The legend of Evel Knievel, as do many legends, began with humble roots. Robert Craig Knievel was born in the copper mining town of Butte, Montana, in 1938. He was raised by his grandparents from the age of 6, and at 8 saw Joey Chitwood’s Auto Daredevil Show. This, as you could imagine, inspired him greatly, and fueled his already mischievous behavior. He was known to be a huge show-off as a kid, and loved to jump his bicycle over everything he could.
He got his first motorcycle when he was 13, but quickly crashed it while showing off into a neighbor’s garage, which almost set on fire when the gas tank ruptured.
But Knievel’s mischief didn’t just go as far as his showing off. He was often in trouble with local police for committing petty crimes as a teenager. In 1959, he eloped with his hometown girlfriend Linda Joan Bork. For the next several years, he worked various short-time jobs, and took to motorcycle racing. However, he also led a life of crime, and was jailed multiple times for committing robberies. After a partner of his was shot during a heist, Knievel decided to get on the straight and true and stop committing crimes.
Which is when he formed a motorcycle stunt crew called Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils. The name Evel came from his promoters who originally wanted to call him Evil, but he pushed back saying that he didn’t want the associations that would come from literally having his name be Evil. The stunts his crew performed included jumping through walls of fire and over rattlesnakes and mountain lions. The troupe didn’t tour for more than a year because Knievel thought having to work with a team of employees was too cumbersome.
Knievel’s first major jump was performed at Ascot Park in 1967, when he met with iconic promoter J.C. Agajanian. The stunt was broadcast on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and Knievel’s name began gaining notoriety.
The initial years of touring alone were exceedingly difficult for Knievel, but he was shot to stardom when he attempted to jump the fountains in front of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day of 1968. He convinced the casino’s owner to let him perform the jump as a publicity stunt, but did not secure ABC’s promise to broadcast the jump on television. But they would consider it if he sent them a tape of the jump, so he found a filmmaker willing to do so. When he attempted the jump, he made it to the landing ramp, but came in just a little too short, causing him to bounce and go over the handlebars at 90 miles per hour. He survived, and the footage was sent to ABC, who decided to broadcast it, and Knievel became a national star.
Throughout the late 70s, Knievel would attempt stunt after stunt, each more death-defying than the last. In 1971, 60,000 people came to watch him perform a jump in the Houston Astrodome. In 1975, 90,000 people came to watch him attempt a stunt in Wembley Stadium in London. Later that same year, he would perform a stunt that set a record when 52% of households tuned in to watch the stunt on TV.
I am the last gladiator of New Rome. I go into the arena and I compete against destruction and I win. And next week I go out there and I do it again.
Knievel’s massive popularity came to a halt in the late 70s when Knievel assaulted a promoter of his who had worked for him in the past with an aluminum baseball bat for saying some things Knievel didn’t think too kindly of in a biography on Knievel’s life. The assault ended in a massively publicized jail sentence, which Knievel bragged about to the press.
In the early 80s, Knievel resumed his stunt work, but never regained the same iconic status he had previously. He took up painting, and traveled the country in an RV while acting as an ambassador for several companies and brands.
He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, and was said to have been the last gladiator.