Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel
Robert Craig "Evel" Knievelwas an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps, and, in 1974, a canyon jump across Snake River Canyonin the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket. During his career he suffered more than 433 bone fractures, earning an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of "most bones broken in a lifetime". Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. Knievel died...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDaredevil
Date of Birth17 October 1938
CityButte, MT
CountryUnited States of America
I guess I'm like any other concerned father, except that nobody else's son guns a cycle over 17 pickups without holding on to the handlebars.
People pay a million dollars to be recognized, but nobody cares about them. They cared about me because I did things other men were afraid to do. That's why my fans identified with me.
I always knew how to draw a crowd.
I thought I was bulletproof or Superman there for a while. I thought I'd never run out of nerve. Never.
I created Evel Knievel, and then he sort of got away from me.
I foresee the Chinese ruling the world. What are you going to do to stop it? No president of the United States will ever have enough power to stop the Chinese when they want to take over the world.
Kids come up to me all the time and say, 'Once I was going through a really bad time, and I saw you crash and get up, and it inspired me.'
I went through life big-bang-banda-boom-bada-boom.
You're never a failure until you fail to get up.
When I hit that pavement at 70 or 80 mph those suits just ripped.
Harley-Davidson is the finest company in the world.
You can't ask a guy like me why [I performed]. I really wanted to fly through the air. I was a daredevil, a performer. I loved the thrill, the money, the whole macho thing. All those things made me Evel Knievel. Sure, I was scared. You gotta be an ass not to be scared. But I beat the hell out of death.
I did everything by the seat of my pants. That's why I got hurt so much.
She (my ex-wife) wanted me to stop being Evel Knievel. I am who I am. I'm not going to change. I'll settle down the day they put me in a six-foot pine box.