Evel Knievel crew members recall working for legend

Daredevil Evel Knievel didn’t launch any new records or crash any bikes when he performed at the Kansas State Fair in September 1971. But he was introduced to a pair of Wichita men who would become two of his most trusted crew members.

Lee Ratliff, 80, who now lives in Coventry, R.I., and Mike Draper, 65, of Wichita, worked at the fair setting up ramps for Knievel’s stunts. When Knievel let it be known he needed another truck driver, Ratliff, who was 34 at the time, signed on.

Draper, who was 19, returned to his job at Hugo Shea, a company that owned Harley-Davidson dealerships in Kansas and Oklahoma. About six months later, Knievel stopped in Wichita for a promotional event and Ratliff asked Draper if he wanted to join the crew, too.

Both men piloted Knievel’s Kenworth semi-truck and trailer, which had a custom-made Post Coach living quarters bolted to its chassis.

“We went back and forth across the country,” Ratliff said, describing how the crew tuned Knievel’s motorcycles, set up the ramps for his launches and landings and parked the vehicles over which he’d jump. “We did five shows on the weekend for a winter indoor show. The summer shows were outdoor shows, and there would be one or two jumps per show.”

Ratliff, a retired Boeing tooling inspector, said working for Knievel could be exhausting.

“It was kind of like he owned you. You were on call 24 hours a day,” he said. “If he didn’t sleep, you didn’t sleep.”

Still, Draper said, being part of Knievel’s entourage was exciting, especially for a teenager on the cusp of adulthood.

“I traveled all over the country, and I got to meet a lot of people,” Draper said, explaining how he rubbed elbows with actors Telly Savalas, Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Jamie Farr and was on the set when Knievel played himself in an episode of “The Bionic Woman.”

Draper was thrilled when Knievel mentioned his name during a guest appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

Knievel and Ratliff parted ways after about three years, the result of an argument.

“The last time I saw Evel was when I got fired,” he said.

Before Knievel’s failed jump across Snake River Canyon in September 1974, Draper returned to Wichita and began working for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office. However, when Knievel called and asked him to join his new tour in Japan, Draper took a leave of absence and reunited with the crew.

“Then Evel got into trouble, and so we never went to Japan,” he said, referring to Knievel’s six-month jail sentence for using a baseball bat to beat a man who had written an unflattering book about him.

Draper said he chauffeured Knievel back and forth from the Los Angeles County jail to a work release site and ran errands for him while he was incarcerated. One day, Knievel asked Draper to deliver a handwritten apology and a dozen white roses to Delores Hope, wife of comedian Bob Hope, at their Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles. Knievel had cursed on a golf course in the presence of the celebrity’s wife and felt badly about it.

Draper and Carl Green, a legendary car customizer, jumped in Knievel’s Cadillac pickup to deliver the items. When they got to the Hopes’ home, they learned they were in Palm Springs, Calif. So they extended their trip, arriving at Palm Springs about midnight. A housekeeper came out to the car and agreed to deliver the apology and flowers to Delores Hope.

Draper said he stayed in contact with Knievel over the years; they talked two weeks before his death. By that time, Knievel — whose body had been broken and ravaged by his stunts — had undergone a liver transplant and was being treated for diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

“He was in a lot of pain, and he said he was ready to meet his maker,” Draper recalled.

Knievel came along during a time when Americans were feeling down and needed something to pick them up. The Vietnam War was raging, and protests filled the streets. Draper said Knievel diverted their attention with his bigger-than-life personality and daredevil stunts.

“He mesmerized people,” he said.

Contact niche editor Jan Biles at (785) 295-1292.

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