Robbie Knievel was a daredevil known for motorcycle stunts, following in the footsteps of his father, Evel Knievel (1938–2007).
Daredevil
Knievel began performing with his father as a child, debuting at Madison Square Garden and touring the country with his dad. His solo career began when he was 19. In some cases, Knievel performed jumps that had helped make his father famous, as when he successfully jumped the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 1989. When Evel Knievel made that jump in 1967, he cleared the fountains but crash landed, breaking several bones. Other jumps were unique, such as his jump over part of the Grand Canyon in 1999 and his 2000 jump over an oncoming locomotive. Knievel’s star-spangled leather jumpsuit was similar to the famous one worn by his father.
Notable quote
“You can’t ever fill them shoes; I don’t care if you’re Elvis Presley’s daughter or Evel Knievel’s son. But I want to keep the name going as long as I can. [Dad] knew I was going to do this. Hell, he got me my first bike at 4.” —from a 2008 interview for the Duluth News Tribune
Tributes to Robbie Knievel
