Bam Margera Biography

Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera (born September 28, 1979) is a professional skateboarder, radio personality, star of Viva La Bam, and member of the Jackass crew, both shows broadcast by MTV. He grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania and went to East High School. He cites Raab Himself as his only reason for attending high school, and dropped out after Raab got expelled.

His weekly Sirius Radio show is called Radio Bam.

Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera IV made his own skate videos known as the CKY quadrilogy, which is also the name of his brother Jess's heavy metal band (see CKY band). Margera's crew includes 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). Margera's television antics push the generally accepted boundaries of good taste by seeking to shock and offend, thereby creating a large contingent of detractors who charge that he profits from the humiliation and misfortune of others.

Margera was born and raised in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a western suburb of Philadelphia. 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. The CKY Crew, when in the area, often frequents the local bars of 15 North and Kildares.

As a professional skater in the summer 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.

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".

Margera also appeared on Punk'd, his recent MTV work in 2005. Ashton Kutcher trapped Margera and his friend inside the convenience store where the terrorist took over. (The real LAPD SWAT team helped with this prank)

Margera has said he makes two million dollars a year for wearing Element Skateboards clothing.

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 Underground 2.