About me
I was born on 22 June 1959 in Liverpool Road, Islington, London. My Mother and Father, Eddie and Marjory, had 3 children, myself and two sisters Sarah and Christine. Most of my childhood was spent, like most young boys, playing football and aspiring to be the next George Best, yet at the age of 12 I was inspired by a film about Evel Knievel and thought that stunt bike jumping looked a much more interesting career path to follow. So I started training on an ordinary beat up bicycle, jumping over oil cans, barrells and sometimes even my school mates!! Within just 2 years I joined the Cyclo-Maniacs stunt team and within a year of joining the team became holder of the Junior World Jump Record by successfully soaring over eight coaches on a motorcycle....
At the age of 18, my earlier inspiration and dedication paid off when I successfully jumped a distance of over 190ft, clearing 14 double decker buses, which you can see in the photos above. I had become the first ever stunt jumper to ever cover such a distance and retain control of the bike after the jump. After this amazing stunt, I found myself making world headlines by flambouyantly jumping in some very dangerous places. For the film 'Hanover Street' starring Harrison Ford, I doubled for Harrison and jumped 120ft at 90mph over a ravine in Shepton Mallett, Somerset, with a dummy strapped to my back!!! Was I really that mad? The director of 'Hanover Street' was quoted as saying " there was nobody else in the world capable of, or prepared to do, the leap". Obviously I was that mad!!
I then went on to make a movie called 'Riding High' in which I had landed the starring role of 'Dave Munday' a motorcyle messenger. In this movie I had to perform one of the most dangerous of all the jumps I had done so far. I had to jump over a broken railway bridge into a head wind of 30mph, with the rocks of the river Blackwater calling out to me from below, but I made it in true Eddie Kidd stlye, and never lost control of the bike on landing.
My career was only just beginning and I suddenly found companies all over the world were eager to get this 18 year old pin up daredevil to promote their products and model their clothing. Some of the more famous commercials that I appeared in were for Levi Strauss, Sunsilk and Veida. I was even given a recording contract with Decca, me sing, Ha!!. Everybody seemed to want a piece of Eddie Pie!! The name Eddie Kidd became a household name and teenage girls all around the world would emblazon their bedroom walls with 'Black Knight' posters and T-shirts........ I had made it!! What a feeling that is, to know that you are a somebody.... It was a fantastic time of my life... something I look back on with very fond memories!!
I went on to perform stunts in many films and TV programmes including, Judge Dredd, Michael Collins, Young Indiana Jones, Londons Burning, The Bill, Heartbeat, Casualty and Dempsey and Makepeace. I was also stunt double for Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Goldeneye and suprisingly, I was also in First Knight!! I don't remember any horses in the middle ages - anyway, I was in it - honest!!
During all the fame and fortune years, I never forgot my true passion and continued to make death defying jumps, always to please my fans all over the world. At this point in my life, I decided that it was high time to take my motorcycle test and passed it in 1995 !!! Well I was so busy all the time that I never seemed to get around to doing it..
Right up until that cruel day on August 11th 1996 at Long Marston, Warwickshire, I lived and breathed for daredevil stunt riding and continually pushed myself to jump further and faster and thrived on the thrilling show stopping stunts that I performed to please my millions of fans across the world.
After my accident, I fell into a coma for many months and had sustained serious injuries, including an injury to my brain. I regained conciousness much to the relief and delight to, not only my friends and family, but to my millions of worldwide fans that had followed me throughout my daredevil career. These severe injuries have left me confined to a wheelchair, however, this does not prevent me from leading a full and rewarding life. Even now I have to get my hands around a throttle and spend many hours riding around on my quad bike.......... Once a biker always a biker. I spend a great deal of my time working to combat this disability. My friends are fantastic and I know they are always there to support me and give me fresh hope and courage.......I absolutely refuse to let this beat me......
It's that old Arnie saying..........................' I'll be back ' ........... and rest assured I will!!
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