Evel Knievel, the late daredevil who took pride in his scrapes with the law, was nearly indicted by the federal government, according to the 290-page report the FBI compiled on him. Along with possible ties to a crime syndicate, Knievel’s bread and butter seemed to be kicking the shit out of people:
His most well-known run-in with the law was a 1977 attack on movie studio executive Shelly Saltman, whom the daredevil beat with a baseball bat in the parking lot of 20th Century Fox.
Saltman promoted Knievel’s infamous attempt to jump Idaho’s Snake River Canyon and then wrote a book about the experience, angering Knievel by portraying him as “an alcoholic, a pill addict, an anti-Semite and an immoral person.” Knievel was sentenced to six months in jail and Saltman won a $12.75 million judgment, but never collected…
Knievel’s file shows investigators believed he was involved with other violent acts — a threat in Phoenix, an attack in a Kansas City hotel room and a vicious beating in San Francisco. All were allegedly carried out by Knievel associates, according to subjects quoted in the file.
Yeah! What an awesome badass! It’s like that old saying: revenge is a dish best served in public, as you assault them with a baseball bat at their place of employ. Well done, Evel. That guy was a real class act. Not like those thugs O.J. Simpson and Lawrence Phillips. Evel’s totally different, in that he didn’t play football and was… uh… how do I put this delicately? I believe the term is “white.”
Evel Knievel, the greatest daredevil who ever lived, died yesterday. He was 69. Here's a video of him plying his craft at Ceasar's Palace on New Year's Eve, 1967:
I always admired Evel Knievel. Not because I was particularly fond of daring the devil, but because the motorcycle stunt-man didn't take shit from anybody. I remember seeing a program about him on the History Channel in which they recounted the story of when Evel severely bludgeoned a former promoter of his with a baseball bat because the promoter had written a slanderous pulp biography about him. And he had 2 broken arms from a recent jump, but that didn't stop him from sending the promoter to the hospital. What? Yeah, I watched the History Channel. I couldn't find the remote control and the TV was at least 5 feet away from the couch, but the span seemed longer than the Snake River Canyon. More Evel vids after the jump:
This wouldn't work at an "El" station:
I would like to find some way to deride England and the Brits as usual, but that was AWESOME! This guy totally trumped my running up the down escalator at the mall to impress the lovely Katy when I was sixteen. I can still see that smug mall cop's face as she slammed the cold steel door of mall jail. And Katy with her, "It would've been cool had you reached the top, but since you didn't, I'm going to go to prom with Jack." Bitch. The London Underground authorities were not pleased with this guy's stunt either - I'm with you brother. Thanks for the idea. Although it will be a hassle to carry skis everywhere I go, if I ever see Katy near an escalator again, I'm totally doing this. -KD
(Thanks to Awful Announcing for the tip.)
