Known as the "granddaddy of all daredevils," he's arguably the world's most famous stunt performer, but a documentary airing tonight manages to reveal the man behind the icon and tells the inside story of Evel Knievel.
Born Robert Craig Knievel, the American stunt entertainer was renowned for his numerous death-defying motorcycle jumps, including clearing 14 Greyhound buses and attempting to jump the 140-foot fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Relatedly, Knievel to this day holds the Guinness World Record for most broken bones in a lifetime, with 433 fractures.)
Footage from several of those seminal jumps are featured in I Am Evel Knievel, which also chronicles Knievel's rise from "a small-town rebel in Butte, Montana, to a cultural icon whose rise to super-stardom was built on nerves of steel and the ability to get up and do it again no matter the severity of the fall," reads the film's synopsis.
"He lived life like every day was his last, which led to a tumultuous life filled with stunts no man would ever dream of, encompassing meteoric success, wild hubris, ego-maniacal mistakes, and ultimately redemption," the summary continues. "The documentary combines original exclusive interviews with archival footage of this larger-than-life character to tell Knievel's incredible story. Among those featured include Matthew McConaughey, Kid Rock, Michelle Rodriguez, Guy Fieri, Robbie Maddison and family members including sons Kelly and Robbie, and former wives Linda Knievel and Krystal Kennedy-Knievel."
The documentary film, which was directed by Derik Murray and David Ray, is airing on The CW tonight, Sunday, July 7, from 8pm to 9pm Eastern Time. I Am Evel Knievel is readily available for anyone with a traditional pay-TV subscription or TV antenna that receives local station signals, as well as live TV streaming subscribers to Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.
The film is the latest installment in the "I Am" documentary series, a series of celebrity biography docs that were commissioned for the Paramount Network and now are airing on The CW. Similar star-focused titles include I Am Heath Ledger, I Am Paul Walker, I Am Burt Reynolds and I Am Patrick Swayze.
