<P> While in Las Vegas to watch Dick Tiger successfully defend his WBA and WBC light heavyweight titles at the Convention Center on November 17, 1967, Knievel first saw the fountains at Caesars Palace and decided to jump them . </P> <P> To get an audience with the casino's CEO Jay Sarno, Knievel created a fictitious corporation called Evel Knievel Enterprises and three fictitious lawyers to make phone calls to Sarno . Knievel also placed phone calls to Sarno claiming to be from American Broadcasting Company and Sports Illustrated inquiring about the jump . Sarno finally agreed to meet Knievel and arranged for Knievel to jump the fountains on December 31, 1967 . After the deal was set, Knievel tried to get ABC to air the event live on Wide World of Sports . ABC declined, but said that if Knievel had the jump filmed and it was as spectacular as he said it would be, they would consider using it later . </P> <P> Knievel, 29, used his own money to have actor / director John Derek produce a film of the Caesars jump . To keep costs low, Derek employed his then - wife Linda Evans as one of the camera operators . It was Evans who filmed Knievel's famous landing . </P> <P> On the morning of the jump, Knievel stopped in the casino and placed his last $100 on the blackjack table (which he lost), stopped by the bar and had a shot of Wild Turkey, and then headed outside where he was joined by several members of the Caesars staff, as well as two showgirls . </P>

How old was evel knievel when he jumped caesars palace