Tony Hawk
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- 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.
| Tony Hawk | |
 Hawk and Lhotse Merriam
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| Born | May 12, 1968 San Diego, California, U.S. |
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| Occupation | Skateboarder |
| Spouse | Lhotse Merriam (2006-present), Erin Lee (1996-2004), Cindy Dunbar (1990-1992) |
| Children | Riley, Spencer & Keegan |
| Website tonyhawk.com |
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Tony Hawk (born May 12, 1968) is an American professional skateboarder. He is credited with the invention of many aerial skateboard tricks including the Stalefish, Madonna, and McHawk, and over 80 others, but is most famous for being the first recorded skater to land the 900, which consists of two-and-a-half rotations (900°) in the air before landing back on the pipe during the televised June 27, 1999 X Games, for which he received an enormous amount of attention.
He was also the second skateboarder to land a McTwist, a trick named after a Mike McGill of the Bones Brigade, a skate team that Tony Hawk was originally a member of. 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.
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Biography
Tony Hawk is the son of Nancy (homemaker / college professor) and Frank Hawk (retired U.S. Navy officer/small appliance salesman). Tony Hawk is the youngest of 4 children; he has one brother, Steve, and two sisters, Lenore and Patricia.[1]
In his autobiography, Tony Hawk described himself as a "cool kid" -- frustrated, unfocused, and prone to flying off into rages. Tony Hawk was nine years old when his brother changed his life by giving him a blue fiberglass banana board.[2] His father built a skating ramp in the backyard, in hopes that skateboarding would be an outlet for young Tony's energy.
Personal
Tony married Cindy Dunbar on April 1990 and later divorced in 1993.[3] They had a son, Hudson (Riley) Hawk (6 Dec 1992) who they named for one of Tony's ancestors. For many years, Riley has skated for Hawk's own Birdhouse Skateboards.[4]
Hawk was married to Erin Lee from 1996 - 2004. They had two sons, Spencer (26 July 1999) and Keegan (18 March 2001).[3]
Just one year after they started dating, Hawk married Lhotse Merriam. Merriam is the former Vice President of the International Free Skiers Association; the former President of Method Media & Marketing Inc.[5]; and the former owner of Clover Lingerie & Gifts LLC.[6][7] Hawk married Lhotse Merriam on 12 Jan 05 on the heart shaped island of Tavarua, Fiji.[8] 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.[9][10]Tony and Lhotse are currently expecting their first child together, a girl, due in June 2008.[11]
Business interests
In 1994, 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, which is now known as Birdhouse Skateboards. Hawk also owns his own film and TV production company, 900 Films , and along with his family he started Hawk Clothing, including an apparel and footwear line sold exclusively at Kohl's. 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 toured Six Flags parks across the country in the summers of 2006 and 2007.
Hawk also teamed with Activision to release a popular skateboarding video game series, beginning with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater/Tony Hawk's Skateboarding in 1999. Ten games with the Tony Hawk license have so far been released, with Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, in October 2007, being the latest.
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 Fiesta Texas unveiled their latest roller coaster creation, Tony Hawk's Big Spin, a skatepark themed coaster that spins while riding around the track.
In 2002, Tony created the Tony Hawk Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist low-income communities in the creation of well-designed skateboard parks. In four years, the Foundation gave away over a million dollars in grants and assistance. In April 2007, along with eleven other philanthropic athletes (Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning, and Cal Ripken, Jr.), Hawk is a founding member of Athletes for Hope, a public charity that was launched publicly on ABC's Good Morning America and ESPN. Athletes for Hope connects athletes, individuals, and businesses with charitable and community causes.
In 2007, Tony and his production company, 900 films, partnered with the Or Die Networks (creators of Funny or Die) to create his own action sports video sharing site, ShredOrDie.com. The site, which launched on October 23, 2007 is a place where top action sports athletes, filmmakers and everyday users can post action sports clips.
Tricks invented
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
- Airwalk
- Stale Fish
- shuvit feeble grind
- Gymnast Plant
- Madonna
- Frontside cab
- Ollie 540
- Frontside blunt
- 720
- Varial 720
- The 900
Miscellaneous
The British comedian and author Tony Hawks is frequently confused for the skateboarder and maintains a list of intended e-mails (and his mischievous responses to them) on his official website.[12] On January 2, 2008, Tony Hawks chose Tony Hawk as his specialist subject on an edition of the BBC's quiz show Celebrity Mastermind, noting that his correspondents "might be able to do backside varials but they can't spell to save their lives."[13]
Tony Hawk plays a pivotal role in Nick Hornby's 2007 novel Slam (novel) in which the teenage protagonist and skateboarder, Sam, has a poster of his hero, Hawk, in his bedroom whom he talks to and - it appears - imagines responses from.
References
- ^ Tony Hawk Biography - Skateboarding to the rescue, A skateboard slump, Back in the game
- ^ Tony Hawk v3.0
- ^ a b Tony Hawk - Biography. IMDb. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ^ Birdhouse Skateboards - Team
- ^ FREEZE Online | Contributors
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005000/bio Tony Hawk imdb bio lists all this for Lhotse's former jobs
- ^ http://www.skateamerica.com/sitemap/content/pages/Tony-Hawk-Bio-4351.html Says she is a retail store owner
- ^ Skateboarder Tony Hawk Weds - Marriage, Tony Hawk : People.com
- ^ Tony Hawk Bio
- ^ The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA
- ^ Tony Hawk Reporting for Diaper Duty - TMZ.com - Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip and Hollywood Rumors
- ^ Tonyhawks.com: Skateboarding e-mails
- ^ Celebrity Mastermind, BBC One, 2 January 2008
External links
- Plum TV Telluride Talks to Tony Hawk at X Dance
- Tony Hawk official website
- Tony Hawk at the Internet Movie Database
- Blitz Distribution, Tony Hawk's Distribution Company
- Fury Truck Co., Tony Hawk's Truck Sponsor
- Tony Hawk At Soggy Bottom on www.shredordie.com
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