Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American former professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documented "900" skateboarding trick in 1999. He also licensed a skateboarding video game series named after him, published by Activision that same year. Hawk retired from competing professionally in 2003 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential skateboarders of all time.[6][7][8]
Hawk has been involved in various philanthropic activities throughout his career. He founded The Skatepark Project, which helps to build skateparks in underprivileged areas around the world.
Early life
Tony Hawk was born on May 12, 1968, in San Diego, California, to Nancy (1924–2019)[9][10] and Frank Peter Rupert Hawk[11] (1923–1995), and was raised in San Diego.[12][13] He has two older sisters, Pat and Lenore, and an older brother, Steve.[14]
As a child, Hawk was described as "hyperactive".[13] One time, Hawk struck out in baseball and was so distraught that he hid in a ravine and had to be coaxed out by his father. His parents had him psychologically evaluated at school. The results were that Tony was "gifted", as he was tested with an IQ of 144,[15] so school advisers recommended placing him in advanced classes.[16] Hawk attended Jean Farb Middle School from 1980 to 1981. His parents supported his skateboarding because it served as an outlet for his excess energy. Hawk's skills developed, and he made his television debut on Captain Kangaroo as "Skateboard Johnny" in 1981.[17] Hawk became a professional skateboarder at age 14.[16] By age 16, he was sponsored by Powell Peralta, Tracker, Sundek, Vans, and SIO.[18] Hawk was the official National Skateboard Association world champion for 12 consecutive years.[16]
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With the money he made from skateboarding, Hawk bought his first house during his senior year in high school.[19]
Hawk skating in 1987 (Wassenaar, the Netherlands)
On June 27, 1999, Hawk became the first skateboarder to land a "900", a trick involving the completion of two-and-a-half mid-air revolutions on a skateboard, in which he was successful on his twelfth attempt. After completing the trick, Hawk said, "This is the best day of my life."[20] He retired from professional competition that year,[21] but Hawk continued to appear at the annual X Games until 2003, when he retired from performing. On June 27, 2016, at age 48, Hawk performed what he claimed would be his final 900. In a video posted on the YouTube RIDE Channel, Hawk said, "Spencer was there on my first one, and now he was there on my last", after successfully landing a 900.[22]
Hawk was invited to US president Barack Obama's June 2009 Father's Day celebration and skated in the hallways of the nearby Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds. This was the first time anyone had skateboarded on the White House grounds with permission from officials.[23] In 2009, Hawk was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony.[24][25]
In July 2021, Hawk briefly ended his competitive retirement to participate in the Vert Best Trick event at that year's X Games, finishing in fourth place out of nine competitors.[32][33]
Contest victories
Hawk in 2015
Full list of contest victories
No.
Year
Contest
1
1983
Spring Nationals Contest
2
1983
Summer World Series
3
1984
Sundek Pro Skateboard Challenge
4
1984
Booney Ramp Contest
5
1984
NSA Summer Series
6
1984
NSA Summer Series
7
1985
NSA Pro Contest
8
1985
NSA/Variflex Rage
9
1985
Vision/Sims King of the Mountain Contest
10
1985
Skateboard Plus Pro Contest
11
1985
Shut Up And Skate Ramp Jam
12
1986
Hot Tropics Pro Contest
13
1986
NSA Contest
14
1986
NSA Expo 86 (Vancouver)
15
1986
NSA Chicago Blowout Pro Contest: Vert
16
1986
NSA Bare Cover Pro Contest
17
1987
NSA Ramp N' Rage Down South Contest
18
1987
NSA Skatewave International Professional Championships
19
1987
NSA VP Fair Pro Championship Contest
20
1988
Airwalk Skate Fest Contest
21
1988
NSA Gotcha Grind Contest
22
1988
Capitol Burnout
23
1988
Torquay Ramp Riot II
24
1989
NSA Vertical Championships
25
1989
Titus World Cup Contest
26
1989
NSA Pro Finals
27
1989
NSA Pro Finals
28
1990
Del Mar Fairgrounds: Vert
29
1990
Del Mar Fairgrounds: Street
30
1990
NSA Back to the City Contest
31
1990
NSA Wheels for Wishes Contest
32
1991
NSA Pow Wow Street Style Contest
33
1991
NSA Kona Spring Nationals
34
1991
NSA Capitol Burnout Contest
35
1991
Titus World Cup Contest
36
1991
Titus World Cup Contest
37
1991
Holy Masters Skate Contest
38
1991
NSA Pro Finals
39
1992
NSA Kona Pro Contest
40
1992
NSA Spring Fling Contest
41
1992
Street
42
1992
Street
43
1992
Street
44
1993
World Championship
45
1993
Titus World Cup Contest
46
1995
X Games
47
1995
Hard Rock Café & Vans World Championships
48
1996
Hard Rock Triple Crown of Skateboarding Contest
49
1997
Hard Rock Triple Crown of Skateboarding Contest
50
1997
X Games
51
1997
X Games
52
1997
Hard Rock Café & Vans World Championships
53
1998
Sean Miller Memorial SPOT Pro Contest
54
1998
X Games
55
1998
Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding Contest
56
1998
Titus World Cup Contest
57
1998
Hard Rock Café & Vans World Championships
58
1999
X Trials Pro Contest
59
1999
X Games
60
1999
X Games
61
1999
Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding Finals
62
1999
MTV Sports and Music Festival
63
2002
X Games
64
2003
X Games
All contest results are covered in Thrasher magazine and can be checked in its archives.[34]
A video game series based on Hawk's skateboarding, titled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, debuted in 1999. Since then, the series has spawned 18 titles so far, including ten main-series titles, four spin-offs, and four repackages.
Hawk's role in the series was usurped by customizable player characters in later installments,[36] but he has remained a prominent character. In the fifth game in the series, Underground, Hawk is a minor non-player character whom the player meets in Tampa, Florida, and skates against. Impressed with the player's skills, Hawk grants them entry into a skate competition.[37] He later appears in Moscow to teach them the "360 Varial Heelflip Lien" move.[38] Hawk and other skaters are briefly playable near the end of the game when they skate in a promotional video for the player's skate team,[39] and in all gameplay modes except the story mode.[40] He appeared as a kid in the Backyard Sports game, Backyard Skateboarding.
Film and television
In 1986, Hawk was a featured skateboarder and skater-double for Josh Brolin in the movie Thrashin'. In 1987, Hawk made a brief appearance in the movie Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol with David Spade. In 1989, Hawk appeared as a skateboarder in Gleaming the Cube. In 2002, he appeared in Neal H. Moritz's and Christopher Gilcrest's film xXx playing the role of one of Xander Cage's stuntman friends. In 2004, Hawk played himself in the Australian skateboarding movie Deck Dogz. In 2006, he made a cameo appearance in the film Drake & Josh Go Hollywood as himself. Hawk also had a cameo in the movie The New Guy, and appeared in Jackass: The Movie, skateboarding in a fat suit with Mat Hoffman and Bam Margera, as well as in Jackass Number Two skateboarding through an obstacle course. Hawk also appeared in the opening title sequences in Jackass 3D and Jackass Forever. He appeared in the film following the 2006 Gumball Rally, 3000 Miles, again with Bam Margera. Hawk also played the police officer who arrests Ryan Dunn in the movie Haggard: The Movie. Hawk 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 voiced himself in the 2006 animated movie Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage, where he is kidnapped by circus freaks.
Hawk doing skate jam in 2012
Hawk was featured as 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.[41] Hawk also made a cameo appearance in the Simple Plan music video for "I'm Just a Kid", he can be seen, in a crowd, at a high school, watching kids skating.
On television, Hawk was a guest on the Nickelodeon kid's show Yo Gabba Gabba!.[42] In 2000, he played himself in Max Steel. Hawk also guest voiced on The Simpsons episode "Barting Over", where he played himself, along with fellow San Diegans Blink-182. In the episode, Hawk lends Homer a new board from his brand where complete rookies are able to perform at the top levels. Hawk ends up having a comical play off with him after Homer begins to show him up. Tony Hawk appeared as himself in MXC in a special "MXC Almost Live" episode in 2004. On the PBS Kids show Cyberchase, Hawk guest-starred as Slider's long-lost father Coop. In the CSI: Miami episode "Game Over" he played a game programmer who was murdered. Hawk also played on Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. Hawk hosted Cartoon Network's "Hall of Game" sports award show on February 25, 2011. Hawk was on Take Two With Phineas and Ferb. Hawk appeared on the internet cooking show Epic Meal Time on October 28, 2011, to celebrate the show's one-year anniversary, where he can be seen in the final scene eating a deep-fried pizza cake. Hawk reappeared on another Epic Meal Time video on July 20, 2013, as a guest on the educational cooking show Handle It. Hawk assisted Harley Morenstein (Sauce Boss) in cooking egg rolls. The video features promotion for Hawk's own YouTube channel, RIDE Channel.[43] He also guest-starred on the ABC comedy Last Man Standing. He played himself in an episode of Rocket Power.
In 2022, Hawk did a guest voice role in The Casagrandes episode "Skaters Gonna Hate" where it was revealed that he had a history with Carlos Casagrande back when he operated as "Carlos X".[47] That same year, HBO released a documentary on him titled Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off. Hawk worked with Laughing Dragon Studios to develop the animated series Skatebirds.[48]
Hawk hosted a weekly radio show on Sirius XM from 2004 to 2019 called "Tony Hawk's Demolition Radio". In 2021, Hawk partnered with fellow skateboarder and former SiriusXM host Jason Ellis for the weekly podcast "Hawk vs. Wolf".
Boom Boom HuckJam
In 2002, Hawk started a show tour featuring freestyle motocross, skateboarding, and BMX. It started in Las Vegas and went on to 31 cities around the U.S. and eventually to Six Flags amusement parks.[50]
Amusement park rides
A series of amusement park rides known as Tony Hawk's Big Spin were built in three Six Flags parks in 2007 and 2008.[51] The ride was originally billed as the "Tony Hawk experience" and was designed to have the look and feel of a giant red-and-black skatepark. It offered a full "extreme sports" experience, with monitors in the queue lines displaying highlights of the history of action sports and a large spinning Tony Hawk figure crowning the ride. In 2010, Six Flags cancelled its license and the rides were renamed to Pandemonium.[52] The ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was moved to Six Flags Mexico in 2012. Additionally, a water park ride called Tony Hawk's Half pipe (renamed The Half pipe in 2011) was opened at Six Flags America in Bowie, Maryland.[53]
Emoji
In February 2018, New York magazine reported that Hawk was working with Jeremy Burge to help design Emojipedia's skateboard emoji[54] after the company's initial design was criticized by Hawk as "a skateboard you would buy at a department store in the '80s."[55] The updated design was based on Hawk's own skateboard.[56] Subsequent releases of the skateboard emoji from Apple and Samsung resemble Hawk's board (including 60mm wheels)[57] despite no direct collaboration between Hawk and these companies.[58]
Hawk speaking about the importance of skateboarding in people's lives at the California Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2019
In December 2011, Hawk was listed by Transworld Skateboarding magazine as the second-most-influential skateboarder of all time, particularly for the invention of the backside ollie to tail.[63][64]
In January 2013, professional skateboarder John Cardiel, ranked by Transworld Skateboarding as the eleventh most influential skateboarder of all time, listed Hawk as one of his most important influences, as well as Mark Gonzales and Christian Hosoi. Cardiel explained, "... the insane 540s with no hands, and, just like, all his tricks; he had the ramps, all his ramps, all the ramps he had—I thought that was insane. Tony Hawk's the best."[65]
In an interview for the online series Free Lunch, produced by Hawk's RIDE Channel, professional skateboarder Andrew Reynolds said:
Tony Hawk—he's like, basically, to me it says, "You can be a skater and take over everything and be, you know ... and use skateboarding to be a businessman, a role model to young people," um, he's just the best. And, he called my house when I was fifteen, and was, like, "Do you wanna do something with us?" not knowing anything about me.[66]
In 2012, Reynolds recruited Hawk's son Riley, who was 19 years old at the time, for Reynold's skateboard deck company, Baker.[66]
Hawk often posts on Twitter about encounters he has with people who do not recognize him or wonder if he is truly Tony Hawk. Various publications have speculated about Hawk's motivation:[67]
The cynical among us might argue that as he slides inexorably out of cultural relevancy, Tony Hawk desperately needs to remind us that he's still here, still famous. Others might say he’s trying to communicate that he’s fed up with it all, his stream of tweets a not-so-subtle hint... But no. Tony Hawk... thinks it is the funniest thing in the world, and he will keep thinking it is the funniest thing in the world, and keep tweeting about it, for the rest of his life.[68]
Personal life
Relationships
In April 1990, Hawk married Cindy Dunbar, whom he began dating in high school. Their son, Riley Hawk, was born on December 6, 1992, and was named after one of Hawk's ancestors.[69] Riley is also a professional skateboarder.[70] Hawk and Dunbar divorced in 1993.[13] Riley is married to Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love.[71] They have a son together.[72]
Hawk was married to Erin Lee from 1996 to 2004.[13] They have two children, born in 1999 and 2001. The older of the two, Spencer, is an electronic music producer who releases music as Gupi.
Hawk was married to Lhotse Merriam from 2006 to 2011.[73] Their wedding was held in Fiji and Rancid played for them as the wedding band.[74][75] The couple's only child was born in 2008.[76]
Hawk married his fourth wife, Cathy Goodman, on June 27, 2015, in a ceremony in Limerick, Ireland.[77]
Interests
Besides skateboarding, Hawk's interests include mathematics, physics and technology.[78] Hawk purchased a camcorder in Japan and had a friend translate the controls for him, and an Amiga 2000 in the late 1980s.[79]NewTek sent him a Video Toaster for his Amiga in exchange for appearing in a promotional video alongside Wil Wheaton and Penn Jillette,[80] which he later used for editing a promotional video for the TurboDuo game Lords of Thunder in 1993.[81][82]
Philanthropy
Hawk at the opening of the Needles Skate Park in Needles, California, in 2004. Hawk donated $10,000 to the building of the park and made an appearance at the grand opening.
Hawk created the Tony Hawk Foundation in 2002 in response to the lack of safe and legal skateparks in America.[83] As of June 2018, his foundation has awarded US$5.8 million, aiding 596 skatepark projects.[84] In 2015, the foundation received the Robert Wood Johnson Sports award, which honors recipients for their innovative and influential approaches to using sports to build a culture of health in their communities.[85] In 2007, Hawk, 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. founded the charity Athletes for Hope,[86] an organization that aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities through the actions of professional athletes. In 2020, the Tony Hawk Foundation changed its name to The Skatepark Project to better describe the organization's mission.[87] Since then, Hawk has frequently struggled with keeping his relevancy, often feeling the hardships of making it as a pro-skateboarder at over 50 years of age. With his physical capabilities slowly dwindling, and the idea of possible sponsorships seeming less achievable, he decided to make other financial decisions. In 2012, Hawk decided to invest money into digital currency, Bitcoin. His "fun project" became a big source of income and interest for him.[88]
In 2023, Hawk auctioned a signed photograph of himself and Rick Thorne, with 50% of the proceeds to be donated to the Tyre Nichols Memorial Fund. The fund was created following the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of law enforcement officers. One of the fund's plans involve building a skate park in Nichols' honor.[89]
Powell-Peralta: The Bones Brigade Video Show (1984)
Summer Sessions (1985)
Powell-Peralta: Future Primitive (1985)
NSA 86' Vol. 1 (1986)
On the Prowl (1987)
Powell-Peralta: The Search for Animal Chin (1987)
Psycho Skate (1988)
Ohio Skateout (1988)
The Vision Pro Skate Escape (1988)
Thrasher: Savannah Slamma (1988)
Powell-Peralta: Public Domain (1988)
Powell Peralta: Axe Rated (1988)
Savannah Slamma III (1989)
Powell-Peralta: Ban This (1989)
Powell Peralta: Propaganda (1990)
All Pro Mini Ramp Jam Hawaiian Style (1990)
Powell: Celebraty Tropical Fish (1991)
Tracker: The Brotherhood (1991)
Tracker: Stacked (1991)
Powell: Eight (1991)
Birdhouse: Feasters (1992)
Birdhouse: Ravers (1992)
Birdhouse: Untitled (1993)
411VM: Issue 1 (1993)
Hook-Ups: Asian Goddess (1994)
Tracker: Hi-8 (1995)
Transworld: Uno (1996)
Las Vegas Pro Vert '96 (1996)
Airwalk Skateboarding Video 96 (1996)
Midnight Oil Music Video: "Surf's Up Tonight" (1996) – Hawk was featured as a surf stuntman in the music video filmed on the Wave Loch sheet wave in Texas.[91]
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