Record-Setting Daredevil Robbie Knievel Dead at 60

Photo: Kevin Kane/WireImage for Turner

Renowned daredevil Robbie Knievel, the son of Evel Knievel, has died at age 60. His brother told the Associated Press that he died at a Reno hospice early on Friday morning with his three daughters at his side. He had pancreatic cancer. According to his official website, the stunt performer also known as “Kaptain Robbie Knievel” logged 350 jumps and 20 world records over the course of his career. Born in 1962 in Montana, Knievel chose to follow in his famous father’s footsteps despite direct warnings from Evel, who suffered hundreds of injuries throughout his career. “My dad used to sit in the back of the ambulance and say to my older brother and I, ‘Look at me. I’m all busted up. Don’t do this,’” Knievel recalled in a 1998 interview. “But when you have 50,000 people cheering you on and you grew up with that guy, who was almost superhuman, I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’” Knievel went on to complete some jumps that even his dad hadn’t been able to clear, including the Caesars Palace fountains in Las Vegas. His other memorable accomplishments include jumping over a row of limousines, crash-landing after crossing a chasm in the Grand Canyon, and soaring over multiple aircraft on the flight deck at New York’s Intrepid Museum. “Daredevils don’t live easy lives,” his brother, Kelly Knievel, told AP. “He was a great daredevil. People don’t really understand how scary it is what my brother did.”