Evel Knievel

Evel Knievel was an American motorcycle daredevil and entertainer who tried more than 75 ramp-to-ramp jumps during his career. Born in Butte, Montana, and raised by his grandparents, he credited a Joie Chitwood auto daredevil show he saw as a boy with setting him on that path. He competed in rodeos and motocross before launching his own thrill show, and he gained national exposure through a 1968 guest spot on The Joey Bishop Show. His New Year's Eve 1967 Caesars Palace fountain jump ended in a crash, and in 1974 his rocket-powered Skycycle X-2 failed to cross the Snake River Canyon after its parachute opened early. He crashed at Wembley Stadium in 1975 and later cleared 14 buses at Kings Island. A 1971 biopic, Evel Knievel, starred George Hamilton as him; he played himself in Viva Knievel! (1977). He was the subject of the documentary Being Evel. In 1999 he received a place in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.