Jesse Gregory James (born April 19, 1969) is an American television personality and CEO of West Coast Choppers, a manufacturer of custom-made motorcycles. James is the host of Motorcycle Mania and the former series Monster Garage on the Discovery Channel.
Career
Custom motorcycles and cars
After several years as the bodyguard with Danzig and occasionally for other heavy metal bands such as Slayer and Soundgarden,[1] James opened West Coast Choppers in his mother's garage in 1992. The company grew quickly and soon moved to a larger facility for select customers and companies. About 200 bikes have been built at West Coast Choppers. West Coast Choppers is also sponsoring race teams in Top Fuel Drags and Super Late Model NASCAR. James recently bought custom car business Austin Speed Shop and has expanded into the custom car business. James has also built and is racing an off-road Trophy Truck and a Figure-8 race car.
Other business ventures
He is the owner of the Cisco Burger restaurant, which opened on April 28, 2006, just down the street from West Coast Choppers. The 1950s style hamburger stand - named after his beloved pit bull who is now deceased - features Kobe beef burgers, low-fat burritos, organic vegetables, and biodegradable wrappings. James also has partial ownership in the South Austin Speed Shop in Austin, Texas.
Other business ventures include the Chopperdogs fan club and the Jesse's Girl clothing line. Since 2006, James has nationally published Garage magazine.[2]
Television
In 2000, the Discovery Channel made the documentary Motorcycle Mania, which chronicled James' everyday life. Following the success of the documentary, the Discovery Channel approached James with an offer to host a new show called Monster Garage where James and a crew of mechanics modified vehicles under a short deadline.
James later established Payupsucker Productions, under which he produced shows like History of the Chopper, Iraq Confidential with Jesse James and Green Scream, in which James plans to break the land speed record with an eco-friendly hydrogen car.
Through James' show "History Of The Chopper" there are also glimpses of his involvement with the Hells Angels and other 1% outlaw motorcycle clubs.
He appeared on the second season of Celebrity Apprentice. Each celebrity played to raise money for a favorite charity; James selected to play for the Long Beach Education Foundation.[3] Due to his poor performance in raising funds, James was fired by Donald Trump on the second-to-last show which aired May 3, 2009.
His show Jesse James is a Dead Man premiered on Spike TV on May 31, 2009. The show features James doing death defying stunts. The first episode set a ratings record for Spike, drawing the largest audience ever for an unscripted series on the network, with 2 million viewers.[4] The show is produced by Spike TV, BASE Productions and James' company, PayupSucker Productions.[5]
In conjunction with that appearance Marvel, created a special one-shot comic book where he evades death once again after considering retirement, and made it available in comic book stores for free distribution.[citation needed]
James has also appeared on an episode of Street Customs where he had his pickup truck customized by West Coast Customs.[citation needed]
He appeared in an ad for T-Mobile's Google cell phone, in which Whoopi Goldberg, Phil Jackson and he appear (in that order), without speaking or being named or described.[6]
Legal troubles
In July 2008, James faced a $422,680 breach of contract lawsuit from Michael Jones, a customer who hired James to build him a custom car, who contended that after paying $270,000 over two years, the car was not completed, and that James informed him that it would cost between $600,000 and $700,000.[7]
That September, James faced another lawsuit from his former lawyer for $327,533 in unpaid fees.[8]
Personal life
James has three children—a daughter and a son with his first wife, Karla, and a daughter with his second wife, Janine Lindemulder.[9]
On July 16, 2005, James married actress Sandra Bullock, whom he met when she arranged for her 10-year-old godson, a fan, to tour the set of Monster Garage.[10]
In October 2009, adult film star/producer Lindemulder, who had been jailed for six months for tax evasion, sought to regain custody of her then-five-year-old daughter with James, Sunny, after James had been granted sole guardianship of her. James sought to retain full guardianship, citing fear of the environment in which his daughter would be placed if returned to Lindemulder.[11][12]
References
- ^ "Biography:Jesse James, TV Personality / Mechanic". Infoplease. http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/jessegjames.html.
- ^ Quick, Rebecca (July 26, 2006). "Chopper fame revs up business empire". On the Money (MSNBC). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14041593/. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ NBC (January 1, 2009). "NBC Announces the 16 All-Star Celebrities Ready to Take on Donald Trump in the Boardroom when The Celebrity Apprentice Premiers Sunday, March 1". Press release. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20090108nbc01.
- ^ "Jesse James sets Spike TV ratings record". The Live Feed. June 2, 2009. http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/06/jesse-james-premiere-ratings.html.
- ^ "Jesse James Is A Dead Man" at MyFoxLA.com
- ^ T-Mobile Gets Phil Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg To Help Sell New Google Phone (This source misspells his given name as "Jessie".)
- ^ "Dude, Jesse James Took Me For a Ride!" TMZ; July 16, 2008
- ^ "Bang Bang -- Jesse James Sued" TMZ; September 5, 2008
- ^ Chiu, Alexis (March 14, 2007). "Sandra Bullock Adores Family Role". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20014931,00.html. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
- ^ "Sandra Bullock Marries Biker Boyfriend". People. July 19, 2005. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1083855,00.html. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
- ^ Martinez, Edecio. "Sandra Bullock Battles Porn Star Janine Lindemulder for Child Custody" CBS News; October 29, 2009
- ^ Andrea Canning; Lindsay Goldwert and Sheila Marikar (2009-11-06). "Jesse James: Leave Sandra Bullock Out of Custody Fight". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jesse-james-leave-sandra-bullock-custody-fight/story?id=9015229. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
External links
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