Bam Margera is one of the most famous self-destructive celebrities in the history of skateboarding and popular culture.
He's often portrayed as a daredevil with suicidal tendencies, addicted to relentless antics that make the news for his unpredictable behavior.
But Margera is more than just a skater hothead with a bold and larger-than-life personality.
The infamous stuntman with a creative and fearless personality rose to fame and became a worldwide youth icon as one of the most colorful characters in the entire "Jackass" series alongside Johnny Knoxville.
He also inspired a new generation of sidewalk surfers to take risks riding a skateboard and pushing the sport forward.
Nowadays, he is a free skater, independent movie producer, musician, TV and radio personality, and an all-around businessman.
Margera rarely dodges controversy but remains one of the most alternative indie voices in extreme skateboarding.
Here's everything you need to know about Bam Margera.
1. Brandon Cole Margera was born on September 28, 1979, in West Chester, Pennsylvania;
2. He is Phil and April Margera's youngest son. Brandon's brother is American musician Jesse Phillip Margera;
3. The skater and stunt performer got the nickname "Bam Bam" after his grandfather noticed that the three-year-old enjoyed running into walls. The iconic nickname was later shortened to "Bam" by school friends;
4. Bam Margera attended West Chester East High School and dropped out in his junior year;
5. One of his oldest friends is Christian Joseph Raab, the Camp Kill Yourself (CKY) crew member artistically known as Raab Himself;
6. Margera started shooting his first skateboarding videos in the late 1990s. The clips featured himself and a group of friends - and even relatives - performing unusual, crazy, and often dangerous stunts and pranks;
7. Between 1997 and 1998, Brandon was sponsored by Toy Machine Skateboards;
8. The CKY video series kicked off on March 1, 1999, with "Landspeed Presents: CKY." Skateboard company Landspeed Wheels sponsored the first of four installments;
9. At the heart and soul of the CKY saga are unsuccessful - and painful - trick attempts followed a triumphant outcome with the rider pulling off the maneuver;
10. Camp Kill Yourself (CKY) was the name of the American rock band formed in 1998 by drummer Jess Margera, guitarist Chad I Ginsburg, and vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller;
11. The group's name was inspired by the 1983 horror movie "Sleepaway Camp";
12. In 2000, American film director and producer Jeff Tremaine challenged Bam Margera and his team to join MTV's "Jackass" star cast;
13. In 2001, the skater joined the Element Skateboards's demo team, Team Element, and remained a relevant and influential member for several years;
14. In 2003, "Viva La Bam," a reality television series starring Margera and friends, catapulted Bam into stardom. The MTV spin-off released 40 episodes that ran for five seasons until 2005 and featured members of his family, including uncle Vincent Roy Margera, best known as Don Vito;
15. In the same year, Bam starred as himself in the comedy film "Grind";
16. In 2008, the skateboarder showman had a controversial, non-sexual role in "The Fantasstic Whores 4," a pornographic movie by Gina Lynn;
17. Margera also invited a few friends for a winter trip to the Arctic Circle in Finland to find Santa Claus. The adventure was documented in "Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% is Santa?" and features Finnish gothic singer-songwriter Ville Vallo, lead vocalist of the band HIM;
18. Two years later, in 2010, Margera's appearance in "Jackass 3D." The flick became the highest-grossing title of the "Jackass" series, earning a total of $170.3 million worldwide;
19. "Bam Bam" announced he was retiring from professional skateboarding in 2017;
20. At the end of the year, to celebrate Element's 25 anniversary, the company released a limited edition series of ten signature Bam Margera deck designs;
21. Throughout his 20s, Margera struggled with heavy drinking and alcohol abuse. He was taken to hospitals after multiple-day alcohol binges before and after his most successful movie appearances in the "Jackass" series and entered several rehab facilities and alcohol detox programs;
22. He was also involved in public altercations, arrested in Iceland, and publicly spoke about his mental health issues, including eating disorders and anxiety;
23. In March 2019, Bam Margera was admitted to a mental health treatment facility. A few months later, he was removed from a commercial airline flight for excessive drinking;
24. He also got support and advice from American talk show host Phil McGraw of "Dr. Phil";
25. Margera was left out of Paramount Pictures' 2022 "Jackass Forever," the fourth film of the legendary franchise directed by Jeff Tremaine, due to his erratic behavior. Nevertheless, the skater filed a lawsuit against Spike Jonze, Johnny Knoxville, and the film and television production and distribution company for wrongfully being excluded from the sequel. Then, in June 2021, a court granted Tremaine a three-year restraining order against Margera after the skater allegedly sent him and his family threats;
26. Throughout his career, he had his "Radio Bam" show at Sirius Satellite Radio, started the music label Filthy Note Records, opened the theater bar The Note, and formed music bands Fuckface Unstoppable and The Evesdroppers;
27. In 2011, Margera lost his close friend and co-star, Ryan Dunn, to a car crash. The event inspired the creation of an autobiographical documentary film named "I Need Time to Stay Useless" and later changed to "Earth Rocker";
28. Bam Margera has his playable character featured in several skateboarding video games, including Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (2001), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (2002), Tony Hawk's Underground (2003), Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (2004), Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (2005), Tony Hawk's Project 8 (2006, and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (2007);
29. In the book "Serious as Dog Dirt" (2009), Margera unveils some of his most impressive drawings, never-before-seen personal photos, private writings, and artistic collages;
30. Bam Margera is 5'8'' (1.73 meters) and weighs around 175 pounds (79 kilograms);
31. In 2016, Bam launched a jewelry and apparel company named BamMerch;
32. Margera was engaged to Jennifer Rivell (1998–2005) and married Melissa "Missy" Rothstein (2006 to 2012) before tying the knot with Nicole Boyd (2013). Nicole and Bam announced the birth of their baby boy, Phoenix Wolf, on December 23, 2017;
33. Bam Margera's net worth is estimated at between $5 and $50 million;
34. He has over 40 tattoos. Some of the sayings and notes inked on his body include "45," "And Then the Cops Came," "Anathema," "Dr. Phil," "Killing Loneliness," "Eat Shit +1," "Random Hero," "Galoris," "Love Metal," "Book Worm," "Tom Penny," "Till the Wheels Fall Off!!," "Ed," "Crazy Kate," "FDR," "Jersey Shore Whore!," and "'I'm Not Here to Fuk Spiders Mate!";
35. In December 2022, the controversial skater was hospitalized due to a severe Covid-19 infection and pneumonia. He was put on a ventilator. According to Margera, he then suffered five seizures and "was pronounced dead on December 8";
36. Bam Margera is on Facebook (@BamMargera), Instagram (@bam__margera), Twitter (@Bam__Margera), and YouTube (@ThisIsBamMargera);