Daredevil Evel Knievel Dead At 69

Extreme Sportsman Defied Death In Career Of Sensational Motorcycle Stunts

(CBS/AP)  Evel Knievel, the extreme sportsman who defied death countless times during his career as a motorcycle stuntman, died Friday, his granddaughter announced. He was 69.

Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel says Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.

The hard-living motorcycle daredevil, renowned for jumps over Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon, was an international icon in the 1970s.

Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. In later years he still made a good living selling his autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte, Mont., every year as his legend was celebrated during the "Evel Knievel Days" festival.

"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner."

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

He had a knack for outrageous stories: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though."

Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte, Mont., on Oct. 17, 1938, he was raised by his grandparents after his mother and father divorced. He got into trouble frequently with the law in his youth, sometimes with a motorcycle involved (though he also got flack for popping a wheelie with an earth mover when he worked for a mining company).

At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, and a holdup man.

Knievel served in the Army, ran his own hunting guide service, and owned dealerships selling Honda motorcycles, where he drummed up business by offering $100 off the price of a motorcycle to customers who could beat him at arm wrestling.

After his hunting and sales businesses closed, and despite achieving some success as an insurance salesman, in the 1960s Knievel decided try his hand at motorcycle stuntwork to make a living. He traced his inspiration to the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age 8.

He began his daredevil career in 1965, when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars.

In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the U.S. West and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps.

He steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains, but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month.

His son, Robbie, successfully completed the same jump in April 1989.

In the years after the Caesar's crash, the fee for Evel's performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London - the crash landing broke his pelvis - to more than $6 million for the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered "Skycycle." The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.

Knievel decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son, Robbie.

Many of his records have been broken by daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell.

Knievel also dabbled in movies and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with Lindsay Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic Woman." George Hamilton and Sam Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life.

Evel Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s.

Evel Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia. Robbie Knievel followed in his father's footsteps as a daredevil.

Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together.

His granddaughter, who confirmed his death today, said he had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

[cutebig]

Oh, I am sorry to hear the sad news.Another big guy left us. Such an important photo we should cherish it.Quite a few of people at largeplace.com like him much. what a pity to loose him!

[cfin5]

Had plenty of fun (except my knees and elbows) as a kid doing things like him........As long as Mom didn''t find out about it. :)

[denn034]

I saw his failed jump over the Snake River Canyon I believe when I was about 15. I remember his action figures and all the hoopla that surrounded him as well. I''m genuinely sorry to see this. Condolences to his family and friends.

[jetranger7]

I''LL Be paying Tribute to Evel this week-end, by getting on my Scooter, and Jumping over several State Hi-Way patrol cars, on the Interstate, maybe I''ll go to the airport and Jump over a Boeing 777 while its moving down the runway,, now I know I''m Nuts and Insane !!! Thanks Evel !!!! You were Cool !!!!!!!!!! Truth is, I''ll probaly just Jump my Girlfriend-instead!!! :):):)

[vivaman]

What most writers didn,t think to write about Evel is that whenhe and his crew engineered the rocket jump over snake river, he did not have the technical expertise that astronauts have, and the billions of $s behind him, that NASA provides. It,s not likely that in our lifetime anyone will ever do so that again, and that in itself was like a man flying on a bomb, yet he survived. No one else will ever attempt it again. I wonder how many astronauts were watching, and if they stood up and applauded the man, he truly had guts.. Different than a clown with a little gunpowder behind him being shot out of a cannon at a carnival.

[toolmangler-2009]

I knew it had to be ''some low life'' ;)

[toolmangler-2009]

I knew it had to be ''some low life'' ;)

[radiob-2009]

Sorry to disagree, Ice, There is no way that Evel could have produced a kid ''''that'''' stupid and uncaring.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by ToolMangler at


Maybe a amobea did the deed and is the father????

[kman681]

GOD BLESS YOU EVEL KNEIEVEL, WE WILL MISS YOU, EK WAS A MAN WITH THE PASSION AND HEART THAT MOST OF YOU LOSER''S WISH YOU HAD.... WE LOVE YOU EVEL KNIEVEL......F'' EM ALL

[toolmangler-2009]

There are persistent rumors that Evel Knievel was George W. Bush"s biological father.

Posted by Iceman_1960 at 10:13 PM : Nov 30, 2007



Sorry to disagree, Ice, There is no way that Evel could have produced a kid ''that'' stupid and uncaring.

[gf3265]

It''s funny how this story says nothing about how Mr. Knievel came to know Jesus Christ and accept him as his personal saviour just a short time ago. How he is now in Heaven because he was wise enough to realize that he didn''t actually "have it all because he didn''t have Jesus Christ in his life". Thank you Lord for your Grace. I know that Mr. Knievel is beside you now in heaven. I pray that you comfort his family during this time.

[dukeudevil]

Evel, you were cool. I''d love to see you now jump that gap between heaven and earth. I''m certain the gods have set up a ramp for you. They also must have enjoyed your antics--they let you live to tell about them.

Katia327, Evel obviously had more life in his little finger than you have in your entire body. The more serious problem is that you don''t play with life. Gee, you must be one really boring person. You have my sympathies. You''ll never live being afraid to do it.

[daf1964]

Geez...I''m reading thru here and see some inappropriate responses. If you got nothing good to say, then just dont say (or post) anything at all. I wont give the idiots the benefit of stating their names again, just know that most of us true fans think you can #$@!_&%F! Let us FANS just remember the Man, his incredible talents and his uncanny way of making us believe that that he could do anything. My 12 year old son and I (I''m 43) got to meet him a few years ago and he was nothing but a class act. I had told my son about all of my bike jumps, stunt cycles and action van trips around my front yard. Like many of my generation, I expressed to him that we would do anything for EK, thats how much of an icon he was to us. When my kid heard about his death today, he called and expressed his sympathies to me because he knew how much Evel meant to me. I think the old man would have approved of that gesture. May he Rest In Peace.

[shanev137]

by the way...what ever happened to Awful Knoffel?

[shanev137]

You made the big jump. Rest in Peace Mr. Knievel and thanks for the memories.

[wvce]

Hey MDC, tell me about it. The only bicycle I had as a kid was an Evel Knievel made by AMF. It was white and had a white plastic gas tank with red, white and blue stars and stripes. No kid could have been prouder of a bike than I was of that one. Thanks Evel.

[jetranger7]

NEWS ALERT : "EVEL KNIEVEL" NOT DEAD !! NOPE HE''S NOT- HE''S ALIVE AND WELL ON THE WEB SITE "YOUTUBE" - (WWW.YOUTUBE.COM), JUST GO THERE AND IN THE SEARCH ENGINE, TYPE IN EVEL KNIEVEL, OR EVEL, OR KNIEVEL, AND UP WILL POP ALL OF EVELS STUNTS AT HIS BEST-PLUS A SPECIAL TRIBUTE I JUST GOT THRU FINISHING FOR HIM ! I ACTUALLY GOT TO SEE HIM JUMP AT THE KANSAS STATE FAIR BACK IN THE EARLY 70s, and I STILL HAVE THE POSTER AND THE HELMET HE GAVE ME AND AUTOGRAPHED TOO !ROCK-ON'' EVEL YOU''LL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED NEVER FORGOTTON-EVER , GOD BLESS YOU !!! R.I.P. !

[mdc76082]

Man, gone are the days when we would safety pin our mom''s towels as our capes and hop on our bicycles and jump ditches and just about anything kids could come up with. We pretended we were Evel Knievel. God, those were the days. Then some dumba**, like newster1 has to post some stupid lung disease ***. Thank you Dr. newster1. Update at 11pm? Doofus. Thank you spirit of Evel. Those were best of times!

[iceman_1960]

There are persistent rumors that Evel Knievel was George W. Bush"s biological father.

[iceman_1960]

In 1977, Evel Knievel was convicted of beating a former television executive with a baseball bat. He spent six months in jail, and was ordered to pay the victim $12.7 million in damages.

To his fellow inmates, needless to say, Knievel was a much admired celebrity.