| EVEL KNIEVEL SIGNED AND FRAMED PHOTOGRAPH
Limited Edition: Open
Framed Size: 670 x 650 (mm)
Signature: Personally signed by Evel Knievel
Certificate of Authenticity: Yes
This piece of framed memorabilia is from the world’s greatest stunt man and daredevil, Evel Knievel with a striking action picture and signed personally by the legendary daredevil and entertainer, Evel Knievel.
About Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel (October 17, 1938 - November 30, 2007), born Robert Craig Knievel, was an American daredevil and entertainer. In his career he attempted over 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980, and in 1974, a failed jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycyle X-2, a steam-powered rocket.
The 433 broken bones he suffered during his career earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of "most bones broken in a lifetime." Knievel was one of the greatest American icons of the 1970s. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
Knievel was born in Montana, USA in 1938 and raised by his grand-parents. After watching a Joie Chitwood auto daredevil show as a child, he took to jumping using a pedal bike, later moving onto motorcycles. As a troubled youth, he earned his stagename after occupying a jail cell next to a man named Knofel, leading the jailer to refer to the pair as Awful Knofel and Evil Knievel (Knievel later changed the spelling of the first name to Evel).
Knievel moved into the entertainment business in 1966 by setting up his own daredevil show, initially using a variety of performers and touring several US states, and later converting it to a solo show focused entirely on his jumps as the centre-piece.
He came to national attention when he persuaded the owners of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to let him jump their fountain on New Year's Eve 1967, which was filmed for ABC. After a failed landing, he spent 29 days in a coma. On his recovery, he continued to make high profile and lucrative jumps, and began lobbying the government for permission to jump the Grand Canyon. When this failed, he settled on the Snake River jump in Twin Falls, Idaho. Proving to be his most spectacular feat, it became a debacle. Knievel attempted to jump it on September 8, 1974 in the Skycycle, which was essentially an unguided missile. Immediately after launch, the arresting parachute deployed, and the vehicle floated down on the near side crashing feet from the river's edge, with Knievel suffering minor injuries.
Knievel then traveled to Britain, and on May 26, 1975, attempted to jump 13 buses in front of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium, again crashing but with severe injuries. His longest completed career jump came at Kings Island theme park in Ohio on October 25, 1975, jumping 14 buses, marking his peak television audience. After this jump, Knievel's jumps became smaller, and he eventually withdrew from doing major shows after cancelling an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in Chicago after injuring himself and a cameraman during a practice jump.
He instead concentrated on touring with and training his son Robbie Knievel, also a daredevil, eventually making his last jump in March 1981.
In his career heyday, Knievel's nationally televised motorcycle jumps were four of the twenty most-watched ABC’s Wide World of Sports events to date. He became a celebrity, recognizable for his use of a Stars-and-Stripes red white and blue "#1" set of motorcycle leathers and cape.
On the back of this fame, Knievel gained endorsements from Harley-Davidson and a toy line by the Ideal Toy Company. |
