12 famous and Strange daredevils

Evel Knievel
Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007), better known as Evel Knievel (pronounced /ˈiːvəl kɨˈniːvəl/;), was an American motorcycle daredevil and entertainer famous in the United States and elsewhere between the late 1960s and early 1980s. Knievel's nationally televised motorcycle jumps, including his 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho, represent four of the twenty most-watched ABC's Wide World of Sports events to date. His achievements and failures, including his record 37 broken bones, earned him several entries in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Alain Robert aka The French Spiderman
Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962), is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man), or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for scaling skyscrapers.

Steve Truglia
Steve Truglia is a Stunt coordinator, Stunt performer and Action Unit Director in the UK. He is also an experienced Television Presenter. He is a registered Full member of the UK Equity Stunt Register as a Stunt Action Co-ordinator, and has been on the register since 1996. Truglia is an official stunt judge for the British Advertising Awards and is a life member of the World Stunt Academy. He is an experienced after dinner and motivational public speaker, and a television presenter with appearances on many TV shows and news channels in the UK.He is an extreme sports expert and has over 2400 parachute jumps to his credit.

Tony Jaa
Tatchakorn Yeerum (Thai: ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์; or formerly Panom Yeerum (Thai: พนม ยีรัมย์; IPA: [pʰanom jiːrɑm]) (born February 5, 1976 in Surin province, Isaan, Thailand), better known in the West as Tony Jaa, in Thailand as Jaa Panom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, choreographer, stuntman and director. His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, Tom-Yum-Goong (also called Warrior King or The Protector) and Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning.

Travis Pastrana
Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983, in Annapolis, Maryland) is a motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. He currently appears in the television show Nitro Circus.

Johnny Knoxville
Bam Margera
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera (born September 28, 1979) is a professional skateboarder, television and radio personality, and daredevil. He released a series of videos under the CKY banner and came to prominence after being drafted into MTV's Jackass crew. He has since appeared in MTV's Viva La Bam and Bam's Unholy Union, both Jackass movies, and Haggard, which he co-wrote and directed.

Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926, born Erik Weisz later spelled Ehrich Weiss) was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer. He also was a famous skeptic who set out to expose frauds purporting to be supernatural phenomena.

Steve McQueen
One of the American greats. Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an American movie actor nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Sand Pebbles. His other popular films include The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon, and The Towering Inferno. In 1974 he became the highest paid movie star in the world. Although McQueen was combative with directors and producers, his popularity put him in high demand and enabled him to command large salaries.

He was an avid racer of both motorcycles and cars. While he studied acting, he supported himself partly by competing in weekend motorcycle races and bought his first motorcycle with his winnings. He is recognized for performing many of his own stunts, especially the majority of the stunt driving during the high-speed chase scene in Bullitt. Additionally, McQueen designed and patented a bucket seat and transbrake for race cars.

Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer.

In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1970s and has appeared in over 100 films. Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons and video games. Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.

Bud Ekins
Bud Ekins (May 11, 1930 – October 6, 2007) was one of the foremost stuntmen of his generation. Born James Sherwin Ekins in Hollywood, California, he is known to most as the actor who jumped the fence on a disguised Triumph TR6 Trophy 650cc motorcycle in The Great Escape, and who drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in Bullitt. He also coordinated the stunts for the popular 1970s motorcycle cop show CHiPs.

Helen Gibson
Helen Gibson (August 27, 1892 – October 10, 1977) was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, trick rider and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the first American professional stunt woman.
Tags: Spiderman, Skyscrapers, Stunts, Daredevil, Circus, Spider-Man, Robert

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Amazing moment Daredevil stunt performs by high priest father 80ft above ground without a safety net

A priest performed a dangerous tight-rope stunt with no safety equipment 80ft above ground after a last minute hitch in plans for his charity fundraiser.

Father Jerome Lloyd was supposed to be carried along the rope on the back of a circus performer in scenes reminiscent of Frenchman Charles Blondin in 1859.

Blondin made it across a high-wire suspended 160ft above the Niagara Falls with his manager on his back.

Unfortunately, Father Lloyd's stunt had to be adapted at the last minute after professional tight-rope walker Chico Marinhos was unable to lift the 12.5st priest.



Father Lloyd said Zippos Circus performer Marinhos was unable to stand up once he was on his shoulders as he had nothing to lever himself up with upon the Big Top.

Father Lloyd, who was raising money for charity, said there was nothing else they could do other than for him to walk across the rope himself by holding on to Marinhos' shoulders as he crossed it in front of him.

He said of the stunt in Hove, East Sussex: 'It did actually feel fine. I wasn't really at all nervous as I'm not scared of heights.



'The only thing I was concerned about was that I would make Chico nervous.'

Father Lloyd, 43, a missionary priest from the National Catholic Apostolic Church, carried out the stunt wearing his traditional soutane and saturno.

He was raising money for the Sussex Beacon charity, which provides specialist care and support for people living with HIV.

In June Columbian Marinhos carried out another of Blondin's stunts by walking the high-wire and cooking himself an omelette halfway across.

Zippos Circus is at Hove Lawns in Hove until August 23.

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Daredevil photographer captures Awesome monster wave just moments before it crashes over surfer

This breathtaking picture captures the seconds before a daring surfer is engulfed by a monster wave.

The spectacular shot was taken by surfer-turned-photographer Clark Little, who captured the incredible scene on Ke Iki beach, in Hawaii.

The massive shorebreak was more than 8ft tall but luckily the surfer survived unscathed.


Such shorebreaks, caused when a wave hits the shallow water at the sand, are powerful enough to drag down unsuspecting surfers and have been known to cause neck and back injuries as it breaks.

But Mr Little, from Oahu, Hawaii, is not afraid to jump into the water to capture the incredible power of the ocean on camera.

The 40-year-old, who has been a photographer for just two years, leans on his 35 years' surfing experience to knows when to be in the right place at the right time.

His efforts can involve actually getting into the waves themselves, which can be up to 5ft high.

Mr Little uses a Nikon camera, which is protected with a waterproof housing and takes pictures at nine frames per second.

While taking the pictures seems fraught with danger, the father-of-two says that he knows the ocean and his limits.

He said: 'I just use my surfing experience and go in the waves.

'I love the feeling of getting into the waves, I am addicted to shooting the shorebreaks but you need to know your limits and the ocean.'

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Amazing Daredevil motorcyclist jumps London's Tower Bridge while doing a no-handed backflip

Motocross star Robbie Maddison found an unusual way to cross the Thames this morning - when he used his motorbike to leap an open Tower Bridge.
The 27-year-old Australian performed a no-handed backflip as he jumped the gap between the north and south side of the historic London landmark at 2.55am.
‘The whole experience was awesome,’ he said.


‘We had a matter of minutes on the bridge and had to time everything to the second - there were so many factors to get right, but we pulled it off.
‘It was an incredible feeling to fly between the two towers and over the Thames.’
Maddison said he had been planning a stunt in London since his last feat - leaping off a ramp on to a life-size replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve last year.

‘People say I’m crazy, but I just want to push the boundaries of my sport and my body to the limit and I love taking on these huge challenges,’ he said.
Maddison, who also holds the record for the world’s longest ever motorbike jump (350.7ft) will perform at Battersea Power Station on August 22 as part of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2009.
His stunts are reminiscent of Evel Knievel, the American motorcycle daredevil whose jumps including his 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon in Idaho.
His achievements and failures, including his record 37 broken bones, earned him several entries in the Guinness Book of World Records before his death in 2007.

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