Background and career
Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American 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, who retired from competing professionally in 2003, is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential skateboarders of all time. Among Hawk's philanthropic activities is the Skatepark Project, which helps to build skateparks in underprivileged areas around the world.
Anthony Frank Hawk was born on May 12, 1968, in San Diego, California, to Nancy (1924–2019) and Frank Hawk (1923–1995), and was raised in San Diego. He has two older sisters, Pat and Lenore, and an older brother, Steve. As a child, Hawk was described as "hyperactive". 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, so school advisers recommended placing him in advanced classes. Hawk attended Jean Farb Middle School from 1980 to 1981. His parents supported his skateboarding because it served as an outlet for his restless energy. Hawk's skills developed, and he made his television debut on Captain Kangaroo as "Skateboard Johnny" in 1981. Hawk became a professional skateboarder at age 14. By age 16, he was sponsored by Powell Peralta, Tracker, Sundek, Vans, and SIO. Hawk attended three high schools and graduated from Torrey Pines High School in 1986. He later said Steve Caballero and Christian Hosoi were his influences at the time.
Tony Hawk is a trailblazer in vertical, or "vert", skateboarding, and remains one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. He got his first skateboard at age nine, a gift from his older brother. Hawk then began to practice at the now-defunct Oasis Skatepark, where he started attracting attention by performing advanced maneuvers for his age. By the age of 12, he was already dominating amateur competitions across California. Turning professional at just 14, Hawk quickly rose to the top, and signed with the Powell Peralta professional team, where he gained fame for his performances in the popular Bones Brigade videos. Hawk's first ever professional victory came at the Del Mar Freestyle Contest – Pro Pool in 1982. By 16, Hawk had won 7 competitions and was widely recognized as the best competitive skateboarder in the world. With the money he made from skateboarding, Hawk bought his first house during his senior year in high school. Throughout the late 1980s, Hawk traveled the world, skating demos and contests. By the end of the decade Hawk had 31 victories, including the TransWorld Skateboard Championships – Pro Half-Pipe (1986) and the Münster Monster Mastership Pro Half-Pipe (1989). However, by the start of the early 1990s, skateboarding had begun to develop a bad reputation, which led to Hawk falling on hard times. Despite this, Hawk continued his career, even refinancing his first house to stay financially afloat, and launched his own skateboard company, Birdhouse Projects. In the beginning Birdhouse was not making much money; however, as skateboarding surged back into popularity, the company became one of the most successful skateboarding brands, making $25 million annually within five years. As for Hawk's skateboarding career itself, by the time he reached 25 in 1993, he had won 49 contests.
1995 saw the first annual X Games, where Hawk competed in two of the events and won a gold medal in the skateboard vert with a record score of 97.50 for a “perfect run.” Additionally, he won a silver medal in the park competition. Hawk returned for the second annual X Games the following year and won a silver in vert. However, the 1997 X Games went better for Hawk, as he would double gold in both the vert and double vert events. With the success at that year's nationally televised X Games, Hawk's skateboarding brand continued to skyrocket in popularity. Hawk has credited his medal wins with "bringing the needed exposure to the sport of skateboarding." The following year, in 1998, Hawk started his own skateboarding clothing line, and at that year's X Games Hawk once again captured gold in the vert doubles and bronze in the vert. Hawk pioneered late-grab airs—which a few early grabbing pros called cheating at the time—and invented over 100 tricks, including the backside Ollie to tail, varial, frontside hurricane, rodeo flip, stalefish, and Ollie 540. On June 27, 1999, at that years X Games, 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." Hawk captured double gold at that year's events in the vertical doubles and verts best trick. He retired from professional competition that year, but Hawk continued to appear at the annual X Games, winning his 7th gold medal at the event during the vert doubles in 2000. Hawk repeated as the vert doubles winner in 2001 and took home silver in the vert best trick. In the following X games, Hawk won bronze in the vert best trick and gold in the vert doubles. Hawk's 10th and final gold medal came at the 2003 X Games, where he won the vert best trick. This would be his final X Games appearance for nearly 20 years as, following the event, he retired from performing. By the end of his career Hawk had participated in 103 professional contests, winning 73 and finishing second in 19—a staggering record that may never be matched. He also held the title of National Skateboard Association vert skating world champion for an unprecedented 12 consecutive years from 1984 to 1996. Hawk also helped mentor skateboarder and future Olympic gold medalists snowboarder Shaun White. Hawk befriended the nine-year-old White at the Encinitas, California, YMCA skate park and mentored him, helping White turn pro in skateboarding at the age of 16. 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. Hawk was invited to former 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. In 2009, Hawk was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony. As of April 2020, Hawk is sponsored by Birdhouse, Vans, Independent, Bones, and Nixon. His current Pro model shoe is the Proto. Hawk was formerly sponsored by Theeve. 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. Hawk's most recent competition appearances came at the 2023 X Games in California, where he finished 9th in the vert best trick and a 7th-place finish in the same event at X Games Japan.
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. According to former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, Hawk was offered $300,000 for the use of his name and likeness for the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game, and that Hawk was living in his car due to financial issues. Hawk's role in the series was usurped by customizable player characters in later installments, 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. He later appears in Moscow to teach them the "360 Varial Heelflip Lien" move. 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, and in all gameplay modes except the story mode. He appeared as a kid in the Backyard Sports game, Backyard Skateboarding.
In 1986, Hawk was a featured skateboarder 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.
