Evel Knievel has died.

Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho’s Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

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Immortalized in the Washington’s Smithsonian Institution as “America’s Legendary Daredevil,” Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

Though Knievel dropped off the pop culture radar in the ’80s, the image of the high-flying motorcyclist clad in patriotic, star-studded colors was never erased from public consciousness. He always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years.

His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel’s trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Knievel made a good living selling his autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte, Mont., every year as his legend was celebrated during the “Evel Knievel Days” festival, which Rundel organizes.

“They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives,” Knievel said. “People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner.”

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

“No king or prince has lived a better life,” he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. “You’re looking at a guy who’s really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved.”

He had a knack for outrageous yarns: “Made $60 million, spent 61. …Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. … Had $3 million in the bank, though.”

He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars.

In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the West and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps.

The chronicle of Evel Knievel’s career continues. Earlier this year, USA Today profiled him in an extensive article.

He figures he will be judged not just as a cult-like figure, but also as Robert Craig Knievel, the temperamental show-biz performer from the wrong side of the tracks in Butte, Mont.

“I think about God a lot more than ever,” he says, “though I used to ask him, ‘Help me make a good jump.’ I’m awfully tough to get along with, but I’ll tell you what: I am a good person. I wish there was such a thing as reincarnation.”

Suffering from the aftereffects of a stroke, Evel bets that a life of crime, fame and indulgence can be outweighed by his good works to those he inspired: children in burn wards, the downtrodden, soldiers.

“Veterans have told me that, for some reason, I made a difference in their lives, that they were headed for disaster,” he says. “God, at least I have done something.”

Here is some footage from Evel Knievel’s 1974 attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.

Here is the 1971 movie, “Evel Knievel” with George Hamilton in the title role. The movie contains a great deal of actual footage of Evel Knievel’s daredevil stunts.

Helio Castroneves is now a winner in two very different fields of endeavor and skill.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves won top hoofer honors Tuesday on the ABC hit show Dancing With the Stars.

“It feels totally different from winning a race,” Castroneves said after the show. “I wasn’t kidding. This goes right between my two Indy trophies. Otherwise, it would have been a big blank space.”

Quite an event.

The sparkly mirror ball trophy signifying the newest winner of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars went to race car driver Helio Castroneves and partner Julianne Hough on Tuesday night’s finale.

“I want to thank my team for letting me do this, second my family, the fans, and this special person here,” Castroneves said, referring to Hough.

Castroneves, Spice Girl Melanie “Mel B” Brown and entertainer Marie Osmond performed two dances Monday night for judges’ scores and viewers’ votes. Early in Tuesday night’s episode, Osmond was named the third-place finisher, leaving her fellow finalists to reprise their favorite dance of the season for one last score from the judges.

The candor of the announement is noteworthy.

The American Red Cross forced its president and chief executive, Mark W. Everson, to resign yesterday because he had an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate, a spokeswoman for the disaster relief agency said.

Everson’s ouster was a blow to the Red Cross, which has faced a rapid turnover in leadership and has struggled to restore a reputation damaged by its response to Hurricane Katrina. The agency’s fifth chief in six years, Everson was at the helm of the federally chartered organization for six months.

The Red Cross board of directors asked for his resignation after learning of the relationship 10 days ago, spokeswoman Suzy C. DeFrancis said.

The New York Times interviewed Trent Stamp of Charity Navigator, seeking his accessment of the dismissal.

Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, a Web site that rates the efficiency of charities based on financial statements filed with the government, said the firing was a major setback for the Red Cross. “This will affect fund-raising, organizational morale and public trust in this organization, which is already dangerously low,” he said.

He noted that the organization appeared to be turning a corner under Mr. Everson, earning generally high marks for its performance during the recent California wild fires. “I’m worried that that good will will be undone,” Mr. Stamp said.

Organizations, whether for-profit or not, rarely describe their reasons for firing an executive as bluntly as the Red Cross did. The most similar comparison is the Boeing Corporation, which forced the resignation of two chief executives because of ethical lapses, including affairs with employees.

Mr. Everson, who is 53, did not respond to a message left on his cellphone. In a statement released by the Red Cross, he said: “I am resigning my position for personal and family reasons, and deeply regret it is impossible for me to continue in a job so recently undertaken.”

Earlier this year, Trent Stamp had conducted an interview with Everson, who had, at the time set forth a clear vision for the Red Cross.