Tony Hawk

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Tony Hawk

This article is about the American skateboarder. For the British comedian and author, see Tony Hawks. For the game series, see Tony Hawk's Series.

Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1962, in San Diego, California) is a professional American skateboarder. He is considered one of the most successful and influential persons of modern vertical skateboarding. He is credited with the invention of many skateboard tricks including the Stalefish, Madonna, and over 80 others, but is most famous for being the first to land the 900 (two and a half rotations—900°—in the air before landing back on the pipe) during the televised 1999 X Games, for which he received an enormous amount of attention. It marked the next level of his rise to fame, solidifying his status as a household name. He retired from competitive skateboarding afterwards, but continues to skate and perform at demos.

Business interests == In 1992, after the skateboarding industry took a downturn and vertical skateboarding's popularity waned in the rise of street skating, Hawk started Birdhouse Projects along with ex-Powell Peralta pro Per Welinder. Now known as Birdhouse Skateboards company . He also owns his own film and TV production company, 900 Films, and, along with his family, started Hawk Clothing. Hawk Clothing was later sold to Quiksilver and is now sold exclusively in Kohl's department stores across the USA, along with Hawk Shoes. Tony's Boom Boom HuckJam tour is the most successful action sports tour featuring skateboarding, BMX, and Freestyle Motocross. The tour went to arenas across the USA in 2003, 2004, and 2005 and is touring Six Flags parks across the country in the summer of 2006 and 2007. Hawk also teamed with Activision to release the most popular sports video game franchise ever, beginning with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and now in its 9th incarnation with Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. In 2000, he wrote an autobiography with Sean Mortimer that was entitled HAWK: Occupation: Skateboarder, which made it to number 18 on to the New York Times bestseller list. He later wrote a second book, a road journal called Between Boardslides and Burnout. In March 2007, Six Flags Amusement Parks unveiled their latest roller coaster creation, Tony Hawk's Big Spin, a skatepark themed coaster that spins while riding around the track.

1 Personal life
2 TV/film appearances
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Personal life

Hawk was born to Nancy and Frank Hawk. His father supported Hawk's skateboarding and founded both the California Amateur Skateboard League and the National Skateboarding Association. The NSA held many of the competitions that Hawk competed and won in. Frank passed away in 1995. Hawk has one brother, Steve, and two sisters, Lenore and Patricia. Tony married Cindy Dunbar in 1990, and in 1992 they had his first son, Hudson Riley Hawk who goes by the name Riley due to the release of the movie Hudson Hawk at that time. Hawk and Dunbar divorced in 1995. Hawk married Erin Lee in 1996, and had two more sons, Spencer in 1999 and Keegan in 2001. They divorced in 2004 Hawk married Lhotse Merriam on January 12, 2006.

[edit] TV/film appearances

His debut in feature films was in Gleaming the Cube
He played a cameo part in the low budget American film Haggard
He did the voice of the character Coop on the PBS Children's show CyberChase.
He has made numerous appearances in the following MTV programs:
- Jackass performing "The Loop" in a chicken suit
- Viva La Bam
- Wildboyz
- MTV Cribs
He appeared in Jackass: The Movie, in which he participated in "Sweaty Fat Fucks"
He appears in the sequel of Jackass, Jackass Number Two, in the skit entitled "The Gauntlet". Note: Even though Tony Hawk was there, he didn't skate "The Gauntlet". According to Jeff Tremaine, last time Tony Hawk was with them they almost killed him
He made a cameo apperence in Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
He made a cameo apperence in Lords of Dogtown

Tony Hawk on The Simpsons

He made a cameo apperence in The New Guy
He made an appearance in Mind of Mencia
He played himself in an episode of What I Like About You
He appeared in an episode of The Simpsons
He played a small role in the beginning of xXx, as Vin Diesel's driver.
He played a role in a Rocket Power episode
He played a small role in the movie Max Keeble's Big Move as a skater who gets hit with ice cream from an ice cream man
He played a part as himself in the Australian Skate movie Deck Dogs
He was punk'd by Ashton Kutcher.
He played a murder victim in an episode of CSI: Miami.
His character and voice was spoofed in MTV2's Celebrity Deathmatch where he battled against a spoofed Bam Margera and was later eaten by a spoofed Don Vito
He played himself in a small role in the Drake and Josh movie.

[edit] Trivia

Many confuse the British writer/comedian Tony Hawks with the skateboarder, and e-mails to the former's official website on the subject of skateboarding usually receive mischievous replies.
In December 2002, Apple unveiled its first limited edition iPods. One of these models bore Tony Hawk's signature on the back. The iPods were available to those purchasing the regular iPod for an extra US$49. The model was discontinued on January 8, 2003.^[1]