Ryan Dunn

Ryan Matthew Dunn (June 11, 1977 – June 20, 2011)[1] was an American stunt performer, television personality, actor, comedian, and one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass.

Ryan Dunn
Dunn at the Jackass 3D London Premiere on October 2, 2010.
Born	Ryan Matthew Dunn (1977-06-11)June 11, 1977 Medina, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 20, 2011(2011-06-20) (aged 34) West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Cause of death	Car accident
Resting place	Highland Drive Cemetery, Brecksville, Ohio, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Random Hero Prima Dunna Plugs
Occupation	Stunt performer, television personality, actor, comedian
Years active	1997–2011
Known for	Star of Jackass
Home town	Brecksville, Ohio, U.S.
Partner(s)	Angie Cuturic (2002–2011; his death)

Dunn rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of the CKY Crew with his long-time friend, Bam Margera, for their extreme stunts and pranks recorded on camera, which led to the rise of Jackass. Dunn also hosted the TV series Homewrecker and Proving Ground, and appeared in the feature films Blonde Ambition and Street Dreams, as well as in Margera's films Haggard and Minghags. Dunn died in a car crash in 2011 at the age of 34.

Career

Dunn took part in the characteristic stunts that made Jackass famous, and featured in three released films, Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two and Jackass 3D.

In 2006, Dunn and Bam Margera participated in the Gumball 3000 road rally in Margera's Lamborghini Gallardo.[2] He later went on a tour with Don Vito called "The Dunn and Vito Rock Tour" for which the DVD was released on March 20, 2007.[3] Dunn and Margera again participated in the rally in 2008.

Dunn (left) and Bam Margera during the Gumball 3000 rally in 2006

Bam Margera stated during a December 2, 2008, radio interview with Big O and Dukes of 106.7 WJFK-FM, that he and Dunn would be going to Italy to film Where the F*%# Are My Ancestors.[4] That same month, Dunn appeared on the episode "Smut" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in December 2008. He is also featured in a movie called Street Dreams which was released in spring 2009. He co-starred along with Rob Dyrdek and Paul Rodriguez Jr. Dunn was also featured on a show with fellow Jackass star Bam Margera about them traveling through Europe in a Viva la Bam-like show called Bam's World Domination for Spike. He appeared in Jackass 3D, which was released on October 15, 2010.

Dunn co-hosted G4's Proving Ground along with Jessica Chobot, which made its premiere on June 14, 2011, six days before his death.[5] However, according to a G4 spokesperson, the channel decided to postpone the airing of further episodes. The spokesperson added, "The show is off the schedule as of today until we discuss next steps."[6] On June 27, G4 announced they would air the remaining episodes starting on July 19, 2011.[7][8] At the time of his death, Dunn was working on the film Welcome to the Bates Motel. The film was later renamed The Bates Haunting and was released in 2013.

Personal life

Dunn was born in Medina, Ohio and spent much of his childhood in Brecksville, Ohio. From 2002 to his death, Dunn was in a long-term relationship with Angie Cuturic, who had a part in Margera's directorial debut Haggard: The Movie and later Minghags. Dunn had several tattoos of Cuturic, including in his inner arm and left ring finger.[9]

During shooting of the closing scenes for Jackass Number Two in 2006, Dunn injured his shoulder during one of his final bits, where he and co-star Bam Margera are pulled out of shot by a running horse by a rope tied around their feet. Dunn dropped straight onto his shoulder, causing damage to the muscles and leading to a blood clot that was at one point life-threatening, due to its proximity to his heart and brain. While seeking treatment for it and Lyme disease, Dunn became depressed, eventually cutting off all contact with his friends, co-workers, and others for nearly two years, and did not participate in Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover, or any subsequent events related to the films and series.[10] He eventually returned to the Jackass cast in the production of Jackass 3D and Jackass 3.5 later saying that he was happy to rejoin the cast and had more enjoyment working on Jackass 3D than any previous film endeavors.[10]

Death

Roadside memorials left at the crash site

On June 20, 2011, at around 3:30 a.m. EDT, Dunn and Zachary Hartwell, a production assistant on Jackass Number Two,[11] were killed when Dunn was driving while intoxicated and his Porsche 911 GT3 veered off the road, struck a tree, and burst into flames in West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.[12][13] He was buried at Highland Drive Cemetery, Brecksville, Ohio.

Hours before the crash, Dunn had posted a photo to his Twitter account of himself and Hartwell drinking at a West Chester bar.[14] Dunn was identified in the police report as the vehicle's driver,[15] and a subsequent toxicology report showed Dunn had a blood alcohol level of 0.196 g/dL – more than twice the state's maximum legal limit of 0.08%.[16] The police report stated "speed may have been a contributing factor in the crash"[15] and preliminary investigations suggested the car had been traveling between 132 and 140 miles per hour (212 and 225 km/h) in a 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) zone.[17]

In August 2012, the parents of Zachary Hartwell filed a civil suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, naming the co-administrators of Dunn's estate as defendants, along with Barnaby's West Chester, the Pennsylvania bar where Dunn drank prior to the fatal crash. The suit claims negligence and recklessness, as well as wrongful death in the incident that killed Hartwell.

The plaintiffs claim that Dunn displayed negligence and recklessness in failing to have his vehicle under adequate and proper control, operating his vehicle under the influence of alcohol, operating his vehicle at an excessive speed and violently veering off a road and into a tree, among other alleged transgressions. They are seeking unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, as well as interest, court costs and "delay damages as the law may allow."[18]

Legacy

Dunn is remembered by friends and fans alike as the "go-to guy for outrageous stunts that even such stalwarts as Steve-O weren't willing to try" and "the kind of guy who would do anything for a friend," gaining the nickname "Random Hero".[19]

Following the news of his death, Dickhouse Productions and the producers of the show released the following statement:

I don't really know what to say right now everybody, because the sadness is overwhelming, but today we lost one of our own. Our brother Ryan Dunn has passed. He died in a car wreck in West Goshen, Pennsylvania this morning at 3 a.m. that's tough to write. Our hearts go out to his family and his beloved Angie. Ryan will be missed and remembered by us all. Thanks for the kind words of support everybody.

Many celebrities expressed their grief and condolences on Twitter including Sofia Coppola, Tom Green, Carey Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Tony Hawk, and his Jackass cast members.[20]

Kings of Leon also paid homage to Dunn at their London Hyde Park concert by dedicating their song "McFearless" to him. Skrillex dedicated his remix of the song "Cinema" to Dunn after a moment of silence.[21] Alkaline Trio also dedicated their song "Goodbye Forever" to Dunn on their fifteen-year anniversary tour. Singer/songwriter Roger Alan Wade wrote and composed the song dedicated to Dunn titled, "The Light Outlives the Star." Occasional Jackass member Loomis Fall also wrote the song "Bid Farewell" in memory of Dunn. Both songs were used in a music video tribute by Dickhouse Productions for its official website.[22]

Dunn also came in at number three in top trending searches of 2011 on Google's Zeitgeist report following his death.[23]

On November 28, 2011, MTV aired an hour-long tribute to Dunn, where several details of his life previously unknown to the public were revealed as well as never-before seen stunts he performed. Dunn's parents, sister, friends and both Jackass and Viva La Bam cast mates recalled his early beginnings to final months.

The 2013 film Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa is dedicated to Dunn.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Invader	Army Private
1999	Landspeed Presents: CKY	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2000	CKY2K	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2001	CKY3	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2001	CKY Documentary	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2001	Don't Try This at Home – The Steve-O Video Vol. 1	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2002	Criminal Mischief	David Smith
2002	Jackass: The Movie	Himself
2002	Don't Try This at Home – The Steve-O Video Vol. 2: The Tour	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2002	CKY4: The Latest & Greatest	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2003	Haggard: The Movie	Himself
2003	Steve-O: Out on Bail	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2004	Client 3815	Jackson	Short film
2005	A Halfway House Christmas	Buzz
2006	Jackass Number Two	Himself
2006	The Dudesons Movie	Himself
2007	Blonde Ambition	Griswold
2007	3000 Miles	Himself
2007	Jackass 2.5	Himself
2008	Dunn & Vito's Rock Tour	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2009	Street Dreams	Cash
2009	Minghags: The Movie	Tucker
2010	Jackass 3D	Himself
2011	Living Will	Belcher	Producer
2011	Close-Up	The Drug Dealer
2011	Jackass 3.5	Himself
2012	Booted	The Health Inspector	Posthumous Release
2012	The Bates Haunting	Angry Customer	Posthumous Release
2013	Earth Rocker	Himself	Clips; Posthumous Release

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000–2002	Jackass	Himself	21 episodes
2002	MTV Cribs	Himself	October 23, 2002 episode
2003–2006	Viva La Bam	Himself	41 episodes
2005	Homewrecker	Host	8 episodes
2005	Commando VIP	Himself	6 episodes
2007	Bam's Unholy Union	Himself	1 episode
2007	Crank Yankers	Himself (Voice)	Episode #4.6
2008	Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover	Himself	Television special
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Riley Slade	Episode: "Smut"
2010	The Dudesons in America	Himself	Episode: "Winter Games"
2010	Bam's World Domination	Himself	Television special
2011	Proving Ground	Host	9 episodes
2011	Minute to Win It	Himself	1 episode
2011	Ridiculousness	Himself	1 episode
2011	A Tribute to Ryan Dunn	Himself	Archive Footage
2014	CKY: The Greatest Hits	Himself	Archive Footage

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Jackass: The Game	Himself	Voice

Discography

• The Alter Boys – The Exotic Sounds of the Alter Boys (2005)

References

1. Daniel E. Slotnik (June 20, 2011). "Ryan Dunn, Daredevil Comedian, Dies at 34". The New York Times.
2. "Bam Margera and Dunn in Gumball 2006". GTspirit.com. April 12, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
3. Margera, Bam. "Dunn & Vito's Rock Tour: Movies & TV: Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, Don Vito". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
4. Interview with Big O and Dukes WJFK 1067
5. ""G4's Proving Ground" Takes Viewers on a Roller Coaster Ride of Trial and Error When New Series Premieres June 14th at 8 PM ET/PT". May 5, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
6. McCarthy, Ellen (June 10, 2011). "The TV Column: G4 pulls this week's 'Proving Ground' after Ryan Dunn's death". Washingstonpost.com. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
7. Itzkoff, Dave (June 27, 2011). "G4 Will Show Remaining Episodes of Series Featuring Ryan Dunn". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
8. "Ryan Dunn's 'Proving Ground' Returns To G4 in July". MTV. June 27, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
9. Global Grind (June 24, 2011). "Ryan Dunn's Girlfriend, Angie Cuturic: The Woman Behind The Tragedy (PHOTOS)". London: Global Grind. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012.
10. A Tribute to Ryan Dunn: MTV special
11. "Ryan Dunn died from impact and heat of crash, says coroner". The Guardian. London. Associated Press. June 22, 2011.
12. "'Jackass' star Ryan Dunn killed in Pa. crash". Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: WPVI-TV, ABC Owned Television Stations. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
13. "Ryan Dunn Dead: 'Jackass' Star Dies In Car Crash". The Huffington Post. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
14. "Jackass star Ryan Dunn died of blunt, thermal trauma caused by fiery car wreck: coroner". The Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on June 25, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
15. "West Goshen Township Police Department, Press Release" (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter.
16. "Ryan Dunn Was Drunk and Speeding: Police". June 22, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
17. "Police: 'Jackass' star Ryan Dunn was drunk and driving over 132 mph". CNN. June 22, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
18. Post, Huffington. "Ryan Dunn Lawsuit: 'Jackass' Star's Estate Sued By Parents Of Dead Passenger (VIDEO)".
19. Gil Kaufman (December 26, 2011). "Ryan Dunn's Death Shocked Us All in 2011". MTV News. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
20. James Montgomery (June 20, 2011). "Ryan Dunn Remembered By 'Jackass' Co-Stars, Fans". MTV News. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
21. Sophie Schillaci (June 23, 2011). "Kings of Leon Salute Ryan Dunn at London Show". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
22. Kara Warner (July 1, 2011). "Ryan Dunn Remembered in Tribute Video". MTV News. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
23. Lauren Indvick (December 15, 2011). "Google Zeitgeist: How the World Googled In 2011". Retrieved December 15, 2011.

External links

• Ryan Dunn on IMDb