VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Evel Knievel relives big break at Caesars

Monday, April 14, 2003 | 11:42 a.m.

VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at tim@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4096.

Before there was Celine , there was Evel.

Today, Diva Las Vegas performs regularly at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

But on Dec. 31, 1967 (three months before Celine was born), Evel Knievel put himself -- and Caesars Palace -- on the pop-culture map when he attempted to jump over the hotel's fountains on a motorcycle.

His launch ramp was about the same spot where Celine belts it out from center stage.

"May she only break a leg. I broke a lot more than that over there," Knievel told VegasBeat on Saturday afternoon. He was making an appearance at the Harley-Davidson dealership on Eastern Avenue, and I went, well, to see one of my childhood idols.

Knievel cleared the Caesars fountains that day, but his landing resulted in one of the worst motorcycle crashes ever caught on videotape. He eventually came to a stop in the Dunes parking lot next door (the current site of Bellagio).

Knievel suffered a crushed pelvis, a concussion, a fractured hip and several broken ribs.

"Despite what is often reported, I did not break every bone in my body. At last count, it was 35 bones, most of them in that landing," Knievel said.

Decked out in a white leather jacket with a American flag-themed drawing of an eagle on the back, Knievel, 64, said that he still has the Triumph 650 Bonneville he rode that day.

"I have a place in Primm where I have a lot of my old bikes, outfits, helmets and things," Knievel said.

He was in a coma for a month after the Caesars crash, but he recovered to find himself an international celebrity.

After Caesars, Knievel's attempted jumps over cars, trucks, Greyhound buses and the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho, were "Wide World of Sports" staples.

"In a certain sense, I was the first of these reality shows -- unscripted television at its most original," Knievel said.

Meanwhile, we heard a snippet on the Fox morning show today where Robin Leach was reporting that Robbie Knievel might attempt a record jump at the Palms in November.

The younger Knievel has completed several jumps in Las Vegas, including the trip over the Caesars fountains which nearly killed his father.

Viva Lisa

Lisa Marie Presley was back in Las Vegas over the weekend, and again spent a chunk of Saturday night with friends riding the Big Shot at Stratosphere.

The ride typically plays her father's song "Viva Las Vegas" when it launches, as it did Saturday, but she didn't seem to register much of a reaction beyond a "knowing smile" when she first heard it, a witness reports.

Afterward, Presley -- still dressed in her red-hooded sweatshirt and her hair disheveled -- and her pals went for a late dinner at Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Here they come

Among the judges Ed McMahon has lined up for his Miss BestBet Pageant poolside at The Orleans on Wednesday are "X" producer Angela Sampras, Chef Kerry Simon and entertainers Susan Anton, Marty Allen, Rich Little and Clint Holmes.

The event is part of his new business partnership with the property.

Book 'em

Either our instincts are good or Vegas secretly appeals to the very highbrow clientele as well as the rest of us -- or both.

The James McManus book that chronicles his experience as a magazine writer playing in Binion's World Series of Poker -- which VegasBeat wrote about a few weeks ago -- was the cover feature in The New York Times Sunday Book Review.

There was also a glowing review of the book, "Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs and Binion's World Series of Poker."

McManus and Robb Cullen (Wayne Newton's godson) -- who created the new FX series "Lucky" -- are expected to arrive in Las Vegas today for a World Poker Tour event at the Bellagio.

Going up

Underneath the slow-moving economy, there are lots of real estate rumblings.

Marriott Vacation Clubs is in the process of closing on a new $300 million, 800-plus-unit project to be built where the Shark Club used to be, near the corner of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

The four-tower, 33-story complex is being built by the same company that completed the Polo Towers, Diamond Resorts International.

Longtime Vegas hotel-casino broker David Atwell handled the property transaction for Minneapolis-based Lyle Berman/Lakes Entertainment.

Separately, George Maloof just passed on buying a vacant nine-acre lot next to his Palms hotel.

As soon as the new tower at Mandalay Bay is erected, world-renowned Chef Alain Ducasse will open his first Vegas eatery inside.

Finally, Donald Trump and Phil Ruffin might be in town again next week regarding their Trump Tower West project at the New Frontier site next to the Fashion Show mall.

VegasBits

Famous fans: Don Johnson, Pete Sampras and Cheech Marin all saw Celine's "A New Day ..." Friday night. Michael Flatley went to "La Femme" that night. He had seen Celine Thursday ...

Hometown hero: ABC late-night talk show host and former Las Vegas resident Jimmy Kimmel was partying with some friends from his formative years in Vegas at ghostbar Saturday night ...

Feeding the famous: Among the patrons last week at Aqua (Bellagio): former "Charlie's Angel" Jacqueline Smith, producers Kenneth Feld and Jeffrey Katzenberg and actor James Caan ...

Art start: George Clooney with his gallery director friend, Marc Glimcher, at the Warhol show Saturday at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art ...

Seeing is believing: Last week VegasBeat wrote about the clandestine video of the poolside, red bikini-clad Britney Spears taken from a Palms guest room. Images appear in the new edition of People magazine ...

Jock night: Tough guy and New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey was at Rain in the Desert at Palms on Saturday night. So were Steve Beuerlein and Lisa Leslie. Earlier, at dinner at the Palms steakhouse N9NE, one of Shockey's pals asked a group of women who said they were football fans who they thought was the NFL's best tight end. They answered: Kansas City Chief Tony Gonzalez. Ouch!

From Sun wires

NBC is jumping into the white lion's den with a 13-episode order for a groundbreaking CG animated series from DreamWorks TV about the lives of the family of lions who perform in "Siegfried & Roy" at The Mirage.

Titled "Father of the Pride," the half-hour family comedy is targeted to debut in fall 2004. Peter Mehlman ("Seinfeld") and Jonathan Groff ("Late Night With Conan O'Brien") have been tapped to write the pilot episode.

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