Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971[1]), known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass (2000–2001) and its subsequent movies.
Following the conclusion of Jackass, Knoxville and his co-stars returned for the first installment in the Jackass film series, with a second and third installment released in 2006 and 2010. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013), the first film in the series to feature a storyline, saw him star as his Jackass character Irving Zisman. The fourth installment, Jackass Forever, was released in 2022.
Knoxville was born Philip John Clapp in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 11, 1971,[2][3] the son of Sunday school teacher Lemoyne (née Houck; 1938–2017) and car and tire salesman Philip Clapp (1935–2018).[4][5][6] He has two older sisters.[7] His cousin, singer-songwriter Roger Alan Wade, gave him a copy of Jack Kerouac's book On the Road. He credits this with sparking his interest in acting.[8][9]
Knoxville attended South-Young High School (now South-Doyle High School) in Knoxville, where he played on the baseball team and was named All-Knoxville Interscholastic League Honorable Mention. He also played in the Knoxville Area All Star game as a pitcher.[10][11] After graduating in 1989, he moved to California to become an actor. He began appearing in commercials and as an extra.[12] When the breakthrough role 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.
Knoxville is responsible for many of the ideas in Jackass, and is often seen as the de facto leader of the crew.[13] The show is directed by Jeff Tremaine, who produced a pilot that used footage from Big Brother and Bam Margera's CKY videos.
Knoxville also participated in the Gumball 3000 for Jackass along with co-stars Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jackass director Jeff Tremaine, and cinematographer 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,[15] though Knoxville later hosted a 2005 episode of the show.
Acting
Knoxville's original leading role debut was set to be a holiday comedy released in late 2001 named The Tree but the project never came to fruition.[16] Knoxville has been in several feature films, such as The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) and playing a two-headed alien in Men in Black II (2002). Knoxville also worked with John Waters in A Dirty Shame (2004), and appeared as a supporting character to The Rock in Walking Tall that same year.
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. I have many more films to make and bones to break. I am glad I will be doing it for Paramount."[21]
Professional wrestling
Knoxville, as with the Jackass crew, has been involved with the professional wrestling promotion WWE. On the October 13, 2008, episode of Raw, Knoxville made his WWE television debut feuding with The Great Khali.[22] Knoxville later appeared as the guest star on the October 4, 2010, episode of Raw in Wichita, Kansas.[23]
On January 1, 2022, at WWE's Day 1pay-per-view, Knoxville announced he would be at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view as a participant in the event's signature namesake match.[24] His entry was confirmed on the January 7 episode of SmackDown while simultaneously starting a feud with Sami Zayn. He entered the Royal Rumble at number 9 and was eliminated by Zayn.[25] Knoxville then returned on the February 25 episode of SmackDown and challenged Zayn for the WWE Intercontinental Championship that the latter won the week prior, but Knoxville got rejected and was attacked by Zayn. The following week, Knoxville distracted Zayn during his match with Ricochet, allowing the latter to win the championship from him. Later that same night, Zayn challenged Knoxville to a match at WrestleMania 38 to which Knoxville accepted, and the match was stipulated as an Anything Goes match, wherein on Night 2 of that event, he won the match against Zayn with the help of Jackass members Chris Pontius, Wee Man, director Jeff Tremaine, and new members Jasper Dolphin and his father Compston "Dark Shark" Wilson.[26]
Podcast
Knoxville stepped into the world of podcasting in April of 2024 with his show "Pretty Sure I Can Fly with Johnny Knoxville & Elna Baker".[27]
Personal life
Knoxville married Melanie Lynn Cates on May 15, 1995. Their daughter was born on January 4, 1996.[28] She 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 punching Tremaine with a boxing glove in the credits of Jackass 3D. After 11 years of marriage, Knoxville and Cates separated in July 2006. Knoxville filed for divorce on July 3, 2007.[28] The marriage legally ended in March 2008,[29] with final divorce arrangements settled in July 2009.[30]
In December 2009, Knoxville's girlfriend Naomi Nelson gave birth to their son.[34] Knoxville and Nelson married on September 24, 2010.[35] Nelson gave birth to their second child together, a daughter, in October 2011.[36] On June 17, 2022, it was reported that Knoxville had filed for divorce.[37]
While filming the prank show The Prank Panel in December 2022, Knoxville was sued by handyman Khalil Khan, who alleged that he was subjected to a "terrifying ordeal" after signing up for a job on TaskRabbit.[38][39] He was sued again in May 2024 for allegedly tazing a segment producer during the filming of The Prank Panel.[40]
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