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Tony Hawks
Born	Antony Gordon Hawksworth February 27, 1960 (1960-02-27) (age 48) Brighton, Sussex, England
Occupation	comedian, author and philanthropist

Antony Gordon Hawksworth, better known as Tony Hawks, is an English comedian, author and philanthropist. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... This article is about the American skateboarder. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other places with the same name, see Brighton (disambiguation). ... This article refers to the historic county in England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For the documentary about Jerry Seinfeld, see Comedian (film). ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, or reputation to a charitable cause. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For the documentary about Jerry Seinfeld, see Comedian (film). ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ...

Born in Brighton in 1960,^[1] Hawks was educated at Brighton Hove and Sussex Grammar School (1971–76) and Brighton College (1976–78).^[2] 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. For other places with the same name, see Brighton (disambiguation). ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Brighton College is an independent co-educational public school in Brighton, United Kingdom. ... Morris Minor and the Majors was a band led by the comedian and writer Tony Hawks (not to be confused with the skater Tony Hawk). ... The Beastie Boys are a hip hop musical group from New York City consisting of Michael Mike D Diamond, Adam MCA Yauch, Adam Ad-Rock Horovitz. ... In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Stock, Aitken & Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, are a British songwriting and record producing trio who had great success during the mid-late 1980s and early 1990s with many of their productions. ...

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 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. Im Sorry I Havent a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC or simply Clue, is a BBC radio comedy which has run since 1972-04-11. ... Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game which has been running continuously since its first broadcast on December 22, 1967. ... The Unbelievable Truth is a BBC radio comedy panel game devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith. ... Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show; produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990. ... Jo Brand (born Josephine Grace Brand 3 May 1957, Hastings, East Sussex) is an English comedienne. ...

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"^{[citation needed]}. More recently he has appeared in the television series Grumpy Old Men. This article is about the British sitcom. ... Grumpy Old Men is a conversational-style television programme on BBC2 which debuted in 2003. ...

Books

Hawks has written four books.

Round Ireland with a Fridge

His first book was an account of his quixotic attempt to hitchhike around Ireland with a 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), 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 Albanian 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)

• A summary of the book

Hawks has also contributed to the collection "The Weekenders". Quixotism (IPA: [ˈkwɪksəˌtɪzm]) is the description of a person or an act that is caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals. ... Fridge redirects here. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Arthur Smith Arthur Smith (born Brian Smith in 1954) is an English alternative comedian and writer. ... First international Moldova 2 - 4 Georgia (Chişinău, Moldova; July 2, 1991) Largest win Moldova 5 - 0 Pakistan (Ammann, Jordan; August 18, 1992) Worst defeat Sweden 6 - 0 Moldova (Gothenburg, Sweden; June 6, 2001) The Moldova national football team is the national football team of Moldova and is controlled... For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... Sir Norman Wisdom, OBE (born 4 February 1915) is an English comedian, singer and actor. ... Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winning lyricist, author, radio presenter and television gameshow panelist. ... This article is about the song; for the personal relationship, see soulmate Title of song: Soul Mate Artist: Funkadelic Title of album: Hardcore Jollies Year of first release: 1976 Trivia: Description of music: Complete tabs at [external site with complete tabs] Songwriters: George Clinton, Grace Cook (aka Eddie Hazel) Memorable...

Other activities

Tony Hawks donated half of the royalties from his book Playing the Moldovans at Tennis to a trust fund for Moldova,^[3] 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. Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1972), is an English pop singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. ... MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos. ...

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 his mischievous responses to them on his website. On 2 January 2008 he appeared on an edition of Celebrity Mastermind, with Tony Hawk as his chosen specialised subject.^[4] Hawks noted that his correspondents "might be able to do backside varials but they can't spell to save their lives."^[5] This article is about the American skateboarder. ... For the prime symbol (′) used for feet and inches, see Prime (symbol). ... is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... Mastermind is a British quiz show, well-known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. ...

References in popular culture

• A sketch in the second series of That Mitchell and Webb Look parodies his books with a man who has performed numerous ridiculous stunts as a result of drunken bets, including serving tea to everyone in Belgium and crossing Africa in a carrier bag.

That Mitchell and Webb Look is a BAFTA award winning British television sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, that has currently run for two six-part series. ...

References

For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 1. ... is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Tony-Hawks.com (Official Website)
• Download Tony Hawks' music free
• Tennis For Free website
• Tony Hawks and Chesney Hawkes MySpace page
• Round The World With A Fridge