Tony Hawks
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2008-06-11T23:17:54Z
80.177.215.184
Deleted reference to a Mitchell and Webb sketch which was about Dave Gorman, not Tony Hawks.
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{{Otheruses4|the English comedian/author|the skateboarder|Tony Hawk}}
{{Infobox Person
| name = Tony Hawks
| image = Tony Hawks.jpg
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| birth_name = Antony Gordon Hawksworth
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|02|27}}
| birth_place = [[Brighton]], [[Sussex]], [[England]]
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| occupation = [[comedian]], [[author]] and [[philanthropist]]
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'''Antony Gordon Hawksworth''', better known as '''Tony Hawks''', is an [[England|English]] [[comedian]], [[author]] and philanthropist.
Born in [[Brighton]] in [[1960]],<ref>GRO Birth register: MAR 1960 5h 100 Brighton</ref> Hawks was educated at [[Brighton Hove and Sussex Grammar School]] (1971–76) and [[Brighton College]] (1976–78).<ref>[http://www.oldbrightonians.com/hawks_01.htm Old Brightonian Association: Tony Hawks]</ref> He first attempted to break into show business as a serious singer-songwriter, but it was with a novelty record that he had his first brush with fame. As leader of the trio [[Morris Minor and the Majors]], in 1988 he reached number 4 in the UK charts with the [[Beastie Boys]] [[parody]], "[[Stutter Rap (No Sleep Til Bedtime)]]". It went on to sell 220,000 copies, and was number one in [[Australia]]. The follow-up, a pastiche of [[Stock Aitken Waterman]] called "This Is the Chorus", fared less well.
A TV series followed from this, ''Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors'', written by and starring Hawks. In it the fictional bandleader attempted to maintain his pop career while running a garage. It ran for one series in 1989.
Hawks performs stand-up comedy, and is a regular on TV and radio panel games in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], including ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'', ''[[Just a Minute]]'', ''[[The Unbelievable Truth]]'' and ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'', although he first came to prominence as one of two resident performers — the other was [[Jo Brand]] — on semi-successful BBC monologue show ''[[The Brain Drain]]''.
He has also appeared in ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' in a number of supporting roles (most often as a voice artist for intelligent machines), as well as performing a warm-up act for the live audience before taping began to get them laughing. His continuous presence during the early seasons of the series led to his being nicknamed "The Fifth Dwarfer"{{Fact|date=May 2007}}. More recently he has appeared in the television series ''[[Grumpy Old Men (TV series)|Grumpy Old Men]]''.
==Books==
Hawks has written four books.
;''Round Ireland with a Fridge'':His first book was an account of his [[Quixotism|quixotic]] attempt to hitchhike around [[Ireland]] with a [[refrigerator|fridge]] to win a [[bar bet]]. It sold over 500,000 copies. (ISBN 0-09-186777-0)
;''Playing the Moldovans at Tennis'': His second book, also the result of a drunken bet (with the comedian [[Arthur Smith (comedian)|Arthur Smith]]), this time involved an attempt to beat each member of the [[Moldova national football team]] at a game of [[tennis]] based on the theory that people good at one sport are rarely good at another. (ISBN 0-09-187456-4)
;''One Hit Wonderland'':His third book, describes his attempt, over 10 years after his first, to write a second hit, which culminates in him performing on [[Albania]]n television with [[Norman Wisdom]] and [[Tim Rice]]. (ISBN 0-09-188210-9)
;''A Piano in the Pyrenees'': An account of his purchase of a house in the south of France, after deciding that the two things he wanted in life were to meet his [[soul mate]], and to purchase an "idyllic house abroad somewhere abroad". (ISBN 0-09-190267-3)
* [http://www.shvoong.com/books/travel-book-log/496104-piano-pyrenees/ A summary of the book]
Hawks has also contributed to the collection "The Weekenders".
==Other activities==
Tony Hawks donated half of the royalties from his book ''Playing the Moldovans at Tennis'' to a trust fund for Moldova,<ref>[http://www.tony-hawks.com/philanthropy.php tony-hawks.com: The Moldovan Child Care Centre]</ref> which was used to open the [[Hippocrates Centre]], a medical centre that provides rehabilitative therapy for disabled children from socially vulnerable families. Hawks continues to support Hippocrates through fundraising and personal involvement.
Hawks is the co-founder and public face of the '[[Tennis for Free]]' campaign which aims to make Britain's existing municipal tennis facilities available to all.
Hawks is currently collaborating with [[Chesney Hawkes]] on various songs available from a [[MySpace]] website. A fan of ''Round Ireland with a Fridge'', Dave Nicoll, successfully travelled round the world with a fridge — videoing challenges posted via his website and posting the results online.
He is frequently confused with [[Tony Hawk]], largely because the latter's video game franchise uses the possessive [[apostrophe]] ("Tony Hawk's"). Hawks maintains a list of emails intended for the skateboarder and [http://www.tony-hawks.com/skateboarding.php his mischievous responses to them] on his website. On [[2 January]] [[2008]] he appeared on an edition of ''[[Mastermind (TV series)|Celebrity Mastermind]]'', with Tony Hawk as his chosen specialised subject.<ref>''Radio Times'' 22 Dec 2007-4 Jan 2008</ref> Hawks noted that his correspondents "might be able to do backside varials but they can't spell to save their lives."<ref>''Celebrity Mastermind'', [[BBC One]], [[2 January]] [[2008]]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.tony-hawks.com Tony-Hawks.com (Official Website)]
* [http://www.tony-hawks.com/music.php Download Tony Hawks' music free]
* [http://www.tennisforfree.com Tennis For Free website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/hawksalexanderhawkes Tony Hawks and Chesney Hawkes MySpace page]
* [http://www.roundtheworldwithafridge.com Round The World With A Fridge]
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|NAME = Hawks, Tony
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Hawksworth, Antony Gordon
|SHORT DESCRIPTION = Comedian, author, philanthropist
|DATE OF BIRTH = [[1960-05-12]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Brighton]], [[Sussex]], [[England]]
|DATE OF DEATH =
|PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawks, Tony}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:English humorists]]
[[Category:English travel writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:2012 Summer Olympics cultural ambassadors]]
[[Category:People from Brighton]]
[[Category:Old Brightonians]]
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