Johnny Knoxville

Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971),[1][2] known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American actor, stunt performer, filmmaker, and comedian. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass, which aired for three seasons from 2000–2002. A year later, Knoxville and his co-stars returned for the first installment in the Jackass film series, with a second and third installment being released in 2006 and 2010, respectively. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013), the first film in the series with a storyline, saw him star as his Jackass character Irving Zisman.

Johnny Knoxville
Knoxville at the Jackass 3D premiere in Berlin, October 2010
Born	Philip John Clapp (1971-03-11) March 11, 1971 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, stunt performer, filmmaker, comedian
Years active	1992–present
Notable work	Jackass
Spouse(s)	Melanie Cates ​ ( m. 1995; div. 2008) Naomi Nelson ( m. 2010)
Children	3

Knoxville has had acting roles in films such as Men in Black II (2002), A Dirty Shame, Walking Tall (2004), The Dukes of Hazzard, The Ringer, and a cameo role as a sleazy corporate president of a skateboard company in Lords of Dogtown (all 2005), The Last Stand (2013) and Skiptrace (2016). He also voiced Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).

Early life

Knoxville was born Philip John Clapp in Knoxville, Tennessee.[2] His father, Philip (1935–2018), was a tire/car salesman, and his mother, Lemoyne Clapp (née Houck) (1938–2017), taught Sunday school.[3][4][5] He has two older sisters.[6]

Knoxville credits a copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, given to him by his cousin, singer-songwriter Roger Alan Wade, with giving him the acting bug.[7][8]

After graduating from South-Doyle High School in 1989 in Knoxville, he moved to California to become an actor. In the beginning, Knoxville appeared mostly in commercials and made several minor appearances as an extra.

When the "big break" he sought eluded him, he decided to create his own opportunities by writing and pitching article ideas to various magazines. An idea to test self-defense equipment on himself captured the interest of Jeff Tremaine's skateboarding magazine Big Brother, and the stunts were filmed and included in Big Brother's "Number Two" video.

Career

Knoxville is responsible for many of the ideas in Jackass, and is often seen as the de facto leader of the crew. The show is directed by Jeff Tremaine, who produced a pilot that used footage from Big Brother and Bam Margera's CKY videos.

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.[9]

Knoxville also participated in the Gumball 3000 for Jackass along with co-stars Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jackass director Jeff Tremaine, and producer Dimitry Elyashkevich. Prior to Jackass premiering on MTV, Knoxville and company turned down an offer to perform their stunts for Saturday Night Live on a weekly basis,[10] though Knoxville later hosted a 2005 episode of the show.

Film and television roles

Knoxville at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con

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 starred in Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two, and Jackass 3D (which marked the 10th anniversary of the franchise). He played a two-headed alien in the 2002 film Men in Black II. Knoxville also worked with John Waters in A Dirty Shame in 2004, and appeared as a supporting character to The Rock in Walking Tall in the same year.

He starred in Katrina Holden Bronson's Daltry Calhoun in 2005, and in The Ringer as an office worker who pretends to be disabled and joins the Special Olympics to pay for surgery for his office's janitor. He 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 two episodes of King of the Hill.

Knoxville appeared in the John Madden-directed adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, Killshot, however his character was subsequently removed from the final cut of the film. 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 and performed other pranks. He voiced himself in an episode of Family Guy. He co-produces The Dudesons in America and the now-canceled Nitro Circus on MTV.

In 2010, Knoxville hosted a three-part online video for Palladium Boots titled Detroit Lives. The videos focus on the resurgence of creativity in Detroit. Knoxville guest starred as the voice of Johnny Krill, an extreme sports enthusiast, in "Extreme Spots", a 2012 episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. Knoxville voiced Leonardo in the 2014 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[11] but did not appear in the sequel.[12]

Production credits

Knoxville (right) with Jeff Tremaine and Bad Grandpa co-star Jackson Nicoll

Knoxville has a production company called Dickhouse Productions, which he owns and operates with Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze of the Jackass franchise.[13] Dickhouse's projects include The Birth of Big Air (2010), a documentary about Mat Hoffman that was part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series, and The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2010), both of which have been picked up by Tribeca Films.[14]

In May 2014, Knoxville (along with Jackass Executive Producer/H.M.F.I.C. Derek Freda) formally announced the formation of a new production company called 'Hello Junior', which will continue Knoxville's now-longstanding relationship with Paramount Pictures, who have signed an exclusive two-year first-look deal with Knoxville and 'Hello Junior' in the wake of the massive success of Bad Grandpa in late 2013.

Knoxville was quoted as saying, "I am over the damn moon about continuing an amazing partnership with Paramount Pictures," he said. "I have many more films to make and bones to break. I am glad I will be doing it for Paramount."[15]

Personal life

Knoxville married Melanie Lynn Cates on May 15, 1995. They have a daughter, Madison (born 1996).[16] His daughter can be heard in the credits for Jackass Number Two, is seen in "The Making of Jackass Two" on the special features on the DVD, and was seen in the credits of Jackass 3D, punching Tremaine with a boxing glove. After eleven years of marriage, the couple separated in July 2006. Knoxville filed for divorce on July 3, 2007.[16] The marriage was legally ended in March 2008,[17] with final divorce arrangements settled in July 2009.[18]

On August 18, 2009, Knoxville announced that he and his girlfriend Naomi Nelson were expecting a baby.[19] Nelson gave birth to a son that December in Los Angeles.[20] Knoxville and Nelson married on September 24, 2010.[21] Nelson gave birth to a daughter in October 2011, in Los Angeles.[22]

Controversies

On January 15, 2009, at the Los Angeles International Airport security workers discovered an inert grenade in his carry-on luggage; he was detained and was cited for carrying a prohibited item into the airport.[23] He was released following the investigation when it was determined that the item was a prop from a commercial, and that an assistant had packed his bag for him.[23]

On February 4, 2009, Knoxville explained on The Howard Stern Show how he tore his urethra during a stunt for Nitro Circus, describing how he had to flush it twice daily. He said this was done by "sticking a tube into his penis all the way up to his bladder", referring to the practice of urinary catheterization. Knoxville said the process prevented scar tissue from forming[24] and performed the procedure "twice a day for three and a half years" after the injury.[25]

During the 2012 United States presidential election, Knoxville said of Republican Representative Paul Ryan: "From a vanity standpoint, it makes you feel a bit old to have a person from your generation on the presidential ticket. And it's embarrassing that it's Paul Ryan. I wonder if The Germs ever felt this way about having Belinda Carlisle as their first drummer."[26]

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Desert Blues	Bob
2000	Coyote Ugly	College guy
2002	Life Without Dick	Dick Rasmusson
2002	Big Trouble	Eddie Leadbetter
2002	Deuces Wild	Vinnie Fish
2002	Men in Black II	Scrad / Charlie
2002	Jackass: The Movie	Himself	Writer
2003	Grand Theft Parsons	Phil Kaufman
2004	Walking Tall	Ray Templeton
2004	A Dirty Shame	Ray Ray Perkins
2005	Lords of Dogtown	Topper Burks
2005	The Dukes of Hazzard	Luke Duke
2005	Daltry Calhoun	Daltry Calhoun
2005	The Ringer	Steve Barker
2006	Jackass Number Two	Himself	Writer and producer
2007	Jackass 2.5
2010	Jackass 3D
2011	Jackass 3.5
2010	Father of Invention	Troy Coangelo
2012	Nature Calls	Kirk
2012	Fun Size	Jörgen	Uncredited
2013	The Last Stand	Lewis Dinkum
2013	Movie 43	Pete
2013	Small Apartments	Tommy Balls
2013	Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa	Irving Zisman	Writer and producer
2014	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Leonardo	Voice
2015	Being Evel	Himself
2016	Elvis & Nixon	Sonny West
2016	Skiptrace	Connor Watts
2017	Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine	Himself	Documentary
2018	Half Magic	Father Gary
2018	Action Point	Deshawn Crious "D.C." Carver	Writer and producer
2018	Rosy	James
2019	Polar	Michael Green
2019	Above Suspicion	Cash
2019	We Summon the Darkness	Pastor John Henry Butler
2020	Mainstream
2021	Jackass 4	Himself	Writer and producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	The Ben Stiller Show	Cure fan	1 episode
1999	boob	himself
2000–2002	Jackass		25 episodes Creator
2001	Don't Try This at Home: The Steve-O Video
2001	CKY 3
2001	The Andy Dick Show	Wannabe Andy Dick	2 episodes
2002	CKY 4 Latest & Greatest
2002	Jackass Backyard BBQ
2002	MTV Cribs		1 episode
2003–2006	Wildboyz		10 episodes
2003	Player$		1 episode
2003	Australian Idol
2004	SexTV
2004	Viva La Bam
2005	Jackass: Gumball 3000 Rally Special
2006	Saturday Night Live		2 episodes
2006	King of the Hill	Peter Sterling	1 episode
2007	Adventures in Hollyhood
2008	WWE Raw
2008	Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover
2008	Family Guy	Himself	The Man with Two Brians
2008	King of the Hill	Hoyt Platter
2008	Unhitched	Chuck
2009	Dogg After Dark	Himself
2009	Dancing with the Stars		3 episodes
2009	Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory		1 episode
2009	Nitro Circus		10 episodes Creator and executive producer
2009	The Goode Family	Dean	1 episode
2010	The Dudesons	Himself
2010	The Dudesons in America		3 episodes Producer
2010	WWE Raw
2011	Ridiculousness
2012	Loiter Squad
2012	SpongeBob SquarePants	Johnny Krill	Extreme Spots
2014–2018	Drunk History	Various	4 episodes
2014	Maron	Himself	1 episode
2015	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Himself	1 episode (Unexpected guest in a segment)
2020	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	C.J.	Special: "Kimmy vs the Reverend"

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2007	Jackass: The Game	Himself

References

1. "Johnny Knoxville: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
2. "Johnny Knoxville: Biography". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved June 17, 2018.
3. "Strictly+for+Jackasses". The Times. London. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
4. "Meet Jackass the Sophisticated Dude; You Want Rowdy and Moronic? Johnny Knoxville Is Poised and Bookish, if You Please". The New York Times. November 4, 2002.
5. Gouch, Beth Harrison. "East High School Class of 1956 1952-1956, Knoxville, TN". www.classcreator.com.
6. https://ew.com/article/2010/10/15/jackass-johnny-knoxvilles-mother-on-her-danger-seeking-son-with-a-heart-of-gold/
7. "Knoxville: A Southern mix of contradictions", USAToday, August 8, 2005.
8. "Overview for Johnny Knoxville". Tcm.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
9. Scott, Mike (August 4, 2009). "Johnny Knoxville: 'Jackass' star Steve-O almost ready to dive back into his work". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
10. "The Washington Times - In a Southern state of mind". Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
11. "Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub Lend Voices To 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'". Deadline. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
12. "INTERVIEW: Johnny Knoxville Talks To Me About 'Elvis & Nixon'". ramascreen.com. April 20, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
13. "welcome to dickhouse.tv - dickhouse". Archived from the original on April 4, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
14. "Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O: Jackass 3D". SuicideGirls.com. October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
15. "Johnny Knoxville Signs Exclusive Two-Year First-Look Deal With Paramount". hollywoodreporter.com. May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
16. "Johnny Knoxville Files For Divorce". CBS News. July 4, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
17. "Johnny Knoxville, Single Jackass". TMZ. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
18. Lee, Ken. "Johnny Knoxville to Pay $6,000 Monthly in Child Support". People. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
19. dickhouse productions. "dickhouse". Jackassworld.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
20. "'Jackass' star Johnny Knoxville has a new recruit: Baby boy Rocko". Monsters and Critics.com. December 23, 2009. Archived from the original on December 26, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
21. "Johnny Knoxville Gets Married". Us Weekly. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
22. "Baby No. 3 On the Way for Johnny Knoxville". People. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
23. "Johnny Knoxville brings unarmed grenade to LAX". Today. January 15, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
24. "Stern Show News — Archive". MarksFriggin.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
25. Roach, Vicky. "Bad Grandpa and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville reflects on his worst injury". new.com.au. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
26. https://dangerousminds.net/comments/quote_of_the_day_johnny_knoxville_on_paul_ryan

External links

• Official Jackass site
• Johnny Knoxville on IMDb