

|-

!1949

|77

|16

|126.863

|27

|5

|200

|0

|Running

|-

!1950

|17

|9

|130.757

|19

|5*

|136

|0

|Running

|-

|colspan=6|Totals

|1092

|0

|

|}

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

!Starts

|7

|-

!Poles

|0

|-

!Front Row

|0

|-

!Wins

|0

|-

!Top 5

|3

|-

!Top 10

|3

|-

!Retired

|2

|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> shared drive with Tony Bettenhausen

FIA World Drivers' Championship results

(key)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! WDC

! Points

|-

| 1950

! Ervin Wolfe

! Kurtis Kraft 2000

! Offenhauser L4

| GBR

| MON

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 500<br />

| SUI

| BEL

| FRA

| ITA

! 21st=

! 1

|}

: <nowiki>*</nowiki> Indicates shared drive with Tony Bettenhausen.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

|1968|| Fireball Jungle || || Uncredited

|-

|1973|| Live and Let Die || Charlie ||

|-

|1979|| Mr. No Legs || || (final film role)

|-

|1983

|Smokey and the Bandit Part 3

|Joie Chitwood Sr.

|Joie Chitwood Show - Stunts

|}

References

  • Sport: Joie Chitwood's Indianapolis Thrill Show (De Lachance Productions)