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Evel Knievel (born October 17, 1938) is an American stuntman, best known for his public displays of distance motorcycle jumping, particularly during the 1970s.
Knievel was born Robert Craig Knievel in Butte, Montana. He got into performing stunts in 1965, initially as advertising for a motorcycle dealership.
He performed a series of longer and longer jumps, often successfully. At the Ascot Speedway in Gardena, California, he jumped his motorcycle over sixteen cars lined-up in a row on May 30, 1967. Later that year, on December 31, he attempted to clear the fountains at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas; in an awkward landing, he broke several bones and ended up in a month-long coma. The attempt ensured his fame — a movie, Evel Knievel was made in 1971 starring George Hamilton, and there were a wide range of merchandising and toys produced.
His longest successful jump was in 1975. His longest attempted jump was in September 1974, with a special rocket cycle he attempted to clear Snake River Canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho. The jump was a failure — the cycle parachute deploying on launch and dragging him back. In May, 1975, after an attempted jump over thirteen buses at Wembley Stadium, London, broke his pelvis, he announced the end of his jumping career. He carried on, jumping again in October over fourteen Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.
In 1977 he starred as himself in the movie Viva Knievel!. In the same year he was sentenced to three years in prison for breaking the arms of Sheldon Saltman with a baseball bat. Saltman, a publicist involved in the Snake River Canyon jump, had co-written a book about Knievel called Evel Knievel on Tour. Knievel served six months.
In 1993, he was diagnosed with hepatitis C, apparently contracted during one of his numerous reconstructive surgeries. He had a liver transplant in 1999.
His son Robbie "Kaptain" Knievel also jumps.
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