Evel Knievel Biography
Daredevil
Name at birth: Robert Craig Knievel
Evel Knievel brought the spirit of P.T. Barnum to daredevil motorcycle jumps in the 1970s. Dressed in his signature red, white and blue jumpsuit, Knievel would race his motorcycle up steep ramps and over obstacles, including the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas (in 1968) and a row of 13 double-decker buses at London's Wembley Stadium (in 1975). Often he crash-landed, thrilling viewers while breaking dozens of bones. His most famous stunt was an attempted jump over Idaho's Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered "motorcycle" in 1974. The attempt failed when the craft's parachute opened prematurely, but Knievel survived. He retired in 1981; his son Robbie Knievel succeeded him as the family motorcycle daredevil. Evel Knievel received a liver transplant in 1999, due to hepatitis C presumably contracted through blood transfusions after his many crashes.
Extra credit: George Hamilton portrayed Knievel in the 1971 movie biography Evel Knievel... George Eads played Knievel in the 2004 TV movie Evel Knievel... Knievel played himself in the 1977 film Viva Knievel.
Knievel appears with The Flying Wallendas in our loop More Audacity Than Cranial Capacity.
Evel Knievel also appears with the god Prometheus in our loop on Liver Trouble.
Blog posts mentioning Evel Knievel:
Four Good Links
Evel Knievel Official Site
Nicely done tribute with biography and galleries
Frail, Feisty, Still Cheating Death
Early 2007 USA Today piece on his declining health
Evel's X-1 Skycycle
Inspired bit about the design of his Snake River contraption
Evel Knievel Days
Always the last weekend in July, in Butte, Montana
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
30 November 2007
(age 69)
Best Known As
The motorcyclist who tried to jump the Snake River Canyon
