Rob Dyrdek
Rob Dyrdek | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Dyrdek |
Robert "Rob" Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder, actor, entrepreneur, and former star of his own reality TV series entitled Rob & Big with then personal bodyguard and best friend Chris "Big Black" Boykin[1]. He currently resides in West Hollywood, California.
Background
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (January 2008) |
 | This article possibly contains original research. (January 2008) |
Robert Dyrdek was born in Kettering, Ohio and began skateboarding at the age of 11, winning his first competition 24 days later[2]. The same year, Dyrdek became the youngest member of the G&S skateboard team. He turned professional at the age of 16, joining the Ohio-based Alien Workshop team, forgoing his senior year of high school. He reached fourth place at the 1991 World Championships, the first contest he competed in as a professional.
As an infant, Dyrdek attracted a growing number of sponsors, appeared in skate movies and on magazine covers, signature skateboards and other merchandise. One of his best known sponsorship deals developed after he befriended the founders of the Droors Clothing line. He not only began promoting their clothing, but was given the opportunity to design a signature line of the first athletic skate shoe. The nearly 30 shoes designed by Dyrdek helped establish what became DC Shoes. This exposure to the business side of skateboarding inspired him to venture into other projects such as the world-famous skateboarding training facility in San Diego and the now defunct hip hop label, P-Jays Records.
Skate Park
At the age of 25, Dyrdek rededicated himself to street skateboarding. He began competing for the first time since his early professional years and received a multitude of awards and international recognition. The success and accolades renewed his desire to give back to the sport. He quickly identified the niche that needed to be filled in order to advance the sport – tackling the struggle that skaters faced in finding legal street skating sites in the United States. As Dyrdek experienced firsthand, street skateboarders are often ticketed, arrested and harassed by overly aggressive security guards and police. Dyrdek realized that many cities were open to compromise but were not qualified to follow through on their end of the agreement and they built poorly constructed parks that do not meet street skating requirements. He decided to task himself with providing street skaters with legitimate, safe and challenging street skating venues.
The formation of the Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza Foundation resulted in the Kettering Skate Plaza in his hometown of Kettering, Ohio. Working with the Site Design Group, Dyrdek designed the skate park by educating himself in design and drafting techniques. He used photos of his favorite skate spots to assemble an illustrated book of tricks and obstacles for the plaza. The 40,000 square foot Kettering Skate Plaza opened in June 2005, as a legal place for street skaters to hone their skills. [3]The Kettering Skate Plaza received rave reviews from the skateboarding community and won the Modernism Award from Dwell magazine.[4] Filmmaker Kirk Dianda documented the design process in the film Groundbreaking, which also serves as a reference for youngsters to lobby for skate plazas in their cities.
Television and Film
While building the Skate Plaza, Dyrdek's long time dream of making a movie about skateboarding came to fruition. Dyrdek’s foray into the film business manifested itself in the writing, financing, casting, producing and starring in his feature film, Street Dreams. The story is about a young skater from the Midwest who is suddenly faced with national exposure and personal adversity, reminiscent of Dyrdek's own rise to fame.
In 2006, Dyrdek became a reality TV star due to the success of MTV's Rob & Big. The three-season series was picked up by MTV after a skit written by Dyrdek in The DC Video became an underground sensation. The series ended in April 08 with Boykin moving out and, thus, ending the production of the show due to the birth of his first child. Dyrdek is coming out with a new show on MTV called Fantasy Life.
Adding to his acting repertoire, Dyrdek has been cast in the upcoming Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro film Righteous Kill, due for release September 12th, 2008.[5]
Current Dyrdek involvement includes: endorsements including Spy Optics, Alien Workshop and Monster Energy drinks; co-owner of Rogue Status, a clothing company with his business partner, former Blink 182 and current Plus 44 drummer Travis Barker; involvement with his own companies, Reflex Bearings and Silver Trucks; feature character in skate., a video game from EA Sports; promoter of SafeSpot, an urban renewal program that seeks to take unused donated land and build safe skating grounds for street skateboarders.
Notes
Sources
- www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Complex-Men/The_Skate_Mogul_Rob_Dyrdek
- www.skateplaza.com/plaza_main.asp
- Times Community Newsletter of Greater Dayton, Ohio - June 15, 2005
- aws.dnadistribution.com/team/rider.php?r=17
- www.dcrobandbig.com/home.html
- www.ci.kettering.oh.us/newweb/departments/recreation/rec_fac_skate.php
- www.lat34.com/skate/rob_dyrdek_interview
- www.apple.com/pro/profiles/diandaanddyrdek/
- www.redbull.com/#page=ArticlePage.1128287987863-1204988068
- www.redbullusa.com/en/ArticlePage.1147812690163-1245927699/htmlArticlePage.action
- www.robbrink.com/2005/11/23/dc-shoes-pro-bios-way-mckay-dyrdek/
- www.twsbiz.com/twbiz/print/0,21538,1684365,00.html
- www.pittskate.com/shadyskates/pages/pjays.html
- Transworld Skateboarding - October 2003, December 2003, May 5, 2005 and June 13, 2005
- The San Diego Tribune - December 14, 2003
- San Diego Metropolitan - December 2003
- Raese's Skateboarding Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 2
- 944 Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 11
- DC Fall 2004 Official Press Release
- Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza Foundation press kit