Bam Margera: Difference between revisions
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Margera |
Margera began filming himself and his friends skateboarding and doing stunts and released a compliation of his work as CKY:Landspeed in 1999. CKY2K, CKY3 and CKY4 have also been released. CKY stands for "Camp Kill Yourself", a reference to the film [[Sleepaway Camp]]. These early videos feature many of Margera's friends, including [[Ryan Dunn]], [[Brandon DiCamillo]], [[Rake Yohn]], [[Chris Raab]], [[Brandon Novak]] and others who form a loose collective known as the [[CKY Crew]]. CKY is also the name of a rock band featuring his brother [[Jess Margera|Jess]] (see [[CKY (band)]]), and the history and relationship between the video and band projects is heavily interlinked. |
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====Jackass==== |
====Jackass==== |
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Revision as of 23:03, 5 December 2006
Bam Margera | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 28, 1979 |
| Occupation(s) | Stuntman Director Skateboarder |
Bam Margera (born Brandon Cole Margera on September 28, 1979) is a professional skateboarder and television personality. He released a series of videos under the CKY banner and came to prominence after being drafted into MTV's Jackass crew. He has since appeared in Viva La Bam, both Jackass movies and Haggard which he also co-wrote and directed.
Personal life
Margera was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and attended East High School. He cites Raab Himself as his only reason for attending high school, and dropped out after Raab got expelled for smearing feces on a locker (as told in CKY). He then successfully received his GED at the insistence of his parents, April Margera and Phil Margera.
Margera was previously engaged to Jenn Rivell, a divorced single mother six years his senior. Rivell played a prominent part in several of his projects and the couple appeared to be co-habiting in various episodes of Viva La Bam. However, the relationship ended in 2005 and Margera would later become engaged to Melissa "Missy" Rothstein, a childhood friend.
Margera is the younger brother of CKY drummer Jess Margera, son of Phil and April Margera and nephew of Vincent Margera.
Career
Skateboarding career
Margera is a member of Team Element, the demonstration team for Element Skateboards. He is also sponsored by Adio Footwear, Destructo Trucks, Speed Metal Bearings, Electric Visual, and Fairman's Skateshop. Although Margera does not compete at the higher levels of skateboarding, his large sponsorship packages assure him of "pro" status.
In January of 2005, Margera successfully landed The Loop in Phoenix, Arizona. He became the 13th known skater to land it, and was the first street skater to successfully land it [1].
TV, film & radio
The CKY videos
Margera began filming himself and his friends skateboarding and doing stunts and released a compliation of his work as CKY:Landspeed in 1999. CKY2K, CKY3 and CKY4 have also been released. CKY stands for "Camp Kill Yourself", a reference to the film Sleepaway Camp. These early videos feature many of Margera's friends, including Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Rake Yohn, Chris Raab, Brandon Novak and others who form a loose collective known as the CKY Crew. CKY is also the name of a rock band featuring his brother Jess (see CKY (band)), and the history and relationship between the video and band projects is heavily interlinked.
Jackass
Former Big Brother editor Jeff Tremaine noticed Bam's videos and drafted him into the team which would eventually become MTV's Jackass. Margera and Ryan Dunn became mainstays of the cast while other CKY crew members played supporting roles to various degrees. Margera went on to appear in both Jackass: The Movie and Jackass Number Two. Several skits in the first Jackass movie were CKY style pieces filmed in and around West Chester, but similar scenes in the second movie were removed after the arrest of Margera's uncle Vincent Margera.
Viva La Bam
After Jackass, Margera was given his own MTV series entitled "Viva La Bam". The show ran for 5 series between 2003-2005 and followed Margera and his crew as they performed various stunts and missions. The show was primarily filmed in West Chester, Pennsylvania but also visited New Orleans, LA, Brazil, Finland, Mexico and Transylvania. In addition to the regular series, special episodes have included "Viva La Spring Break" and a "lost" episode included on the Viva La Bands CD.
Haggard
Margera co-wrote, directed and starred in Haggard (2003), a movie based on real events in the life of his friend Ryan Dunn who played himself. Margera played "Valo", based on himself and elements of the personality of HIM singer Ville Valo.
Radio Bam
Margera began a weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show on Sirius channel 28 Faction on November 24, 2004 called Radio Bam. The show features Margera along with friends from the CKY and Jackass crew.
Other projects
Margera owns a music label, Filthy Note Records, inspired by the success of Viva La Bands, compilations of music associated with the CKY Videos and Viva La Bam. Aside from signing bands, Bam also directs music videos. He has directed videos for Filthy Note artist Vains of Jenna, as well as Clutch, Turbonegro, Viking Skull, and CKY. He also directed four music videos for the Finnish band HIM (Buried Alive By Love, The Sacrament, And Love Said No, and Solitary Man).
He has also been animated as a character into a number of pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk's video games. In fact, he is featured as a main character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Tony Hawk's Underground, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, and Tony Hawk's Project 8.
Margera is currently writing, producing, and directing his new feature film, a sequel to Haggard, titled Kiss a Good Man's Ass. The film will feature the "garbage juicer" invention shown in Haggard.[2] He announced another film he is working on called The Dream Seller. The Dream Seller is a nickname for long-time friend and fellow skater Brandon Novak.[3]
Trivia
- Bam's name originates from his childhood when he would sometimes go crazy and run into walls, causing his grandfather to say "Bam, bam, bam, chill out! Bam!" Bam was 3 years old[4]
- Bam is engaged to Melissa "Missy" Rothstein. Margera has known Rothstein since the 6th grade. [1]
- In the DVD commentary for Jackass: The Box Set, Margera said that Element Skateboards pays him two million dollars a year to wear their clothing.
- He is good friends with Ville Valo, the lead singer of HIM. [2]
- Margera appeared on Punk'd, in 2005. Ashton Kutcher 'trapped' Margera's Element team manager inside of a convenience store while staging an elaborate hold-up, complete with weapon-wielding police officers. (The real LAPD SWAT team helped with this prank.)
- He currently resides in a large house near West Chester, PA. The interior of the house has a gothic decorative theme and is known as "Castle Bam".
- Margera revealed on the November 13, 2006 episode of Radio Bam on Sirius Satellite Radio that he had his name legally changed to Bam.
- Margera plays the keyboard in a novelty band called Gnarkill along with Brandon DiCamillo, Jess Margera, Rich Vose and Matt Cole.
- Margera also has a small speaking part in the skateboarding movie "Grind".
- Margera has designed t-shirts for Angelwear, a charity that donates funds to help build skateparks in low income areas [5].
References
- ^ "about.com bio".
- ^ Epstein, Daniel Robert. "Bam Margera Interview". UnderGroundOnline. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
- ^ Dream Seller at IMDb
- ^ Nieratko, Chris. "Big Bro Interview". Retrieved 2006-08-20.
- ^ "Bam's T-Shirt design for Angelwear".