Education

Margera went to 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.

The CKY videos

Bam got his start by making his own skateboarding videos, known as the cKy videos. Camp Kill Yourself (a.k.a cKy) is also the name of his brother Jess's rock band (see CKY). These early videos feature most of the CKY crew, most notably Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Rake Yohn, Raab Himself, and Brandon Novak. His videos and television shows often include his long-suffering parents, Phil and April, his uncle Vincent Margera ("Don Vito"), and ex-fiancée Jenn Rivell (Margera broke off his engagement to Rivell in early 2005).

Skateboarding career

Before becoming a professional skateboarder, he could be found frequenting the local skate spots, performing at area fairgrounds, and loitering at Fairman's skate shop.

As a professional skater in the 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]

Other enterprises

His weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show is called Radio Bam.

Margera directed and co-wrote (with Brandon DiCamillo and Chris Aspite) a low-budget independent film called Haggard, starring himself and his friends, released in 2003. Margera also has a small speaking part in the skateboarding movie "Grind".

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 directed the music video for The 69 Eyes (Lost Boys)

Margera also 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 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 the upcoming Tony Hawk's Project 8.

In 2006, Bam started on a new animated series for MTV slated to air in the summer. Bam also had two special episodes of Viva la Bam entitled "Viva La Spring Break".

He also starred in Jackass: The Movie and its recently released sequel Jackass Number Two.

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^[2]
• Bam is a fan/friend/occasional video director for H.I.M.'s frontman, Ville Valo. Bam has licensed the band's logo, the heartagram (a pentagram with two points curved to incorporate a heart symbol), for personal use.
• Bam played keyboard in the band Gnarkill, alongside his friend Brandon Dicamillo and his brother Jess Margera.
• Margera owns his own record label; Filthy Note Records. He has signed Swedish hard rock band Vains of Jenna to it,^[3] and has produced their first video "Noones Gonna Do It For You"^[4].
• Bam is engaged to Melissa "Missy" Rothstein. He proposed to her in the King of Prussia Shopping Mall. The two are going to be tying the knot in October 2006.^[5]
• 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.
• Bam 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.^[6] 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.^[7]
• Most episodes of Bam's show had shown him to own both a red 2003 Hummer H2 and a purple Lamborghini Gallardo as well as a Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG with a heartagram on the front instead of the Mercedes-Benz logo. In Season Five, however, showed the H2 being dropped off a cliff by Don Vito as revenge for constant torment. The Lamborghini has been modified with help from friend Billy Idol to include a sunroof (a rough rectangle crudely cut with a reciprocating saw). Bam bragged that his was the only vehicle of its kind with a sunroof. Since the end of filming on Viva La Bam, Bam has replaced the red H2 with a blue H3. Adio shoes recently presented Bam with a light blue Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster.
• Bam entered the famous Gumball 3000 rally in 2006 with Ryan Dunn, Mike Vallely, and Tony Hawk.
• Bam Margera also hosted MTV2's first annual All That Rocks w/ Ryan Dunn.
• He is seen on the intro of The Dudesons.
• Bam also starred in the Bloodhound Gang's music video to "Foxtrot, Uniform, Charlie, Kilo." He was driving a banana shaped car.
• Is known for his fear of snakes. During a prank war on Viva La Bam, Johnny Knoxville tackled Bam trapped him while Ryan Dunn put a snake on him. Also, in the Jackass 2 movie, the cast members tricked Bam by trapping him in a truck with a devenomized cobra. He cries of fear during this scene.
• Bam directed the music video "The Mob Goes Wild" for hard rock band, Clutch, at Rex's in West Chester, PA.

References

1. ^ about.com bio.
2. ^ Nieratko, Chris. Big Bro Interview. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
3. ^ BAM MARGERA signs VAINS of JENNA to Filthy Note!.
4. ^ Noones Gonna Do It For You (flv). You Tube.
5. ^ "Hitching Post", New York Post, February 24, 2006, pp. 10.
6. ^ Epstein, Daniel Robert. Bam Margera Interview. UnderGroundOnline. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
7. ^ Dream Seller at the Internet Movie Database

External links

• Bam Margera's official website
• Bam Margera at the Internet Movie Database
• Bam getting Punk'd, from YouTube