Bam Margera facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bam Margera
Margera in 2017
Born	Brandon Cole Margera (1979-09-28) September 28, 1979 (age 45)
Occupation	Skateboarder stunt performer television personality filmmaker musician
Years active	1997–present
Known for	Co-star of Jackass; Viva La Bam
Spouse(s)	Missy Rothstein ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2012)​ Nicole Boyd ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2023)​ Dannii Marie ​ (m. 2024)​
Partner(s)	Jennifer Rivell (1998–2005)
Children	1
Parents	Phil Margera (father) April Margera (mother)
Relatives	Jess Margera (brother) Vincent Margera (uncle)
Bam Margera Sport Country United States Sport Skateboarding Turned pro 1998

Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera (/mɑːrˈdʒɛərə/ mar-JAIR-ə; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass and subsequent films. He also created the spin-off shows Viva La Bam (2003–2006), Bam's Unholy Union (2007), Bam's World Domination (2010), and Bam's Bad ... Game Show (2014), and co-wrote and directed the films Haggard (2003), and Minghags (2009).

Early life and CKY videos

Margera was born on September 28, 1979, the son of April and Phil Margera. He is the younger brother of rock musician Jess Margera and nephew of television personality Vincent "Don Vito" Margera. His grandfather nicknamed him "Bam Bam" at the age of three after noticing his habit of purposely running into walls; over time, that nickname was shortened to "Bam" by his schoolmates. Before their television fame, Margera's parents April and Phil worked as a hair dresser and accountant respectively.

Margera got his first video camera from his father in 1993 after he enrolled in a digital media class with childhood friend Chris Raab, where they also met future collaborators Art Webb, Brandon DiCamillo, and Ryan Dunn. They began shooting videos of Margera and his friends skateboarding and doing stunts, which eventually turned into the CKY video series.

In 1994, Margera dropped out of school after childhood friend Chris Raab was expelled, but was homeschooled by his mother and received his GED. On September 21, 1995, Margera, his brother Jess, Dunn and Raab were nearly killed in a car accident near their home town. In later interviews, Margera revealed that Raab had "forced him" to wear a seatbelt as the car was going nearly 100mph, and that this probably saved his life. Other than his brother Jess suffering a broken arm, none of the four were seriously injured.

Following years of recording and editing, Margera independently released the first CKY film, then titled CKY: Landspeed, in 1999. The film is a collection of stunts and pranks interspersed with skateboarding tricks and footage set to music by CKY. Subsequent releases of the film removed the Landspeed subtitle. In the following years, the sequels CKY2K, CKY3 and CKY4: The Latest and Greatest were released. These early videos feature many of Margera's friends, including Dunn, Raab, DiCamillo, Rake Yohn and Brandon Novak, who formed a loose collective known as the CKY crew. During this period, the videos and band projects were heavily interlinked, with two of the bands albums being unofficial soundtracks to the videos.

Margera (center) with Ryan Dunn (second from left; blue shirt) during a live shoot in New York, April 2004

Career

Television and film

Margera (center) with Ryan Dunn (second from left; blue shirt) during a live shoot in New York, April 2004

Following CKY's success, former Big Brother editor Jeff Tremaine noticed Margera's videos and drafted him into the team that 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. In the original series, several of the features stunts were taken directly from the CKY videos. Margera went on to appear in Jackass: The Movie (2002), Jackass Number Two (2006), Jackass 2.5 (2007), Jackass 3D (2010), and Jackass 3.5 (2011), with a minor appearance in Jackass Forever (2022).

After the Jackass series ended in 2002, Margera was given a follow-up, Viva La Bam, which ran for five seasons from 2003 to 2005. A mixture of stunts and reality, the show followed Margera and his crew as they performed various stunts and missions, but also offered insight into their daily lives. The show was primarily filmed in West Chester but also visited New Orleans, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Brazil, Finland, Mexico, Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Monaco, 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, which was originally filmed in Iceland for the first season. A two-part special episode, "Viva La Spring Break", aired in 2006.

In 2003, Margera played himself in the movie Grind, which portrays four young men following a professional skateboarder from Chicago to California. The film contains numerous cameos by Jackass members, as well as many professional skateboarders and other celebrities. Upon release, it was met with generally unfavorable reviews from critics, but was rated much higher by the general public.

In 2007, Margera's engagement and wedding planning was filmed for Bam's Unholy Union as a follow-up to Viva la Bam. The show follows Margera, his then-fiancée Missy Rothstein, and their friends in the lead-up to their wedding. In 2009, Margera appeared on Nitro Circus, and the following year Margera starred alongside Dunn and skateboarder Tim O'Connor in the one-off special Bam's World Domination on Spike TV, which showcased Margera and his friends' attempt to conquer an obstacle course race in the Tough Guy Competition, held in Staffordshire, England.

Margera at the Jackass 3D London premiere in 2010

In March 2016, Bam and his parents appeared on the VH1 reality television show Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn to address Bam's self-destructive behavior.

Skateboarding career

Margera skateboarding in 2006

Margera started skateboarding at age 7, and by the time he entered high school it had developed into a full-time hobby. His brother Jess later described his abilities as "a natural talent" and noted that their parents had been very supportive of Margera's decision to go into skateboarding "from day one", and revealed that he used to travel with Bam to Love Park in Philadelphia as early as 1991, when they were 12 and 13 years old. In 1992, Margera got his first sponsorship from Fairman's Skate Shop and began appearing in skate videos. In 1994, Margera dropped out of high school to pursue a full-time skateboarding career.

Early in his professional career, Margera was sponsored by Toy Machine Skateboards, Speed Metal Bearings, Adio Footwear, Electric Sunglasses, Volcom, Landspeed Wheels, Destroyer Trucks, Destructo Trucks, and Fairman's Skateshop. In 2001, Margera became a member of Team Element, the demonstration team for Element Skateboards, which he remained affiliated with for the rest of his professional career.

In 2012, Margera was forced to put his skating career on hold. After a five-year hiatus, he returned to skateboarding casually, resulting in a renewed partnership with Element Skateboards to celebrate the brand's 25th anniversary in 2017, by re-releasing a series of ten of his most memorable deck designs. The boards were released weekly between September 6 and November 8, 2017; each deck is signed by Margera and limited to 50 units.

As of 2024, Margera is without any major sponsorships.

Independent films

Margera has written, produced and starred in three independent films as of 2024, with a fourth scheduled but on hold since 2017. He co-wrote, directed and starred in Haggard (2003), an independent film based on real events in the life of his friend Ryan Dunn. Dunn played himself as the main character while Margera played "Valo", a character based on himself and elements of HIM singer and friend Ville Valo.

Margera also directed Minghags. The film is a loose sequel to Haggard and features the "garbage juicer" invention from that film. The first viewing of the rough version of the film was on August 7, 2007, at Sikes Hall. The movie was released straight to DVD in December 2008.

Also in December 2008, Margera released a Christmas-themed movie, Bam Margera Presents: Where the#$&% Is Santa?. The movie is about Bam and his friends going to the Arctic Circle in Finland on a quest to find Santa Claus. The film features Ville Valo from HIM, the Dudesons, Hanoi Rocks, and Mark the Bagger.

In January 2015, Margera announced that he had been working on an autobiographical documentary film which he hoped to premiere in the near future. The film will deal primarily with Margera's life after the death of his close friend and co-star, Ryan Dunn, who died in a car crash in 2011. According to Margera the film has been three years in the making, and will give viewers a glimpse into his childhood, career and rise to fame, while focusing mainly on his recovery from the death of Dunn. Musician Brent Hinds of the band Mastodon will play Dunn in what has been described as "dramatic fantasy interludes" that ties the film together while also re-enacting what Margera considers his "darkest moments" after Dunn's death.

During a Facebook Q&A on December 7, 2015, Margera stated that the name of the film would change from I Need Time to Stay Useless to Earth Rocker and that it would be released February 2016. In a 2017 episode of Vice's Epicly Later'd, Margera stated that after working on the film for four years straight, sometimes for weeks at a time, he had reached the point where he had had enough of doing so. Margera stated that he had approximately eleven terabytes worth of video footage and that editing it down into a two-hour film was impossible. When asked if the project was on pause for the moment, he responded that it was.

As of 2024, the documentary remains unreleased, with no scheduled release date.

Radio Bam and music

Margera began a weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show on Sirius channel 28 Faction on November 24, 2004, called Radio Bam. The show initially featured Margera and his friends from the CKY and Jackass crews, while later shows featured less of the two crews and more of Margera's newer friends. In 2005, Margera formed a music label, Filthy Note Records, and has since directed music videos for Clutch, Turbonegro, Viking Skull, Vains of Jenna and several for CKY. He also directed four music videos, "Buried Alive by Love", "The Sacrament", "And Love Said No", and "Solitary Man", for the Finnish band HIM, and three for The 69 Eyes, "Lost Boys", "Dead Girls Are Easy" and "Dead N Gone".

A competent amateur musician, Margera also played keyboards in a novelty band called Gnarkill along with his brother Jess Margera, Brandon DiCamillo, Rich Vose and Matt Cole. The group released two albums, Gnarkill in 2003 and Gnarkill vs. Unkle Matt and the Shitbirdz in 2006. Margera also plays guitar, frequently seen doing so in episodes of Viva La Bam.

Since 2013, he has featured in two musical projects.

Other projects

Margera has been animated as a character in the Tony Hawk's video game franchise, specifically 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, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. He also voiced a character in the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. He made cameo appearances in the movies Grind and Destroying America.

In late September 2008, Margera opened a bar/theater called "The Note", in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Serious restrictions from West Chester Borough Council caused a multitude of issues for Margera and the bar, and The Note closed its doors in January 2014.

In late 2009, Margera released a book containing private writings and pictures titled Serious as Dog Dirt.

In 2020, Margera started appearing in YouTube videos including a viral water balloon fight video with model Jeb Carty.

Personal life

Relationships

Margera was engaged to Jenn Rivell, who played a prominent part in several of his projects. The couple appeared to be cohabiting in various episodes of Viva La Bam. Their seven-year relationship ended in 2005.

In 2006, Margera became engaged to childhood friend Melissa "Missy" Rothstein. The events leading up to their wedding (with about 350 friends and family in attendance) on February 3, 2007, in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were chronicled on the MTV series Bam's Unholy Union. The couple's honeymoon was in Dubai. In 2008, during an appearance on LA Ink, Margera told Kat Von D about $13,000 in damage that occurred during his wedding celebration, explaining, "I was kind of ready for it, though. I was like, 'I'm inviting the Jackass crew. If something doesn't get broken then that's not right.'"

Missy and Bam Margera

In October 2010, Margera told Howard Stern that he and Rothstein were living in separate cities, they meet once a week, and that Rothstein knew that he had girlfriends. The couple divorced in November 2012.

On October 5, 2013, Margera married Nicole Boyd in Reykjavík, Iceland. In June 2017, Margera announced that Boyd was pregnant with the couple's first child. In September 2017, it was announced that the child, a boy, would be named Phoenix Wolf. Margera's son was born in December 2017.

On September 16, 2021, Boyd filed for child custody of their son Phoenix Wolf. However, she did not file a divorce petition to end their eight-year marriage. On February 15, 2023, Boyd filed for legal separation and spousal support, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple has been living separately since 2021. Legal documents state that Boyd is seeking physical and legal custody and that Margera can have parental visitation as long as he and his son remain within Los Angeles County. It further details that her reasoning for filing for separation was based on Margera behaving inappropriately while spending time with their son.

He started dating model Dannii Marie in July 2023. He proposed to her in October 2023. They were officially married on May 28, 2024.

Name and residence

Margera owns two houses in the West Chester area – his present residence and his former home, known as Castle Bam, which he bought in 2004. Castle Bam is a large house in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, that was often featured on Viva La Bam. The house has a gothic theme, a skatepark in the driveway, and is situated on 14 acres (5.7 hectares) of land. In January 2007, Margera built a ramp in the backyard which caused trouble with the township.

In 2018, April Margera began renovating the home in order for it to be used for short-term rentals via Airbnb. Margera has made it known that the home will not look the way it did on Viva La Bam. Rentals of the home were expected to be made available in 2018.

In an October 24, 2007, interview with the Cleveland Free Times, Margera stated that although he had completed paperwork that would legally change his first name to Bam, he was "still debating" filing it after a conversation with his father.

Filmography

Film

Television

DVDs and videos

Music videos

Video games

Web series

Selected Discography

With CKY

• Volume 2 (1999)

With Gnarkill

• Gnarkill (2002)
• GnarKill vs. Unkle Matt and the ShitBirdz (2006)

With the Evesdroppers

• The Evesdroppers (2016)

With Cult Shotta, Tanboymiguel and SinceWhen

• Feel Like Bam (2023)

Books

• Bam Margera, Serious as Dog Dirt (MTV; November 17, 2009) ISBN: 1-4391-4773-6