Evel Personified

There’s this scene at the end of a modestly likable drive-in feature from 1971 entitled "Evel Knievel" - the best moment in the film, as a matter of recollection - when an aerial camera tracks the lone motorcyclist as he races across a barren landscape. On the soundtrack, the actor who portrays Mr. Knievel says, "We have very little choice about our life. The only thing really left us is a choice about our death. And mine will be-" Just then the camera speeds past the rider to reveal the gaping chasm of the Grand Canyon as the voice continues, "-glorious!"

Evel Knievel’s long-held dream of jumping the Grand Canyon on a jet-powered bike was summarily grounded by the U.S. Secretary of State at the time, and when he finally purchased his own land along the 400-feet-deep Snake River Canyon in Idaho, the parachute on his steam-propelled Sky Cycle X-2 opened prematurely on takeoff, and before making it halfway across, the cycle drifted to the canyon floor.

In the end, on November 30, 2007, after years of battling diabetes and hepatitis C, the flamboyant stunt-showman - who led a life of shameless self-promotion P.T. Barnum would have envied - finally succumbed, ingloriously, to the incurable pulmonary fibrosis that scarred his lungs and forced him to use an oxygen mask to breathe.

The 1971 movie "Evel Knievel," starring a well-cast George Hamilton, played upon several of the man’s questionable recollections of a checkered, hellbent past, including run-ins with the law and the motorcycle abduction of his hometown sweetheart, memorably played by Sue Lyon , whose biggest claim to fame was the starring role as the overripe nymphet in "Lolita," directed by Stanley Kubrick. Interestingly, "Evel Knievel" director Marvin J. Chomsky went on to become one of television’s most acclaimed directors, winning Emmy Awards for "Holocaust," "Attica," "Inside the Third Reich," and "Peter the Great," not to mention being nominated for "Roots."

Early in his acting career, George Hamilton, one of the last stars to be put under contract at MGM, displayed a disarming charm that made him a pleasant presence in a pair of previous biopics, namely "Act One," a loose adaptation of playwright Moss Hart’s autobiography, and "Your Cheatin’ Heart," based on the life of country singing legend Hank Williams. (Elvis Presley was considered for the part, but Williams’ widow nixed that notion because she didn’t want Elvis to be the focus of the production.)

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Hamilton surprised audiences with a self-deprecating panache for parody, in his Golden Globe Award-winning role in the Dracula spoof "Love at First Bite" and in "Zorro, the Gay Blade," which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. In today’s popular culture, the perennially sun-baked star is most recognizable for TV commercials peddling toasted snack chips ("I know toasted!"). He competed on the second season of "Dancing With the Stars" and had auditioned as a front runner to replace Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right" before Drew Carey was named as the new host.

Six years after "Evel Knievel," ill-advised money men had the misquided inspiration to cast the man himself in a movie of his own. "Viva Knievel!" was the last motion picture directed by Gordon Douglas, whose workmanlike career reached back to "Our Gang" comedy shorts and Laurel and Hardy features and included the ‘50s sci-fi classic "Them!" In no uncertain terms, "Viva Knievel!" raised the title subject onto an altar of unabashed adulation. In the midst of a busy stunt-filled schedule, Evel manages to help needy orphans and inspire crippled children to walk, make love to a feminist photographer (model-turned-alleged-actress Lauren Hutton), motivate his alcoholic mechanic to reconcile with his estranged son, avoid getting killed by an evil drug kingpin who wants to use the "Team Evel" 18-wheeler to smuggle cocaine, and make a 150-feet motorcycle leap over a cage filled with lions! The especially difficult stunts were actually performed by stuntman Gary Lee Davis, a fact withheld from the movie’s publicity.

The producers undoubtedly hoped to mask their star’s painfully obvious thespian shortcomings behind a supporting cast of otherwise reliable talent, including Gene Kelly as the troubled mechanic and Leslie Nielsen (in his serious, pre-"Naked Gun" days) as the bad guy, along with Red Buttons, Frank Gifford, and evangelist-turned-actor Marjoe Gortner.

Shortly after the film’s release, Knievel, upset over an apparently uncomplimentary book about himself, assaulted the author (his former press agent) with a baseball bat, shattering the writer’s left arm and prompting the performer’s retirement in 1980. (The $12.75 million in damages against Knievel remained uncollected at the time of his death, and the victim estimates the award due him, after 30 years of interest, should be more that $100 million.)

From the 1970s to the ‘80s, comedian Bob Einstein (brother of Albert Brooks) enjoyed success portraying fictitious daredevil "Famous Dave Osborne" on various broadcast and cable shows. In a costume inspired by Evel’s trademark colorful jumpsuit, Dave was a greedy, self-centered, chronically inept stuntman whose performances would inevitably and hilariously result in grievous injury.

Knievel himself survived at least 38 broken bones, several concussions and abrasions, and a month-long coma (following his misfired launch over the fountains of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 1967). Toward the end, his cane was replaced by a walker, his hip was replaced, his spine was fused, and his arms were crippled to the point where he couldn’t buckle his own belt.

The dauntless daredevil still dared large dreams. In 2003, the 64 year old wanted to make a jump "further than I jumped at Caesars Palace." A year later, he told an interviewer he didn’t have any regrets about his life. He said, "If the world had more people like me, it would be a more interesting place."

At the time of Evel’s attempt to soar across the Snake River Canyon, columnist George F. Will commented, "The witless Knievel is titillating a barbaric appetite for treating violent death as a spectator sport." Personified by actor George Hamilton in the 1971 film, Knievel proclaimed, "I am the last gladiator in the new Rome. I go into the arena and I compete against destruction and I win!"