Bam Margera

Brandon "Bam" Margera ( ; 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 sequels. He also created the Jackass spin-off shows Viva La Bam, Bam's Unholy Union, Bam's World Domination, and Bam's Bad Ass Game Show, and co-wrote and directed the films Haggard and Minghags. Since the mid-2000s, Margera has struggled with alcoholism and subsequent legal troubles. He first entered rehab in 2009 but left after four days and has since had at least seven subsequent attempts at rehab without completing the program. Following the death of childhood friend Ryan Dunn and the end of his television projects in 2011–12, Margera's drinking and drug use intensified, but between 2015 and 2017, he remained sober for nearly two years. In 2020, he was fired from the production of Jackass Forever due to his drug and alcohol issues. 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. CKY stands for "Camp Kill Yourself", a name shared with his brother Jess Margera's band, CKY, which was named as a tribute to the film Sleepaway Camp.