Evel Knievel

Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (born October 17, 1938 in Butte, Montana) is an American stuntman, best known for his public displays of long distance, high-altitude motorcycle jumping which often resulted in serious injuries, particularly during the 1970s. The consummate salesman, he was able to turn his popularity into a marketing juggernaut with products ranging from radios to toy action figures. His achievements and failures got him into the Guinness Book of World Records several times including his record thirty-five broken bones.

Daredevil

Not having any way to support his family, Knievel recalled the Joie Chitwood show he saw as a boy and decided that he could do a similar show using a motorcycle. Promoting the show himself, Knievel rented the venue, wrote the press releases, set up the show, sold the tickets and served as his own master of ceremonies. After enticing the small crowd with a few wheelies, he proceeded to jump a twenty foot long box of rattlesnakes and two mountain lions. Despite coming up short and having his back wheel hit the box containing the rattlesnakes, Knievel managed to land safely.

Related Topics:
Joie Chitwood - Rattlesnakes - Mountain lion

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Knievel realized that to make any real money he would have to hire more performers, stunt coordinators and other personnel so that he could concentrate on the jumps. Being broke, he went looking for a sponsor and found one in Bob Blare, a distributor for Norton Motorcycles. Blare offered to provide the needed motorcycles, but he wanted the name changed from the Bobby Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils Thrill Show to Evil Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils. Knievel didn't want his image to be that of a Hells Angels rider, so he convinced Blare to allow him to use Evel instead of Evil.

Related Topics:
Norton Motorcycles - Hells Angels

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The first show of Knievel and his daredevils was on January 3, 1966, at the "National Date Festival" in Indio, California. The show was a huge success. Knievel got several offers to host his show after their first performance. The next booking was in Hemet, California, but had been cancelled because of rain. The next performance was on February 10, in Barstow, California. During the performance, Knievel attempted a new stunt where he would jump, spread eagle, over a speeding motorcycle. Knievel jumped too late and the motorcycle hit him in the groin, tossing him fifteen feet into the air. Knievel ended up in the hospital because of his injuries. When released, he returned to Barstow to finish the performance he started almost a month prior.

Related Topics:
January 3 - 1966 - Indio - California - Hemet - February 10 - Barstow - Groin

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Knievel's daredevil show broke up after the Barstow performance because Knievel was unable to perform due to his injuries. After recovering, Knievel started traveling from small town to small town as a solo act. To get ahead of other motorcycle stuntmen that were jumping animals or pools of water, Knievel started jumping cars. He began adding more and more cars to his jumps when he would return to the same venue in order to get people to come out and see him again. Knievel hadn't had a serious injury since the Barstow show until June 19 in Missoula, Montana. There, he attempted to jump thirteen cars, the last one being a cargo van. The distance he had for takeoff didn't allow him go get up enough speed. His back wheel hit the top of the van while his front wheel hit the top of the ramp. Knievel ended up with a severely broken arm and several broken ribs. The publicity from the crash and subsequent stay in the hospital were a publicity windfall.

Related Topics:
June 19 - Missoula

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With each successful jump, the public wanted him to jump one more car. On May 30, 1967, Knievel successfully cleared sixteen cars in Gardena, California. Then he attempted the same jump on July 28, 1967, in Graham, Washington where he had his next serious crash. Landing his cycle on a panel truck that was the last vehicle, Knievel was thrown from his bike. This time he only suffered a serious concussion. After recovering for a month, he returned to Graham on August 18 to finish the show, but the result was the same, only this time the injuries were more serious. Again, coming up short, Knievel crashed, breaking his left wrist, right knee and two ribs.

Related Topics:
May 30 - 1967 - Gardena - July 28 - Graham - Concussion - August 18

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Knievel finally got some national exposure when actor Joey Bishop had him on as a guest of The Joey Bishop Show. All the attention not only brought larger paydays, but also female admirers, several of whom he had adulterous affairs with.

Related Topics:
Joey Bishop - The Joey Bishop Show - Adulterous

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