Anthony Frank "Birdman" Hawk
(born May 12, 1968), better known as Tony Hawk, is
an American
professional
skateboarder. Tony gained
significant fame for completing the first
900 at the 1999
X-Games as well as his licensed
video game titles distributed by
Activision.
Early life
Hawk was
born in San Diego,
California
, to a retired U.S. Navy officer, Frank Hawk
and his wife Nancy, a part-time business teacher. An older brother
of Tony bought a used skateboard at the age of 8 and his father
constructed a ramp in their backyard.
At the age of 11, he landed his first contest win and turned pro by
the age of 14.
He graduated from Torrey Pines
High School
in the North County Coastal area of San Diego,
California.
The 900
On April 27, 1999, he was the first skater ever to land a
900. He successfully landed the
trick, which involves completing two-and-a-half revolutions, on the
twelfth attempt. After doing so, Tony commented that "This is the
best day of my life." During X Games 2001, he again successfully
performed the trick.
Boom Boom Huck Jam
In 2002,
Tony Hawk started the Jam, which is a small event featuring
competitions in many sports such as motorcross, skateboarding, and
BMX with a show in Las Vegas
.
Film & television appearances
In 1987, Tony Hawk appeared in the film
Police Academy 4: Citizens
on Patrol as one of the teenage skateboarders. In 1989, he
appeared as a skateboarder in
Gleaming The Cube. In 2002, he
appeared in Neal H. Moritzs's and Christopher Gilcrest's film
xXx playing the role of one of Xander
Cages stuntman friends, and later in the movie, a skateboarder at a
party. In 2004 he played himself in the Australian skateboarding
movie
Deck Dogz. In 2006, Tony Hawk
appeared in a cameo on the film
Drake & Josh Go
Hollywood as himself; when Drake & Josh steal his car
to escape from two crooks with the Geo (
iPods)
that carry illegal information for counterfeiting money. Tony Hawk
also asks for the cops to give Drake & Josh a police escort to
Sunset Studios, for a performance on
TRL. Hawk
has had a cameo in film
The New
Guy. Hawk appeared in
Jackass: The Movie with
Mat Hoffman and
Bam
Margera, skateboarding in a fat suit and Jackass 2, while
skateboarding thorugh a obstacle course. He also plays the police
officer who arrests Ryan Dunn in the movie
Haggard: The Movie. Hawk also made a
brief cameo appearance in
Lords Of
Dogtown as an
astronaut, where he
is shown comically falling off the skateboard as he is a "rookie".
Hawk was an extra in the
"Weird Al"
Yankovic video "Smells like Nirvana". He can be seen sitting in
the bleachers during the crowd sweep near
Dick Van Patten.
On television, he has also appeared in
The Suite Life of Zack &
Cody and
The Naked
Brothers Band. Hawk was a guest on the kid's show on
Nickelodeon,
Yo Gabba Gabba.
He also guest voiced on
The
Simpsons episode "
Barting
Over", where he played himself, along with fellow San Diegans
Blink-182. In the episode, Hawk lends
Homer a new board from his brand where complete rookies are able to
perform at the top levels. He ends up having a comical play off
with him after Homer begins to show him up. On the
PBS Kids show
Cyberchase,
he guest starred as Slider's long-lost father, Coop. In the
CSI: Miami episode "
Game Over" he played a game
programmer who was murdered. In 2008, he played on
Million Dollar Password. Hawk
also played on
Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th
Grader?.
Hawk was a key feature in the book
Slam by
Nick Hornby.
Tony Hawk
helped design the world famous Canvey Island
skate park in
1982.
Video games
A video game series based on his skateboarding debuted in 1999.
Since then, the series has spawned
15
titles, including main series titles, spin-offs, and
repackages.
Hawk has also appeared in
Mat
Hoffman's Pro BMX and
Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer as
a hidden Rider and Surfer, respectively.
Personal life
Hawk with Lhotse Merriam in
2007.
Hawk married Cindy Dunbar in April 1990 and later divorced in 1993.
They had a son, Chicken "Riley" Hawk (born December 6, 1992) whom
they named for one of Hawk's ancestors. Riley also skates for
Hawk's own Birdhouse Skateboards.
Hawk was married to Erin Lee from 1996 to 2004. They had two sons,
Spencer (born July 26, 1999) and Keegan (born March 18,
2001).
Hawk
married Lhotse Merriam on January 12, 2006, on the heart shaped
island of Tavarua
, Fiji
.
Merriam's favorite group
Rancid played
at their wedding. While there, Druke the Fijian Chief of Tavarua,
requested Hawk give a private skate demo where two onlookers held a
piece of plywood as a makeshift wall to wall ride on a tennis court
wall. The couple's first child Kadence Clover Hawk was born June
30, 2008.
References
- Tony Hawk Biography - Skateboarding to the rescue,
A skateboard slump, Back in the game
- http://www.boomboomhuckjam.com/bbhjhistory.html
- http://www.theex.com/whatson.php
- http://twitter.com/tonyhawk Posted on Jun 6 09 @ 3:23PM
EST
- http://yogabbagabba.com/?setEntryID=281#/tony_hawk Tony Hawk on
Yo Gabba Gabba
- Free Lunch with Riley Hawk - Shred or Die
- Birdhouse Skateboards - Riley Hawk
- Skateboarder Tony Hawk Weds - Marriage, Tony Hawk :
People.com
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