Go find someone ( preferably a male person who produce up in the ' 70s , and more probable than not , you ’ll see it . It ’s a badge of honor for kids of the seventy , who , in between cutting up Stretch Armstrong and having their mind blown by " Star Wars , " idolize a daredevil who literally spring into the public consciousness in 1967 . It ’s an Evel Knievel scratch .
Long before Johnny Knoxville and Steve - O inspire Gen - Y shirker to try strange stunts and head for YouTube , Evel Knievel - exalt stunts that keptemergency roomsin the seventies hum . And while the kids of the ' seventy are sitting in part and boardrooms now , underneath the business suits and tie , many still have the scars of an Evel Knievel caricature stunt gone cockeyed .
Of course , ending up with an injury while wager Evel Knievel did n’t inevitably mean that the attempt was n’t a success . After all , Knievel himself ended up in the infirmary after many of his stunts , and he even said that he was " nothing but scar tissue and surgical steel " [ reservoir : Severo ] . But in addition to making an indelible impact on a generation of kids , Knievel also made an impact on popular culture . His stunts break television viewership records as often as hebroke bones . He invigorate songs , product and imitators and he even aid introducemotorcyclesto mainstream American audiences .
But while Knievel is well - known for his stunt and celebrity , his life sentence had darker plot of ground as well . Years of maltreatment rent their toll on Knievel ’s body , and his personal life seemed to digest almost as many crash as he did . When it comes down to it , Evel Knievel was as much a daredevil in his personal life as he was in his professional one .
There ’s a lot more to Evel Knievel than what ’s on vintage lunchboxes or tributes on shows like VH1 ’s " I Love the 70s . " So keep say to find out more about Evel Knievel , his living and his last - hold stunts .
Evel Knievel: Early Life
Evel Knievel started biography as Robert Craig Knievel . He was born in 1938 and raised by his grandparents in Butte , Mont. His parent burst when he was untested and had small physical contact with him .
According to many audience Knievel gave , he was rechristened " Evil Knievel " by local law officers who turn back him for stealing hubcap when he was young . after , Knievel lawfully changed his name to Evel , switch the " i " for an " e " because " he call up it look good " [ source : Severo ] .
Knievel ’s other brushes with the law show that hisdaredevilside picture itself early , but not always productively . He claim that he stole his first motorcycle , aHarley - Davidson , when he was just 13 and was inspired by Joie Chitwood , a legendarystunt - car number one wood . Still Knievel was n’t someone who suffer out only because he acted up . He was also an effected high school jock and a professional and semi - prohockeyplayer . In the 1950s , he enlist as a para in thearmyand made more than 30 jump .
His professional daredevil days begin when he started running a bike shop in Washington State Department . To pull customers , Knievel said he originate parachute things on his bike . His first leap saw him clear 40 pes ( 12.2 time ) of parked cars ; however , he did n’t go quite far enough as he landed on the boxwood of rattler ( just in front of the tethered mountain Leo ) at the ending of the line . The startle lead him to form a group of bike stuntmen which crisscrossed the westerly United States before striking out on his own . For his first large - exfoliation solo jump , Knievel announced that he would jump the fountain in front of the Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas , Nev.
On New Years Eve , 1967 , Knievel and his bike mounted a ramp in front of Ceasars Palace and 15,000 spectators . He had to clear 151 foundation ( 46 meters ) . As he revved his engine , he state his wonted prayer : " God , take precaution of me . Here I come … " and with that , he and his bike shot into the aviation .
Evel Knievel: Early Career
Knievel launched himself into the public eye one New Year ’s Eve , 1967 , with a jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas . Unfortunately for Knievel , he also launched himself into a lot of other things on that day , too .
While Knievel cleared the 151 foot ( 46 meter ) of fountain at Caesars Palace , he failed to baffle the landing , vaulted over the handlebar of his bike and slew 165 feet ( 50.3 meter ) on concrete before eventually coming to a rest . The jump leave him with a break skull , pelvis and rib . He spend nearly 30 Day in acomaand millions of people watched the accident ontelevision .
The fact that the jump was n’t technically successful did n’t seem to matter to Knievel . The parachuting ( and the wreck ) had win him legions of fans as well as steady appearances on ABC ’s Wide World of Sports . Between 1973 and 1976 , Knievel appeared on the Wide World of Sports seven clip , jumping everything from wrecked cars to double - Thomas Decker buses . His jump were some of the highest rated installment in the program ’s account .
In 1974 , Knievel was paid $ 6 million dollars to rise the Snake River Canyon in Idaho . For the jump , which required him to clear 1,600 foundation ( 487.7 meters ) , he used a specially made garden rocket - propel bike , dubbed the " Skycycle . " While the launching luck of the jump went well , the parachute on the jet - bike deployed too early , get the entire rig to drift down into the canyon .
Knievel ’s next stunt was also unsuccessful , and one of the most far-famed of his vocation . In London ’s Wembley Stadium , Knievel was slat to leap 13 buses in front of 70,000 devotee . On his Harley - Davidson , he hit the ramp at 90 stat mi per hr ( 144.8 kilometers per minute ) , and scarcely net the 13th bus . But once again , the landing was n’t so smooth . But what shocked his fans the most was n’t the spectacular leap or even the sick clangor – it was what Knievel say only moments after the impact .
So , what was on the daredevil ’s mind just minutes after the crash that left him with a broken hand , pelvis and compressed vertebra ?
Evel Knievel: Daredevil’s Heyday
A crowd of 70,000 at London ’s Wembley bowl , plus million more learn on ABC ’s wide of the mark World of Sports , saw Evel Knievel jump 13 heap , only to crash on the landing and sloping trough across the bowl trading floor with his Harley - Davidson motorcycle slamming into him an instant later on . As medics race to the downed daredevil , he insisted on leaving the area on foot and he asked for a mike .
Still spin , he told the crowd that they were " the last multitude in the mankind who will ever see me bound . I will never , ever , ever , ever parachute again . I am through " [ source : Laracy ] . Then , despite his horrible injuries , Evel Knievel walked out of the sports stadium .
Like a draw of Knievel ’s landings , his wrangle did n’t stick either . Just five month by and by he successfully jumped 14 Greyhound buses at king Island Amusement Park in Ohio – a jump that persist the highest - rated telecast of ABC ’s Wide World of Sports .
While Knievel and his bike were hang glide , his popularity was , too . Knievel claim that the Evel Knievel toys gross more than $ 300 million . Two movies were made about him , and he starred as himself in another . Of his seven jumps on ABC ’s spacious World of Sports , five were successful .
Still , his vocation had take a toll on his body . Knievel reportedly break dance more than 40 castanets in his lifetime . And then , in 1977 , he was convicted of tucker his former press federal agent and spent six month in jail . Financial misdirection meant the daredevil turn a loss much of his earnings . In 1980 , his health force him to hit the sack from performing , although he still made personal appearance and upgrade the vocation of his boy , Robbie Knievel , who stick with in his dad ’s step . In addition to run hard crash , Evel Knievel endured some hard support , too . Always aheavy drinker , Knievel suffered from hepatitis C , and even underwent a liver transplant in 1999 .
Evel Knievel: The Legacy
On Nov. 30 , 2007 , the man who had defied death by jump over canyon , bus and tanks of shark simply could n’t defy it any longer . At age 69 , Evel Knievel go after combat diabetes , an incurable lung condition and the core of a vocation spend wee hard landing place . He was survive by four child , 10 grandchildren and one great - grandchild .
However , Knivel ’s legacy goes well beyond fellowship . References to Knievel have shown up everywhere from " The Simpsons " to a Kanye West picture . MTV ’s " Jackass " is a verbatim descendant of Knievel ’s showmanship – and the knowledge ( that Evel Knievel cultivated ) , that some the great unwashed watch a stunt to see it follow while others watch to see it betray .
In 2005 , Ideal Toys re - released the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle , give up a generation of people who grew up making a midget Evel Knievel do expiry - defying stunts on their living way trading floor a prospect to share that form of play with their kids . Knievel ’s motorcycle , a 1972 Harley - Davidson XR-750 , is on exhibit at the Smithsonian ’s National Museum of American History . Because of his influence on a generation of risk - pickings jock , Knievel is sometimes call in " The Father of the X Games . " Each summertime , his life is celebrated with incredible motorcycle stunt at Evel Knievel Days in Butte , Mont.
But , kidskin who grow up in the 1970s do n’t need to reckon far to see the impact Evel Knievel made on American life . They can see it in the mark on their elbows and knees and recollect precisely the way it felt to aviate through the gentle wind just like Evel Knievel – even if they missed the landing .
For more data about Evel Knievel and other temerarious related topics , jump over to the next Thomas Nelson Page .
