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Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971 in Knoxville, Tennessee), better known as Johnny Knoxville, is an American comic actor 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. 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. Knoxville's antics became a staple for Big Brother, whose colorful cast of contributors also included Chris Pontius, Steve-O and Dave England.

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. 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 show on a weekly basis (Knoxville eventually did host SNL in 2005).

Film and television roles

Knoxville has been in several feature films, most notably was 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. His also guest-starred on the pilot of the show Unhitched.

Knoxville is slated to appear in the John Madden-directed adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, Killshot. Knoxville 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 has one daughter named 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. They were married on May 15, 1995. When he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, he has said he has a girlfriend now. Which is Chels Krum of the local band Red Blinkin Remedy.

Filmography

• Desert Blues (1995) - Bob
• Coyote Ugly (2000) - College Guy (uncredited)
• Life Without Dick (2001) - Dick Rasmusson
• Don't Try This At Home: The Steve-O Video (2001) - Himself
• Big Trouble (2002) - Eddie Leadbetter
• Deuces Wild (2002) - Vinnie Fish
• Men in Black II (2002) - Scrad/Charlie
• Jackass: The Movie (2002) - Himself/Irving Zisman
• Grand Theft Parsons (2003) - Phil Kaufman
• Walking Tall (2004) - Ray Templeton
• A Dirty Shame (2004) - Ray Ray Perkins
• Lords of Dogtown (2005) - Topper Burks
• The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) - Luke Duke
• The Devils Rejects (2005)- Cop (uncredited)
• Daltry Calhoun (2005) - Daltry Calhoun
• The Ringer (2005) - Steve Barker (Jeffy Dahmor)
• Jackass: Number Two (2006) - Himself/Irving Zisman
• Jackass 2.5 (2007) - Himself

Upcoming:

• Fruitcake (2008) as Unknown
• Hawaiian Dick (2009) - Byrd

References

1. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-08-01-knoxville-gentleman_x.htm "Knoxville: A Southern mix of contradictions"], USAToday, August 8, 2005
2. Usmagazine.com | Johnny Knoxville Separates From Wife
3. YouTube - Johnny Knoxville on Jimmy Kimmel Live 2-20-08 part 1

External links

• Official Jackass site
• Johnny Knoxville at IMDb
• Interview with IGN.com. Johnny Knoxville reveals what scares him

• 1971 births
• American comedians
• American film actors
• Living people
• People from Knoxville, Tennessee
• Tennessee actors
• American stunt performers