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.

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