Johnny Knoxville was born Philip John Clapp and adopted his home town of Knoxville, Tennessee when he moved to California to become an actor. After appearing in some commercials, Knoxville began writing and pitching magazine article ideas. One involved testing self-defense equipment on himself, and this was picked up by Jeff Tremaine’s skateboarding magazine Big Brother. This collaboration, with the addition of film director Spike Jonze, lead to the creation of Jackass and promptly made Knoxville famous as a professional stunt man and, well, jackass. In addition to his appearances on Jackass and its many spinoffs and movies such as Viva La Bam, Wildboyz, and the Jackass movie trilogy, Knoxville has appeared in more mainstream films including Men in Black II, The Dukes of Hazzard, Walking Tall, Big Trouble and The Last Stand. But let’s face it, folks, you’ll always recognize Johnny Knoxville for his ability to get hit in the nuts long before you recognize his acting talent. He turns 42 today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-zeQFVWoNY