Philip John Clapp was born on March 11, 1971 in Knoxville, Tennessee to parents Phil and Lemoyne. His childhood was marked with daredevil stunts such as hitting a hornet’s nest with a stick, faking a grade card from school so it appeared he was failing, and jumping into a pool from a two-story hotel room. So it’s really no surprise that Clapp grew up to become daredevil star “Johnny Knoxville”. Read this interesting article and find out some little known facts about “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville you’re sure to find amusing!
His Childhood
A little known fact about Johnny Knoxville is that he’s asthmatic. When he was just eight years old, he got bronchitis, the flu and pneumonia all at the same time. The illnesses nearly ended his life.
Johnny Knoxville undoubtedly got his sense of humor from his father Phil Clapp. The elder Clapp was a practical jokester who made Ex-Lax™ milkshakes and gave them to friends. He even helped his son make-up letters that looked like they were from a VD clinic. The letters were sent as a gag to some members of Knoxville’s high school football team.
A little known fact about “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville is, that when he was growing up, he was a grade-A student who was active in school activities. He thrived on attention.
His Career
After graduation from South Young High School in 1989, Knoxville went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California on a scholarship. He acted in ads for major brands like Taco Bell, Coors Light and Mountain Dew.
His education was derailed, though, when he decided to write an article for Big Brother magazine about the effects of self-defense devices. Johnny Knoxville had the devices- pepper spray, a taser gun, a stun gun and a .38 caliber pistol used on himself while the magazine editor filmed it. A little known fact about Johnny Knoxville is, that stunt got him on television with MTV’s “Jackass” show in 2000.
The “Jackass” television show spawned “Jackass: The Movie” and “Jackass 2: The Movie” in which Johnny Knoxville starred in both. Just like the show, the movies were full of dangerous and inane stunts.
Knoxville has been quoted as saying, “I don’t want to die, but I don’t mind taking a few slams for the kids.” In the first “Jackass” movie, the daredevil was punched by professional heavyweight boxer “Butterbean. He still has a scar from the punch. And, a little known facts about “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville is that, in the second movie, the six-foot-one-inch actor was knocked unconscious three times.
Knoxville’s production company is called “Dickhouse Productions”.
His Family Life
Johnny Knoxville and his wife Melanie Lynn Clapp married in 1995 when they ran off to Las Vegas. The following year, the couple had a daughter, Madison. Reportedly, Madison was named after a woman who had modeled for Wonderbra. Johnny Knoxville has his daughter’s name tattooed on his left chest.
In 2006, the couple separated. In 2007, Johnny Knoxville filed for divorce due to “irreconcilable differences.”
