The hard-living motorcycle daredevil, whose bone-breaking, rocket-powered jumps and stunts made him an international favorite in the 1970s,has died. He was 69. He broke as many as 40 bones and was in some seriously long comas a couple of times.
Famous for jumping over canyons, busses, cars he retired back in 1980, owed millions to the U.S. taxman. He never paid taxes on his jump money. Which over the years went from a measley $500 per jump to $6 million per jump.
He also was outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice hockey, he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959. He also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player. Knievel also worked in the Montana copper mines, served in the Army, ran his own hunting guide service, sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man. An actor and producer of a couple of movies. A man's man.
He was succussful at marketing his name right up until his death. Severe illness left him a shadow of his former self these last 10 years, but his name will live on forever.
THE START OF A 29 DAY COMA
