Evel Knievel, 69, Daredevil on a Motorcycle, Dies

Evel Knievel, 69, Daredevil on a Motorcycle, Dies “Evel Knievel, the hard-living, death-defying adventurer who went from stealing motorcycles to riding them in a series of spectacular airborne stunts in the 1960s and ’70s that brought him worldwide fame as the quintessential daredevil performer, died yesterday in Clearwater, Fla. He was 69 years old,” wrote Severo. His death was confirmed by a granddaughter, Krysten Knievel, The Associated Press reported. “Mr. Knievel had been in failing health for years with diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition. In 1999, he underwent a liver transplant after nearly dying of hepatitis C, which he believed he had contracted from a blood transfusion after one of his many violent spills. Only a few days before his death, he and the rap artist Kanye West announced they had settled a federal lawsuit over Mr. West’s use of Mr. Knievel’s trademarked image in a music video,” Severo added. Mr. Knievel began his career of amazing and also horrifying stunts. Here are a few important dates and “risky” jumps and their outcomes: 1965- Formed a troupe called Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils 1967- Vaulting his motorcycle 151 feet over the fountains of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, landed in a spectacularly bone-breaking crash. 1968 with his much-publicized jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace. “It was terrible,” he said afterward. “I lost control of the bike. Everything seemed to come apart. I kept smashing over and over and ended up against a brick wall, 165 feet away.” The accident left him with a fractured skull and broken pelvis, hips and ribs. He was unconscious for a month. Shortly after his recovery, he jumped 52 wrecked cars at the Los Angeles Coliseum. (In 1989, his son Robbie, who also became a motorcycle stuntman, tried the same jump at Caesars Palace and succeeded.) 1974, Mr. Knievel planned jump 1,600 feet across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Thousands of spectators looked on and thousands more on a closed-circuit television broadcast, he used a rocket- powered motorcycle up a 108-foot ramp at 350 miles an hour and soared some 2,000 feet over the canyon floor. The parachute opened prematurely, the cycle drifted to the canyon floor, leaving him without serious injury. He made $6 million. He then went to London and jumped his motorcycle over 13 double-decker buses at Wembley Stadium. He crashed there, breaking his pelvis, vertebrae and hand. He also soared over an aquarium tank containing 13 sharks in Chicago. His bike skidded on the exit ramp and fractured his right forearm and his left collarbone Mr. Knievel said he would jump over the Grand Canyon with his jet-powered motorcycle. He retained the lawyer Melvin Belli to help him get the necessary permits to allow his jump. The Department of the Interior said no. Mr. Knievel was known to have personal troubles, too. He imprisoned for beating his former press agent, resulting in imprisonment and a devastating effect on Evel Knievel toys. Severo goes on to say, “Mr. Knievel’s showmanship, skill and disdain for death were so admired that he became a folk hero. John Herring’s song “Evel Knievel” was a hit, and both Sam Elliott and George Hamilton have played him in movies. In 1977, Hollywood tried to make him into a movie star in “Viva Knievel!” a film with Gene Kelly and Red Buttons. In the 1970s and ’80s, Evel Knievel toys had sales in the hundreds of millions for Ideal and other companies.” Severo wrote, “After retirement, he continued to make public appearances and promote his son Robbie’s career. Mr. Knievel and his wife Linda Bork separated in the early ’90s. In addition to their son Robbie, they had three other children, Kelly, Tracey and Alicia. Mr. Knievel’s marriage to Krystal Kennedy, in 1999, ended in divorce, but they remained together, splitting time between homes in Clearwater and Butte, The A.P. said. He had 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Evel Knievel once described himself as “the last gladiator in the new Rome.” Another time he said he was “a conservative wildman.” “I am a guy who is first of all a businessman,” he said. “I’m not a stunt man. I’m not a daredevil. I’m” — he paused — “I’m an explorer.” Adapted from an article written by RICHARD SEVERO, December 1, 2007, Las Vegas News Bureau, via Associated Press, The New York Times, NY, NYC .

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