Evel Knievel
American stunt performer and artist (1938–2007)
Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007), known professionally as Evel Knievel ( EE-vəl kə-NEE-vəl), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
Evel Knievel was born in Butte, Montana. Raised by his paternal grandparents, Knievel was inspired to become a motorcycle daredevil after attending a Joie Chitwood auto daredevil show. He left high school early to work in the copper mines but was later fired for causing a city-wide power outage. After adopting the nickname "Evel Knievel", he participated in rodeos and ski jumping events, and served in the U.S. Army before marrying Linda Joan Bork and starting a semi-pro ice hockey team. To support his family, Knievel started the Sur-Kill Guide Service and later worked as an insurance salesman. Eventually, he opened a Honda motorcycle dealership in Washington, but faced difficulties promoting Japanese imports. After the dealership closed, Knievel worked at a motorcycle shop where he learned motocross stunts that would later contribute to his daredevil career.
“Evel Knievel” enters the record as american stunt performer and artist (1938–2007). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Evel, Knievel and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Evel Knievel” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Evel, Knievel and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q345231. VIAF identifies the subject as 2681365. The Library of Congress control number is n79078698. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1938, 2007 and 1999.
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This entry incorporates text from “Evel Knievel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.