
Person
Chuck Yeager
Acting · 1923–2020 · Myra, West Virginia, USA
Biography
Retired Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager (February 13, 1923 - December 7, 2020) was a former United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager shot down at least 11 enemy aircraft, mostly flying a P-51 Mustang, on the Western Front during WWII. After the war, he went on to become a test pilot during a time of major investment and rapid technological development of aircraft in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Flying the Bell X-1, a small experimental rocket-powered aircraft, Yeager became the first human to officially break the sound barrier (exceeding Mach 1), on October 14, 1947. He continued to test pilot a variety of aircraft and set many subsequent aviation records.
Known for

CBS News Sunday Morning
Self (archive footage)

Goodyear Television Playhouse
1951

The Right Stuff
Fred
This Is Your Life
Self

Smokey and the Bandit II
Party Guest
Spaceflight
1985

Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary
Self

Air & Space Smithsonian: Dreams of Flight - Higher Faster Farther
Self
Breaking the Sound Barrier
Self
The Real Men with 'The Right Stuff'
Self
Filmography
- 2003The Real Men with 'The Right Stuff'Self
- 1995Air & Space Smithsonian: Dreams of Flight - Higher Faster FartherSelf
- 1986Looney Tunes 50th AnniversarySelf
- 1985Spaceflight
- 1983The Right StuffFred
- 1983This Is Your LifeSelf
- 1980Smokey and the Bandit IIParty Guest
- 1979CBS News Sunday MorningSelf (archive footage)
- 1951Goodyear Television Playhouse
- 1947Breaking the Sound BarrierSelf
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