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| Tony Hawk | |
|
Birthday |
1968 |
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City |
Carlsbad |
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State |
CA |
| At
nine years old Tony Hawk stepped on his first skateboard, two years
later he was sponsored and two years after that he turned professional.
By age 16 he was the best in the world and he held that title until
the National Skateboard Association (the only unified skateboarding
ranking system) went belly up in the mid-90s. No skateboarder has
won one-third the amount of pro contests he has and he continued winning
contests until he retired from competition in 1999, at age 31. Much
more than merely a dominant contest skater, Hawk is the most visible
link between the fickle extreme-sports world and a mainstream audience.
It's a delicate juggling act that both skaters and executives appreciate.
"We needed someone to latch onto, an ambassador," X Games
Marketing Director, Chris Stiepock, told The LA Times in June 1999.
"We needed to create heroes, just like the other sports. The
NBA needs to promote Tim Duncan to sell the NBA finals. We needed
Tony." Jamie Thomas, one of the most popular street skaters in
the world said, "Tony is responsible for a part of everybody's
shoe sales, board sales-any sale in skateboarding." He was born in San Diego in 1968, to Frank and Nancy Hawk and has never strayed far from home. Today he lives in Carlsbad with his wife and two sons and surfs, snowboards, edits video, and tinkers around on his Macintosh ("What can I say?" he admits, "I'm a computer geek."). Hawk's popularity is exceeding expectations. His video game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, is one of the most popular video games ever, selling over 2,000,000 copies. His biography, Hawk Occupation: Skateboarder, published by Regan Books, sold out of its first imprint during pre-booking. His company, Birdhouse Projects, annual sales are projected to exceed $18 million this year. In a recent national Q-Score poll he was ranked sixth most popular athlete in the world with the boys' aged 8-14 demographic. According to scholastic books, which services public schools and has a circulation of XX, he was one of the most requested article subjects. The "Got Milk?" campaign researched extreme sports and discovered that Hawk was by far the most popular peripheral athlete in the world. [Get quote from SWING mag] In skateboarding his popularity hasn't waned either. He was voted Transworld Skateboarding's Reader's Poll Vert Skater of the Year in its most recent vote. Transworld is the most popular skateboarding magazine in the world. The End, a video produced by Hawk's company, Birdhouse Projects, is the best selling skateboard video of all time. COMPETITION Since turning professional in 1983, Tony has placed first or second in almost every major skateboard contest he's entered. He's traveled the world and won every series of contests, including the National Skateboard Association series, ESPN's Extreme Games, Munster contest in Germany, and the Vans Triple Crown Hard Rock World Championships. "From the time he was 16 and declared the National Skateboard Association's first world champion until the NSA folded 12 years later, he never lost his title as the world's best vertical skateboarder." Gravity magazine recently wrote. At the 1999 X-Games in San Francisco Hawk made history (and every major national newspaper) when he landed the "900," a two-and-a-half mid-air flip. It's a trick that has eluded skateboarders for over a decade and caused a variety of injuries including broken ribs and compressed vertebras. He is the only skater to ever land it. OCCUPATION
Activision, Quiksilver, Birdhouse, Hawk Clothing Co., Swatch, Adio Shoes, Fury Skateboard Trucks, Arnette Sunglasses, Jones Soda, TechDeck miniature skateboard toys, Club Med, Bagel Bites, TSG Helmets, Hot Wheels miniature cars, EXPN SIGNATURE PRODUCTS Skateboards, apparel, footwear, "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" and "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2" interactive games (for PlayStation, N64, Dreamcast, Gameboy and PC platforms), year 2000 calendar, helmets, miniature skateboards and skateparks by Tech Deck AFFILIATIONS ESPN, Milk Mustache print ad campaign, Harper/Collins Books, Mattel, USA Today Scholarship Advisory Board, U.S. Postal Service, Hepatitis B Awareness, Last Wish Foundation, Skateboarder Magazine TV COMMERCIALS Disney's Tarzan, AT&T, Pepsi, GAP, Campbell's Soup, Levis, Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Gatorade, Bell Atlantic, Schick, ESPN X-Games, NBC Gravity Games TELEVISION ESPN Summer X-Games, Commentator/Analyst for ESPN Winter X-Games, ABC Wide World of Sports, NBC Gravity Games, Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards, The Making of Disney's Tarzan, MTV Sports, Fox Files, Fox Sports, Arli$$, The Tom Green Show, The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn, Disney Channel's The Jersey, Politically Incorrect, The X Show, Laureus Sports Awards, MTV Sports & Music Awards. MAINSTREAM PRINT Profiles in Rolling Stone, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Life, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Disney's Adventures, ESPN Magazine, Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, LA Times, New York Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, WWD, Entrepreneur, Forbes, CNN Money Line, Icon, Details, Bikini, People, ID, Spin, Stance, W, Men's Retailer, Licensing VERTICAL PRINT Transworld Skateboarding, Skateboarder, Warp, Thrasher, Big Brother, Heckler, Electric Ink, Gravity WEBSITES Profiles in CNNSportsIllustrated.com, SportsIllustratedforKids.com, Disney.com, EXPN.com, Skateboarding.com, Password.com, LATimes.com, AT&T.com, Maximonline.com FEATURE FILM, PRINCIPAL ROLES Police Academy IV, Gleaming the Cube, Thrashin', The End FEATURE FILM, STUNT Escape from L.A., Police Academy IV |
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