The World’s Greatest Daredevil Has Died
Robbie Knievel, the son of Evel Knievel and a legendary daredevil himself, has passed away.
Robbie Knievel, who took over the mantle of the World’s Greatest Daredevil after his father, has passed away at the age of 60. The Hollywood Reporter says that the motorcycle daredevil battled with pancreatic cancer, which he succumbed to Friday morning. He had followed in his father’s footsteps and performed amazing stunts on his motorbike, including a few Evel himself couldn’t complete.
Both daredevil stars were known for leaping motor-powered vehicles, usually motorbikes, over large gaps like the Sanke River Canyon in Idaho or long rows of large objects like a dozen limousines. Robbie Knievel, for example, jumped over the hotel fountains at the Las Vegas Caesar’s Palace in 1989, a stunt his father tried in 1967 but failed to complete. While father Evel never attempted to jump across the Grand Canyon, Robbie Knievel did make the jump, although he broke his leg on the landing.
Robbie Knievel was born in Butte, Montana, to Evel Knievel and his wife Linda, and started performing stunt shows with his father at age 8. He started touring at age 12 and eventually dropped out of high school to devote his time to his career as a stunt performer. He also went by the nickname “Kaptain Robbie Knievel,” differentiating himself from his famous father.
Another major difference between father and son is that Robbie Knievel used Honda CR500 motocross bikes to make his jumps, while Evel used Harley Davidson XR-750 motorcycles. The Honda models are made for jumping, prompting the son to attempt increasingly longer jumps, including over a moving train and a building-to-building jump. While he replicated some of his father’s famous jumps, he also made quite a few of his own.
Overall, Robbie Knievel made 340 jumps and broke 20 world records, with his father in attendance for some of the big ones. Evel Knievel died in 2007 at the age of 69, but was there to support his son for his jump over 30 limousines as well as his re-creation of the Caesar’s Palace jump. His son paid tribute to him throughout his career, such as appearing in 2006 at a festival in Butte honoring Evel Knievel, where he jumped four large flame-throwers, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and the Batmobile.
The elder stunt star also made over 300 jumps, and claimed to have broken every bone in his body. Robbie Knievel followed in those unfortunate footsteps as well, but that is part of being a stunt entertainer of the caliber he was. “Daredevils don’t lead an easy life,” brother Kelly Knievel said in tribute to Robbie’s death. “Every time they finish a jump, they have to come up with another one. They are entertainers, after all.”
Robbie Knievel also wore a leather outfit that recalled his father’s signature attire. When Evel Knievel performed his stunts, he wore a white studded leather costume and a helmet, sometimes with red and blue on it in a tribute to the American flag. His son also wore the signature white leather, but with variations on the cut, design, and use of red and blue.
Merchandise celebrating both father and son is still available from the Evel Knievel Museum through Robbie Knievel’s business venture, Knievel Motorcycle Manufacturing, Inc. Evel Knievel was admitted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, and his son is sure to join him there. It is a pity that couldn’t take place while he was still alive.
Robbie Knievel is survived by his mother Linda, brother Kelly, two sisters, his wife, two daughters, and five grandchildren. Condolences to the entire family during this time of mourning.
