Philip John Clapp (better known as Johnny Knoxville), the 32 year old 6′1″ host of MTV’ Jackass, was born on March 11, 1971 and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee.
From an early age he was an atheletic daredevil, throwing himself from his crib, according to his parents, Phil and Lemoyne. At the age of 7, PJ decided to take a stick to a hornet’s nest near his home.
At 13, the straight-A student produced a phony report card with failing grades which was left out for his parents to find. Then there was that time he jumped from a second-story hotel room into a pool… However, Johnny admits that he got his odd sense of humor from his father, who ran Clapp’s Tire Store. He recalls several practical jokes his father played while he was growing up: Running a lukewarm hot dog through Johnny’s lips while he was asleep (then pretending to zip his pants when his son awoke); Staging a gunfight at the Christmas party; Giving Ex-Lax milkshakes to friends. Plus during PJ’s senior year at South Young high school Phil helped his son create letters supposedly from a VD clinic which were sent to several friends on the football team.
Fellow classmates have said Johnny was always very outgoing and loved to be the center of attention. Once he got up in front of the whole school during a pep rally and lip sang the song from Ferris Bueler’s Day Off. He also played Danny Zucho in a chorus production of “Grease".
After graduating from high school at the age of 18, Johnny moved to California to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasedena on a scholoarship. However, he dropped out within weeks. When he met his neighbor, a Texan named Melanie, they quickly fell in love. In 1995 they decided to elope to Las Vegas, Nevada to get married. But when they got there, Johnny ended up gambling away all their money and they were forced to marry in a smaller church. Johnny and Melanie are still married and in 1996 they had a daughter, Madison, whose name is tattooed on left side of Johnny’s chest.