Evel Knievel

[Stanley Burrell]

Evel Knievel, the motorcycle daredevil whose stunts -- including an attempted leap over Idaho's Snake River Canyon -- made him a popular cultural figure, is dead, according to his Web site, evelknievel.com. He was 69.

Over his career, Knievel was said to have broken practically every bone in his body -- some multiple times. With his red-white-and-blue jumpsuits, shock of hair and stone-faced mein, he was a fixture on ABC's program "Wide World of Sports" in the 1970s, his stunts perennial ratings-grabbers.

Knievel's most famous stunt was probably an attempt to jump the quarter-mile wide Snake River Canyon in 1974 on his rocket-powered "Sky-Cycle." (He had hoped to jump the Grand Canyon, but couldn't get permission.) The attempt failed, but the publicity was priceless.

His fame even spawned a movie, "Viva Knievel!" in 1977.

Robert Craig Knievel was born October 17, 1938, in Butte, Montana.

Earlier this week, Knievel amicably settled a lawsuit with rap star Kanye West over West's use of a persona called "Evel Kanyevel" in his video for "Touch the Sky."

"I was very satisfied and so was he," Knievel told The Associated Press.

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This has to be a hoax as the real Knievel is an immortal motorcycling not-fucking-with-no-Vespas Djinn :(

[Sean of the Thread]

The guy lived here in town for a long time and was a complete fucking asshole.

[Stanley Burrell]

If Kanye West started dickridin' yo persona, you'd be a bottomless hole of ass too. I think... Famous people on motorcycles are obliged to participate in the asshole category as is.

Was he a cool asshole or just regular type?

[Sean of the Thread]

I guess a cool asshole..

I say cool because I delivered a license plate from the Mitsubishi dealership I worked at to him at a bar for one of his new cars and he gave me $20 to put it on and tried to buy me a drink. (I was underage).