:''This article is about the skateboarder. For the British comedian and author, see Tony_Hawks. For the game series, see Tony_Hawk_Pro_Skater''.
Image:Tony_hawk_crossbone.JPG'''Tony Hawk''' (born May_12, 1968 in Carlsbad, California) is widely regarded as the most famous Skateboarder of all time, and is considered the pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding. Hawk is sometimes referred to as the "Birdman".
Tony Hawk was a prodigy early on, turning pro at the age of 16 as a member of Powell_Peralta's Bones_Brigade. He was also one of the first skateboarders to have a pro model shoe, produced by Airwalk. The first being Natas Kapas with a shoe on Etnies, the second being Steve Caballero with a shoe on Vans, and then Tony's.
As_of_2004, Tony has won 80 competitions and invented numerous historic tricks. In 1985, he landed the first "720" (a 720 degree, or 2 full revolution spin), and in 1999, he became the first skater in the world to successfully complete the "900" - a 900 degree, 2.5 revolution spin, which some considered to be the 'holy grail' of skateboarding. It occured at the 1999 X_Games after 11 failed attempts, and easily won the Best Trick competition by a large margin in the process.
Hawk owned his own halfpipe, constructed by his father, when he lived in his first house with his wife, Cindy, and his first son, Riley. Tony Hawk happens to be decended from Henry_Hudson, discoverer of the Hudson River. Originally, his son was to be named Hudson Riley Hawk, but since this coincided with the release of the movie ''Hudson_Hawk'', they decided to start calling him Riley. The Hawks' home was considered a complete playland. Hawk currently resides in his hometown of Carlsbad,_California.
In 1999, the video game publisher Activision released ''Tony_Hawk's_Pro_Skater'', which became the first game in one of the most successful line of video games. The game has since spawned seven popular sequels, ''Tony_Hawk's_Pro_Skater_2'', ''Tony_Hawk's_Pro_Skater_3'', ''Tony_Hawk's_Pro_Skater_4'', ''Tony_Hawk's_Underground'' and ''Tony_Hawk's_Underground_2'', ''Tony_Hawk's_Underground_2_Remix'', and ''Tony_Hawk's_American_Wasteland''. The series has also seen numerous handheld games on the Game_Boy_Advance, as well as Nokia's ill-fated N-Gage game phone. ''Tony_Hawk's_American_Sk8land'' for the Nintendo_DS is the latest handheld release.
In 2000 he wrote an autobiography entitled ''HAWK: Occupation: Skateboarder'', which made it on to the ''New York Times'' bestseller list. He later wrote two more books: a young adult autobiography called ''Hawk'' and a road journal called ''Between Boardslides and Burnout''.
Hawk has become a household name, and has starred in commercials for a variety of companies, including Apple_Computer and Domino's_Pizza. He has also cameoed in television shows such as ''Cyberchase'', ''Rocket_Power'', ''The_Simpsons'', ''Max_Steel'', ''Sifl_and_Olly'', and ''CSI:_Miami'', and also in movies such as ''Jackass:_The_Movie'', ''The_New_Guy'', ''Haggard_(movie)'', ''Max_Keeble's_Big_Move'' and ''Dogtown_and_Z-Boys,'' and has appeared as an actor in movies such as ''Gleaming_the_Cube'' and ''Police Academy 4''. He has hosted a documentary, ''Video Game Invasion'', which aired on GSN. Hawk also appeared on Punk'd where he was tricked into believing that his son lit an M-80 inside a bathroom, injuring one actress.
Hawk appeared with Tom_Kenny (Patchy the Pirate) to find Gary around the world.
== Contest history ==
* 1st in 2002 X Games: vert doubles (with Andy_MacDonald)
* 3rd in 2002 X Games: vert best trick
* 2nd in 1988 Vision Skate Ecape: vert
* 1st in 1986 Transworld Skateboard Championships (Vancouver, BC): vert
* 1st in 1984 NSA-Del Mar Skatepark (California): vert
* 1st in 1983 Del Mar Spring Nationals (California): vert
* 1nd in 1982 Rusty Harris Series final contest: vert
* Placed in top 5 in 1980 Van's/Offshore Amateur State Finals (California) in boys 11-13 division
==See also==
*Skateboarding_trick for detailed description of trick skating maneuvers
{{TonyHawk}}
==External links==
*Tony Hawk website
*{{imdb name|id=0005000|name=Tony Hawk}}
*Birdhouse Skateboards
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