Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel was an American stunt performer and entertainer who lived from October 17, 1938, to November 30, 2007. He attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorbike jumps during the course of his career. In 1999, Knievel was admitted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. At the age of 69, he passed away in Clearwater, Florida, from lung disease.
Knievel had seen the Joie Chitwood show when he was younger. He made the decision that he could accomplish the same thing with a motorcycle. Knievel self-promoted the show by hiring the location, writing press releases, setting up the show, selling the tickets, and acting as his own master of ceremonies.
He performed a few wheelies to draw in the small audience before jumping a 20-foot (6.1 m) box of rattlesnakes and two mountain lions. Knievel was able to land safely despite his back wheel colliding with the rattlesnake cage as he made a brief touchdown.
Knievel realized that in order to make more money, he would need to hire more performers, stunt coordinators, and other personnel so that he could focus on the jumps. He went looking for a sponsor with little money and found one in Bob Blair, owner of ZDS Motors, Inc., the West coast distributor for Berliner Motor Corporation, a distributor for Norton Motorcycles.
Blair offered to supply the necessary motorcycles in exchange for changing the name from Bobby Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils Thrill Show to Evil Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils. Knievel did not want to be associated with the Hells Angels, so he persuaded Blair to let him use the spelling Evel instead of Evil.
What was Evel Knievel’s cause of death?
In 1999, Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. In 2007, he died of pulmonary disease in Clearwater, Florida, at the age of 69.
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