Bam Margera Biography

Name : Bam Margera

Born: 28 September 1979

Birthplace: West Chester, Pennsylvania

Best Known As: Skateboarding star of Jackass and Viva La Bam

Bam Margera was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on September 28, 1979. He is the brother of Jess Margera, drummer of the band CKY. He never graduated from high school, but has received his GED. As a professional skateboarder, Bam Margera has worked on the demonstration team for Element Skateboards, Team Element. Despite not being a high level pro skateboard competitor, his frequent appearances in successful videos, driven by his selling personality, have garnered him many sponsorship deals, including Adio Footwear, Speed Metal Bearings, Fairman's Skateshop, Electric Visual and Destructo Trucks. He is also the thirteenth skater ever to land "The Loop" in Phoenix, Arizona.

Television and film :

Margera began shooting videos of himself and his friends skateboarding and doing stunts, which eventually turned into the CKY video series. He independently released CKY. 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, and the history and relationship between the video and band projects is heavily interlinked.

Following the CKY success, former Big Brother editor Jeff Tremaine noticed Margera'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 Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two, and Jackass 3D. 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.

After Jackass, Margera was given his own MTV series entitled Viva La Bam, which ran for five seasons between 2003-2005. The show 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, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Brazil, Finland, Mexico, Amsterdam 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.

Following the show, in 2007, Margera was engaged and the wedding was filmed for Bam's Unholy Union as a follow-up to Viva la Bam. The show follows Margera, his then fiancée Melissa Rothstein and their friends in the lead-up to their wedding. Also in 2008, Margera had a "prominent, non-sex role in" a pornographic film by Gina Lynn called The Fantasstic Whores 4 with Brandon Novak.

In 2009, Margera appeared on Nitro Circus. In October 2010, Margera appeared in Jackass 3D and the movie broke box office records. He visited Europe doing press for the movie in late October.