There are plenty of daring souls in every performance industry that defy the normal rules of self-preservation every day, but since the mid-1800s there have been a different breed of risk-taker, the daredevil. These folks did more than risk their necks for the sake of entertainment, they advanced the fields of showmanship, stunt-work and safety devices, and even contributed to such things as aviation and rescue equipment. They’re usually pioneers and visionaries, and they make history for a living; these are the 15 greatest daredevils in history.
“The Human Spider” Alain Robert
He’s called the human spider for a reason — this guy has scaled 85 man-made structures in his lifetime, and several of them are on the list of the world’s tallest buildings. For some of his most ridiculously awesome feats, he actually wears a Spider Man costume to ensure the moniker sticks — one such occasion being his scaling of the 88-story Jin Mao building in Shanghai, which at the time was China’s tallest building. In England, they even paid him once to wear the suit as a publicity stunt before the Spider Man movie aired on a local station. He usually does what he does for his own enjoyment, but sometimes he does it to prove a point, and though he’s nearly always arrested for his shenanigans, no charges are ever made to stick.
Zazel The Human Projectile
Born Rossa Matilda Richter, Zazel was only 14 years old when she made her claim to fame as the world’s first human “shot out of a cannon.” Technically, the cannon fire was a ruse since it was spring loaded, with a well-timed firecracker and some smoke effects to make it appear as though she were actually shot out by explosive force, but make no mistake — she was definitely shot out of the cannon — and for 1877 it was pretty ingenious. She continued her stunt for quite some time in front of audiences the world over until one fateful evening, when she overshot the net, and broke her back on landing.
Evel Knievel
Robert Craig Knievel needs no introduction — as Evel Knievel — and he was arguably the world’s single most famous modern daredevil. His tool of choice was always the motorcycle, and he devoted his entire life to pushing the envelope for the enjoyment of his fans. In the process, he broke just about every bone in his body, and nearly died more times than he could count. Oddly enough, while he did break and hold many records in his time, his biggest claim to fame was always his failures. To the public, it seemed as though he’d crashed more times than he actually stuck a landing. His greatest attempt was an ill-fated one; he tried jumping Snake River Canyon on a “skycycle,” which was a motorcycle with a steam-powered rocket strapped to it. Needless to say, it didn’t work. Evel died just a couple of years ago, after many years of suffering the after-effects of Hepatitis-C, which he was exposed to during one of his many blood transfusions.
Maria Spelterini
As a show for the Centennial Celebration back in 1876, Maria Spelterini crossed the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope in front of thousands of curious onlookers. She did it not once, but returned across the same line, and repeated her performance several more times over the following couple of weeks. Each time she crossed the gorge, the stunt got more ridiculous (and more awesome). She went from a standard walk across to a blindfolded one, then added hand and leg shackles to it, and finally even strapped her feet into baskets.
“Sky Walker” Dean Potter
Tightrope walking is terrifying enough as it is, but slacklining takes the idea of crossing a line to a whole new level. For one, it’s not taught, it’s slack, which makes walking across it seem like an impossible feat. This guy makes it happen, and unlike most who practice the stunt, he does it at the tops of cliffs and gorges. He’s a BASE jumper and skydiver by trade, so fear of heights doesn’t come into play with this guy.
Bird Millman
Bird Millman wasn’t just a hottie from the vintage past, she was an original high-wire act with Barnum & Bailey back at the turn of the last century, and she put on one hell of a show. She may have started when she was just 14, helping out her parents’ act with the circus, but she made a name for herself later on as one of the fast, most graceful high-wire walkers out there. She was watched by countless New Yorkers as she crossed between skyscrapers, in a dress, with a parasol.
“The Human Bird” Jeb Corliss
BASE jumper by trade, wingsuit flyer by hobby, Jeb Corliss lives the life of a real life flying human. He was already doing pretty well for himself before 2006, even working for the Discovery Channel, but he became exponentially more famous when he got himself arrested atop the Empire State building in a foiled attempt to fling himself off of it — in a wingsuit. He’s a leading pioneer in the field of wingsuits, which until recently were deemed outright crazy, and he’s dealt with his share of failures — including a broken back and watching a wingman slam into a bridge.
Ethel Dare
Back in the early years of flight, Ethel Dare, born Margie Hobbs, was a pioneer extraordinaire in the art of wing walking, which is exactly as insane as it sounds. She walked along the wings of a speeding bi-plane as though it were still parked on the runway, and was the first woman to ever hop to another plane entirely during the stunt. She even went as far as to let herself be dragged through the air by a rope she clenched in her teeth, using only a special mouthpiece to help keep grip.
Robbie Knievel
The son of Evel Knievel inherited more than just his dad’s real name, but his lust for dangerous motorcycle stunts and daredevil crowd-pleasing as well. What he apparently didn’t inherit was his dad’s penchant for failure. While his dad may have set some records, they were often quickly broken, and his botched attempts often overshadowed his successes. Robbie on the other hand has completed 250 jumps and set 20 world records, and he’s almost doubled his father’s jumping distances in doing so. Though injuring himself in the process, he also completed a 228-foot jump across a segment of the Grand Canyon, using only a motorcycle — as opposed to the rocket-bike his father used in a similar attempt.
Philippe Petit
A follower in the grand tradition and footsteps of Bird Millman herself, Phillippe Petit earned his fame back in the 1970s when he walked a tightrope stretched between the tops of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. He crossed the steel cable eight times, often stopping mid-line to show off a little, sit or lay down, wave at the crowd or play with circling gulls. The publicity attracted to the stunt led to formal charges against him to be dropped, and for the city to actually hand down a comical sentence that he perform a charity show for children in central park.
Charles Blondin
Twenty years before Maria Spelterini made her famed tightrope debut at the Niagara Gorge, a zany guy by the name of Charles Blondin traveled from France to pioneer the idea, performing the display as many ways as he could, getting more and more theatrical with every crossing. He crossed the span not just on his own feet, but on stilts, in a sack, carrying a guy on his back, and even pushing a wheelbarrow across ahead of him. The man was so amazing that he inspired countless daring souls to emulate him for the following two hundred years, and even got a foundation named after him.
Harry Houdini
One of the most famous men in history, Harry Houdini, born Erik Weisz, was a man of many talents. His biggest claim to fame was as a pioneer in the field of escapology, in which he basically placed himself in countless situations thought to be inescapable, and escaped. Houdini died in 1926, due to complications from internal injuries sustained while practicing a potential stage stunt. Much like another member of this list, he thought he’d be able to take any blow to the stomach from anybody, and let one of his assistants try to prove him wrong — his appendix ruptured.
Oofty Goofty
Showing up in the streets of San Francisco in the latter half of the 19th Century, Oofty Goofty is something of a mystery, and definitely an odd one. His actual name was never learned, and his origins were hazy at best, but he became instantly famous when his Market Street act grabbed the city’s attention — and then some. He first appeared wearing a thick coating of tar and horse hair, leading people to think he was some sort of wild ape-man, and was actually hospitalized because the “outfit” didn’t allow his skin to sweat. Doctors were forced to let him bake on the hospital roof, because there was so much tar they couldn’t make a dent. His claim to fame was that he apparently had no pain response, so he wandering into public places and announced that all present could hit him as hard as they wanted, with whatever they wanted, for four dollars a pop. He did just fine for quite a while, until a boxer by the name of John Sullivan broke a pool cue on his back and ended his career.
John Holtum
If Oofty Goofty and Harry Houdini were impressive for their abilities to take a good hit, John Holtum is downright supernatural. The man’s special talent: catching cannonballs fired directly at him. Seriously. The man caught cannonballs; and it wasn’t a gimmick, there was no trickery involved. The first time he attempted the stunt, he lost three fingers. Before he tried what would become his claim to fame, he was a run of the mill, turn of the century strongman, and his schtick was that he used cannonballs instead of regular dumbbells or weights. He performed in front of crowds the world over, and even offered a hefty reward to anyone who could perform his stunt with him watching, but nobody ever had the balls to take him up on his offer.
“The Batman” Clem Sohn
While Jeb Corliss may have his fancy wingsuit, modern technology, and nice funding to help it along in its development, Clem Sohn was the first man brave enough to attempt the ridiculous winged skydive. He pulled off this stunt back in the 1930s, when flying in planes was new to begin with, and Clem was jumping out of them wearing a parachute pack, what look like Hammer pants, and makeshift wings made of Zephyr cloth and steel tubing. In 1937, while performing in front of a massive crowd, Clem suffered the unthinkable as both his main and reserve chute failed to open during his final descent. He died that day, but he was forever marked in history as the original Batman.
Comments
@todayinart
January 6th, 2010 - 6:22:35 AM
I would add Travis Pastrana to the list. He is still young but doing some pretty amazing things.
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Hathaway
January 6th, 2010 - 6:31:58 AM
Yes. Travis Pastrana is our generation's Evel Knievel. Sounds a bit crazy, but I'd even add Johnny Knoxville.
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