Johnny Knoxville

Johnny Knoxville was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. After graduating from high school, he moved to California to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasedena on a scholoarship, but dropped out within weeks. Early in his career, he appeared in commercials for Taco Bell, Coors Light, & Mountain Dew and also occasionally wrote articles for Blunt, Bikini, and Big Brother Magazines. In 1996 Johnny had the idea to shoot himself with pepper spray, a taser, a stun gun, .38, and then write an article about the experience. He pitched the idea to a couple of magazines that turned it down. Finally in 1997 he told Jeff Tremaine (editor at Big Brother Magazine) about his idea. Jeff hired him as journalist and convinced him to videotape this idea and other stunts (getting hit by car, poo poo platter, etc.) for stories. Eventually these became part of the Big Brother videos Boob and Number Two. Johnny quickly became a cult hit and soon there was a bidding war between MTV and Comedy Central to land him a TV show. Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, and Spike Jonze pitched the idea of Jackass to MTV. It combined stunts with skateboarding and would allow the three producers creative control. MTV jumped at this unique idea. Alongside Johnny, Tremaine, and Jonze were Steve-O, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Jason 'Wee Man' Acuna, Dave England, Ehren McGhegan, and Preston Lacy. Jackass quickly became one of cable's highest rated shows and eventually spawned two big screen versions of Jackass.At his personal life Johnny has been married Melani and they had been deside to get married in Las Vegas but Johnny lost all of his money in a casino and marriage took place in a chapel.Together, they got a daughter, Madison. In addition, Johnny has a very successful career on his own, with starring roles in many movies (including Dukes of Hazzard, Lords of Dogtown, and Walking Tall).