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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
Tony Hawk and Lhotse Merriam
Born	Anthony Frank Hawk (1968-05-12) May 12, 1968 San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupation	Skateboarder
Spouse(s)	Lhotse Merriam (2006-present), Erin Lee (1996-2004), Cindy Dunbar (1990-1993)
Children	Riley (b. 1992), Spencer (b. 1999), Keegan (b. 2001), Kadence (b. 2008)
Website	tonyhawk.com

Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968) is an American professional skateboarder. He is credited with 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 of which Tony Hawk was an original member. 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.

Early life

Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk was born to Nancy, a homemaker and college professor, and Frank Hawk, a retired U.S. Navy officer and small appliance salesman. Tony is the youngest of 4 children; he has one brother, Steve, and two sisters, Lenore and Patricia.

In his autobiography, Hawk described himself as a "cool kid" -- frustrated, unfocused, and prone to flying off into rages. He was nine years old when his brother changed his life by giving him a blue fiberglass banana board. His father built a skating ramp in the backyard, in hopes that skateboarding would be an outlet for young Tony's energy.

He graduated from Torrey Pines High School in the North County Coastal area of San Diego, California. As a senior at the age of 17 he was able to purchase his first house due to his success as a skateboarder.

Personal life

Tony married Cindy Dunbar in April 1990 and later divorced in 1993. They had a son, Hudson (Riley) Hawk (born 6 December 1992) who they named for one of Tony's ancestors. For many years, Riley has skated for Hawk's own Birdhouse Skateboards.

Hawk was married to Erin Lee from 1996 - 2004. They had two sons, Spencer (born 26 July 1999) and Keegan (born 18 March 2001).

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.; and the former owner of Clover Lingerie & Gifts LLC. Hawk married Lhotse Merriam on 12 January 2005 on the heart shaped island of Tavarua, Fiji. 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. Hawk and his wife welcomed their first child together, daughter Kadence Clover Hawk (born on June 30, 2008 at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California), weighing 8 pounds 8 oz and 21 inches long.

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.

In 2008, Tony partnered with T-Mobile USA in a sponsorship deal, which included the introduction of a limited edition Tony Hawk Sidekick LX.

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. 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."

Tony Hawk plays a pivotal role in Nick Hornby's 2007 novel, Slam, 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.

On the March 21, 2005, episode "Game Over," of CSI: Miami, Hawk makes a guest appearance as a skateboarder and video game tester. The episode involves the killing of an employee (Hawk) of a video game company that produces skateboarding video games, mirroring the skateboarding games produced by Activision (see above).

External links

• Tony Hawk official website
• Tony Hawk at IMDb
• Blitz Distribution, Tony Hawk's Distribution Company
• Fury Truck Co., Tony Hawk's Truck Sponsor
• Tony Hawk At Soggy Bottom on www.shredordie.com
• Plum TV Telluride Talks to Tony Hawk at X Dance