In Pictures: Evel Knievel

Legendary American stuntman and daredevil Evel Knievel has died at the age of 69.

Born Robert Craig Knievel Jnr in 1938, he achieved cult status for his death-defying tricks and jumps on his motorbike.

He spent almost a month in a coma after a 1967 attempt to jump the famous Caesars Palace fountains in Las Vegas went wrong, but it won him huge media fame.

As his fame increased so did the size of the stunts and in 1974 he attempted to cross Snake River Canyon in Idaho on a rocket-powered bike.

The stunt failed when his parachute opened too early, but he escaped with minor injuries.

Other stunts did not end so well, such as his 1975 attempt to clear 16 buses lined up at London's Wembley Stadium.

He jumped over all the buses but crashed on landing, breaking several bones, and immediately announced his retirement.

Knievel's son Robbie also became a stuntman, breaking some of his father's motorbike jump records and successfully jumping the Grand Canyon in 1998.

Evel Knievel had four children and married his second wife, Krystal Kennedy in 1999, in front of the Las Vegas fountains where he had crashed over 30 years before.

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