Personal life Margera was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania to Phil and April Margera. He is also the younger brother of Jess Margera and nephew of Vincent Margera. His grandfather nicknamed him "Bam" at the age of three after his habit of running into walls. He attended East High School and cites friend Chris Raab as his only reason for attending high school, and dropped out after Raab got expelled for smearing feces on a locker. He later received his GED at the insistence of his parents. Margera was previously engaged to Jenn Rivell, a divorced single mother six years his senior. Rivell played a prominent part in several of his projects and the couple appeared to be co-habiting in various episodes of Viva La Bam. However, the relationship ended in 2005 and Margera later become engaged to Melissa "Missy" Rothstein, a childhood friend. In November 2006 Margera filed for "Protection From Abuse" from Rivell after she allegedly broke into his house. He further alleged that Rivell had exhibited irrational and aggressive behavior towards him on several previous occasions including destroying several computers and vandalizing his house immediately after their initial breakup. The judge dismissed the allegations as "speculative" and "hearsay". Their break-up was attributed to rumors Margera had slept with pop star Jessica Simpson, which Margera initially denied before admitting they had been "intimate". Margera reasserted that nothing untoward had happened after he and Simpson met at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in 2006. Margera currently resides in "Castle Bam", a large house near West Chester, PA. The house has a gothic theme, a skatepark in the driveway and is situated on 14 acres of land. In January 2007, Margera built a ramp in his backyard, near the old casino seen in Viva La Bam. The ramp itself caused trouble with the township. Margera's parents, uncle and friends lived in the house while shooting Viva La Bam. Margera married Melissa Rothstein on February 3, 2007, in downtown Philadelphia, with about 350 friends and family in attendance. The couple's honeymoon was in Dubai. In an October 24, 2007 interview with the Cleveland Free Times, Margera stated that although he had completed paperwork that would legally change his first name to Bam, he was "still debating" filing it after a conversation with his father. Career Skateboarding career Margera is a member of Team Element, the demonstration team for Element Skateboards. He is also sponsored by Adio Footwear, Destructo Trucks, Speed Metal Bearings, Electric Visual, and Fairman's Skateshop. Although Margera does not compete at the higher levels of skateboarding anymore, his large sponsorship packages assure him of "pro" status. TV, film and radio The CKY videos Main article: CKY (video series) Margera began filming himself and his friends skateboarding and doing stunts and released a compilation of his work as CKY:Landspeed in 1999. CKY2K, CKY3 and CKY4 have also been released. CKY stands for "Camp Kill Yourself", a reference to the film Sleepaway Camp. These early videos feature many of Margera's friends, including Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Rake Yohn, Chris Raab, Brandon Novak and others who form a loose collective known as the CKY Crew. CKY is also the name of a rock band featuring his brother Jess (see CKY (band)), and the history and relationship between the video and band projects is heavily interlinked. Jackass
Main articles: Jackass (TV series), Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two, Jackass 3 Former Big Brother editor Jeff Tremaine noticed Margera's videos and drafted him into the team which would eventually become MTV's Jackass. Margera and Ryan Dunn became mainstays of the cast while other CKY crew members played supporting roles to various degrees. Margera went on to appear in both Jackass: The Movie and Jackass Number Two. Several skits in the first Jackass movie were CKY style pieces filmed in and around West Chester, but similar scenes in the second movie were removed after the arrest of Margera's uncle Vincent Margera. Bam Margera After Jackass, Margera was given his own MTV series entitled "Viva La Bam". The show ran for 5 seasons between 2003-2005 and followed Margera and his crew as they performed various stunts and missions. The show was primarily filmed in West Chester, Pennsylvania but also visited New Orleans, LA, Brazil, Finland, Mexico, Amsterdam and Transylvania. In addition to the regular series, special episodes have included "Viva La Spring Break" and a "lost" episode included on the Viva La Bands CD. Haggard Main article: Haggard: The Movie Margera co-wrote, directed and starred in Haggard, an independent film based on real events in the life of his friend Ryan Dunn. Dunn played himself as the main character while Margera played "Valo", a character based on himself and elements of HIM singer and friend Ville Valo. Margera is currently in post production of Minghags, formally titled Kiss a Good Man's Ass. The film is a loose sequel to Haggard and will feature the "garbage juicer" invention from that film. This film was confirmed on Radio Bam and the front page of FilthyNote Records by Tim Glomb. Filming started April 5, 2007. On an episode of Radio Bam, Margera said that they are trying to make the movie PG-13 rated, but with the amount of swearing and a shot of nudity, an 'R' Rating could not be avoided. They had its first viewing of the rough version of the film on August 7, 2007 at Sikes Hall. Margera is currently editing the film. It is unknown if the movie will be a straight-to-DVD release, or a theatrical release. He has also announced he would be working on a film called The Dream Seller. The title is a nickname for long-time friend and fellow skater Brandon Novak. Radio Bam Main article: Radio Bam Margera began a weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show on Sirius channel 28 Faction on November 24, 2004 called Radio Bam. The show features Margera along with friends from the CKY and Jackass crews. Bam's Unholy Union Main article: Bam's Unholy Union MTV commissioned Bam's Unholy Union as a follow up of sorts to Viva la Bam. The show follows Margera, his fiancée Melissa Rothstein and their friends in the lead-up to their wedding. Filthy Note Margera owns a music label, Filthy Note Records, and has directed videos for Clutch, Turbonegro, Viking Skull, Vains of Jenna and several for CKY. He also directed four music videos for the Finnish band HIM, namely Buried Alive By Love, The Sacrament, And Love Said No, and Solitary Man. Margera also plays the keyboard in a novelty band called Gnarkill along with Brandon DiCamillo, Jess Margera, Rich Vose
and Matt Cole. Other projects Margera has been animated as a character in pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk's video games Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Tony Hawk's Underground, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Tony Hawk's Project 8, and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. He also voiced a character in Scarface: The World Is Yours. He made cameo appearances in the movies Grind and Destroying America. Margera also plans to open a bar and theater in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Margera revealed on Radio Bam that MTV plans to film the process for an eight episode reality show.