Tony Hawk (born
May 12,
1968 in
Carlsbad, California) is often regarded as the most skilled and best-known
skateboarder today. He is sometimes compared to
Michael Jordan and
Wayne Gretzky for his dominance of the sport. Among the areas he dominates in the sport is the
vert ramp.
He owned his own halfpipe made by his dad when he lived in his first house with his first wife, Cindy, and his first son, Riley. The original name for his son was Hudson Riley Hawk, but since this coincided with the release of the movie Hudson Hawk, they decided to start calling him Riley. His house was considered a complete playland.
In 2000, Hawk struck a deal with Activision to license his name and likeness for use in a video game called Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The game has since spawned five popular sequels, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Tony Hawk's Underground and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 remix. Failure to recognise the apostrophe in the titles of these games can lead to mistaking Tony Hawk with Tony Hawks, the British comedian.
Hawk has become a household name, and has starred in commercials for a variety of companies, including Apple computer and Domino's Pizza. He has also cameoed in television shows such as Rocket Power, The Simpsons, Max Steel , Sifl and Olly, and CSI: Miami, movies such as Jackass: The Movie and Dogtown and Z-Boys, and has appeared as an actor in movies such as Gleaming the Cube and Police Academy 4.
As of 2004, Tony has accomplished numerous historic tricks and has won 80 competitions. He landed the first 900 degree spin at the 1999 X Games after 11 failed attempts, winning the Big Air competition by a large margin in the process. He is sometimes referred to as "Birdman".
Hawk currently resides in his hometown of Carlsbad, California.
See also
External links
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04
