This article is about the American skateboarder. For the British comedian and author, see
Tony Hawks. For the New Zealand basketball player, see
Tony Hawke. For the video game series, see
Tony Hawk (series).
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. [1]
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 [2].
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.[4]
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.[5] He also guest voiced on The Simpsons episode "Barting Over", where he played himself. 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. 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.[6] They had a son, Hudson "Riley" Hawk (born December 6, 1992) whom they named for one of Hawk's ancestors.[7] Riley also skates for Hawk's own Birdhouse Skateboards.[8]
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).[6]
Hawk married Lhotse Merriam on January 12, 2006, on the heart shaped island of Tavarua, Fiji.[9] 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
External links
