| Johnny Knoxville |
Knoxville at premiere of The Dukes of Hazzard, 2005 |
| Born |
Philip John Clapp
March 11, 1971 (1971-03-11) (age 38)
Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Other name(s) |
PJ |
| Spouse(s) |
Melanie Lynn Clapp (1995—2007) |
| Official website |
Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), known by his stage name Johnny Knoxville, is an American actor, comedian and daredevil. He has been featured in a number of films, but is best known as the co-creator and principal star of the MTV series Jackass and its subsequent films.
Career
Knoxville credits a copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road given to him by his cousin, country singer/songwriter Roger Alan Wade, with giving him the acting bug.1 After graduating from South-Young High School in 1989 in Knoxville, he moved to California to become an actor, and at first appeared in commercials and as an extra. Not getting the big break he had hoped for, he began writing and pitching article ideas to various magazines. He also attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts on a scholarship, but dropped out within two weeks. An idea to test self-defense equipment on himself was picked up by the Jeff Tremaine-helmed skateboarding magazine Big Brother, and the stunts were filmed and included in Big Brother's Number Two video.
Jackass
Eventually, Knoxville, Tremaine, Sean Cliver and Dave Carnie produced a pilot that used Big Brother footage along with footage from Bam Margera's CKY videos, and with help from Tremaine's friend, film director Spike Jonze, they pitched a series to various networks. A deal was made with MTV and Jackass was born.2 Knoxville also participated in the Gumball 3000 for Jackass along with co-stars Steve-O and Chris Pontius and Jackass director Jeff Tremaine and producer Dimitry Elyashkevich. Prior to Jackass landing on MTV, Knoxville and company turned down an offer from Saturday Night Live to perform similar stunts for the showcitation needed on a weekly basis (Knoxville eventually did host SNL in 2005).
Film and television roles
Knoxville has been in several feature films, most notably starring opposite Seann William Scott in Jay Chandrasekhar's adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked with director John Waters in A Dirty Shame and starred in Daltry Calhoun, written and directed by Katrina Holden Bronson and produced by Quentin Tarantino. In The Ringer, Knoxville was cast as an able-bodied office worker who joins the Special Olympics to pay for a surgical operation for his gardener. He played a two-headed alien in Men in Black II. He also starred in the movie Lords of Dogtown as "Topper Burks", made a minor appearance in the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly, and was featured as a guest voice on an episode of King of the Hill. Knoxville appeared as a supporting character to The Rock in the 2004 remake of Walking Tall. He also guest-starred on the pilot of the show Unhitched.
Knoxville appeared in the John Madden-directed adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, Killshot. He guest-starred in a Season 3 episode "Prank Wars" on Viva La Bam, in which he and Ryan Dunn trashed Bam Margera's Hummer, among other pranks.
Personal life
Knoxville was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Lemoyne and Philip Clapp, who was a car salesman.34 He has one daughter, Madison. She can be seen in the credits for Jackass Number Two. On February 1, 2007, Knoxville and his wife of twelve years, Melanie, filed for legal separation. Shortly afterwards, they filed for divorce.5 They were married on May 15, 1995.
On January 15, 2009 at the Los Angeles International Airport security workers discovered an inert grenade in his carry-on; he was detained and was cited for carrying a prohibited item into the airport.6 Knoxville explained on February 4, 2009 on The Howard Stern Show how this was a prop from a commercial and that an assistant had packed his bag for him. Also on that February 4 visit he explained how he tore his urethra during a stunt for Nitro Circus explaining how he has to flush it twice daily. He said this is done by sticking a tube into his penis all the way up to his bladder (10–11 inches). Johnny said the process prevented scar tissue from forming.7 On August 18, 2009, Knoxville announced that he and his girlfriend Naomi Nelson are expecting a baby.8
Filmography
Upcoming:
References
External links
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Jackass |
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