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.

Biography

Born in

Noblesville, Indiana Noblesville is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Indiana, Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, a part of the north Indianapolis suburbs along the White River (Indiana), White River. The population was 69,604 at the 2020 Unite ...

, Teter 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 The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual fair that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Labour Day (Canada), ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in the afternoons, then flew to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, to appear in the

New York State Fair The New York State Fair, also known as the Great New York State Fair, is a 13-day showcase of agriculture, entertainment, education, and technology. With Midway (fair), midway rides, concessionaires, exhibits, and concerts, it has become New Yo ...

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 Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, promoting its products in exchange for backing. Teter submitted entries for the

1936 Indianapolis 500 The 24th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1936. The race was part of the 1936 AAA Championship Car season. The race is remembered for three noteworthy Indy traditions getti ...

and the 1937

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County, New York, Nass ...

, but did not appear for either race. He also appeared in some documentary shorts and did some (uncredited) stunt driving for the 1936 film ''

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

'', which featured

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

in his first starring role. On July 5, 1942, Teter was the last performer at an Army Relief benefit at the

Indiana State Fair The Indiana State Fair is an annual state fair that spans 15 days in August in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. The Indiana State Fair debuted in 1852 at Military Park in Indianapolis and is the sixth oldest state fair in the U.S. It is the largest ...

Grounds. He planned to break his own world distance record by jumping over a transport truck. He drove a 1938 Plymouth at and jumped off the first ramp, but came down several feet short and crashed into 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 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 ...

Documentary

Teter was the subject of a 2011 documentary, ''Lucky Teter and His Hell Drivers''.

References

External links

*
A short clip of Teter jumping over a bus
courtesy of

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teter, Lucky 1901 births 1942 deaths American stunt performers Stunt drivers People from Noblesville, Indiana