Birdhouse Skateboards

Tony Hawk was born in San Diego, California on May 12, 1968. Tony describes himself growing up as a nightmare! He was always very hyper and very determined. If he had a hard time or couldn't do something he would beat himself up for it (not literally beat himself up though).

His older brother Steve gave Tony his first skateboard when he was 9 years old. As Tony became better at skateboarding he began to calm down.

But Tony would still get very disappointed if he thought he didn't skate his best at a competition. Even if he won a contest but thought he could have skated better, he would lock himself in his room when he got home so he could be by himself.

By the age of 12 Tony was sponsored by Dogtown Skateboards. He turned pro when he was only 14. By 16 he was one of the best skaters in the world! In 1990 he married a girl named Cindy Dunbar. In 1992 they had their first son Riley Hawk.

As time went on skateboarding started to get less and less popular. Tony was starting to lose lots of money. So he decided to start his own skateboarding company. He called it Birdhouse. In 1994 Tony and Cindy got a divorce.

A few years later skateboarding started to get more and more popular again. Birdhouse got more and more popular too! Tony started to get more and more money again.

In 1996, he was remarried. This time to woman named Erin Lee. In 1998 Tony and his family started a kid's clothing company called "Hawk clothing".

In 1998 Activision made the first Tony Hawk game, "Tony Hawk's Pro skater (THPS)" for the Play Station. The game was a huge hit. The next year "Tony Hawk's Pro skater 2 (THPS2)" game came out. It too was a huge hit.

In 1991 Erin gave birth to Tony's second son Spencer. And then again in 2001 to Tony's third son Keegan. In 2002 Tony created the Boom Boom Huck Jam tour which featured some of the best pro skaters, BMX riders, and motocross riders. It was huge hit. Every show was sold out. In 2004 Erin and Tony got a divorce. Then he was remarried in 2006, this time to Lhotse Merriam. Then in July of 2008 she gave birth to Tony's first daughter Kandence. Today Tony is pretty much retired from skateboarding. He still skates for fun and will do demos every once and a while.

Tony Hawk even has a roller coaster at the Six Flags in San Antonio and in St.Louis!
Its called "Tony Hawk's Big Spin". They are also working on a Tony Hawk water ride called "Tony Hawks Half Pipe".