Steve-O

Stephen "Steve-O" Gilchrist Glover (born on June 13, 1974 in Wimbledon, London, England) is a daredevil performer, and television personality. He is best known as one of the performers on the TV series Jackass and on Wildboyz.

Early life

Steve-O was born to an American father and a Canadian mother in England, where his family was based for many years due to his father's business interests, graduating from The American School in London in 1992 before moving to the US. He briefly attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He dropped out after one year to later attend the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and make videos of his stunts. Though he was not selected to join The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus after graduating Clown College, he did work as a clown in a circus at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop flea market. While performing in the flea market circus, Steve-O began sending videos of himself to Big Brother Magazine editor and future Jackass director Jeff Tremaine, which led to his involvement in the television series Jackass and its hit movie spin-offs, Jackass: The Movie, Jackass Number Two, and Jackass 2.5.

His upcoming album will be titled Hard as a Rock. Another mix-cd released by Steve-O is called The Dumbest Asshole In Hip Hop.

Legal problems and controversies

Incidents at The Abyss nightclub

On July 31, 2002, Steve-O was arrested in Los Angeles on obscenity and assault charges for performing his now infamous stunt, The Butterfly (in which he staples his scrotum to his leg) at the Abyss, a nightclub in Houma, Louisiana, and for being a principal to a second-degree battery, both of which occurred at the nightclub on July 11, 2002. After posting a $150,000 bond in the Los Angeles court system, he was allowed to return to Louisiana where he turned himself in to the local authorities. Steve-O was released from Louisiana's custody with a $35,000 bond on August 14, 2002. The Louisiana courts had originally set his bond at $1.12 million, but it was reduced after he convinced them he wasn't a flight risk. Steve-O was required to return to Los Angeles on August 16, 2002, and prove that he turned himself in to Louisiana authorities.

The arraignment was originally scheduled for September 16, 2002, however Steve-O was granted a continuance extending it until December 16, 2002, and then granted a second continuance extending it to February 10, 2003. Finally on March 24, 2003, Steve-O made a deal with Louisiana prosecutors placing him on supervised probation for one year, requiring him to make a charitable donation of $5,000 to a shelter for battered women and children, and forbidding him from ever performing in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana again.

The Abyss nightclub was in danger of losing their liquor license as a result of the events on the night of July 11, 2002. They were allowed to keep it until the trial against Steve-O was complete.

Arrest on drug smuggling charges in Sweden

On May 22, 2003 Steve-O was arrested and jailed while in Sweden due to a comment he made during an interview about smuggling drugs into the country, remarking that he swallowed a condom containing cannabis to get it past the authorities. Steve-O reached a plea bargain with the Swedish prosecutors and was released on May 27, 2003 after paying a 45,000 Kronor (about $6,700 dollars) fine. As part of the plea bargain Steve-O admitted to possessing one ecstasy tablet and five grams of marijuana, although he claimed he had no knowledge of where the ecstasy came from.

Frequent public urination

On July 19, 2003, Steve-O was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for urinating on potato chips in public during a Lollapalooza tour concert in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Steve-O claimed he was kicked off the tour by Lollapalooza producers because of the incident. Steve-O was again seen urinating in public at the March 5, 2006 Key Club Party for the Oscars, urinating on the red carpet outside the club, and then stripping off to his "birthday suit."

Internal LAPD investigation

November 2, 2005 Steve-O was seen by reporters, and later officers in the Los Angeles Police Department, exiting a nightclub with a bag of marijuana. Though the officers confronted Steve-O, they made no attempt to arrest him. The incident was documented on video tape by the reporters and resulted in an administrative investigation within the LAPD to see if the officers at the scene were negligent.

Rock the Bells controversy

Steve-O attended the "Rock The Bells" Hip-Hop Festival in San Bernardino, California in August 2006 to some controversy. The Concert was headlined by the Wu-Tang Clan and the event was organized as a tribute to clan member Ol' Dirty Bastard. While on stage with the Wu-Tang Clan, Steve-O exclaimed that he shared the same cell with O.D.B, albeit at different times. He proceeded to show his affection for ODB by getting nude, tucking his penis between his legs and doing a back flip. This upset Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, and he threatened to assault him if he didn't apologize while tempers flared.

Psychiatric problems

On March 9, 2008, Steve-O's friends including co-star Johnny Knoxville, physically removed him from his house and forced him to check into Thalians Mental Health Center due to ongoing drug abuse problems. Steve-O was placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold which was later lengthened to 14 days due to an alleged suicide attempt. In a mass e-mail addressed to his friends, Steve-O expressed that he previously had thought that his drug abuse and bipolarity as a "good thing," but that he now realizes that his drug abuse was hurting those he loved most.

Cocaine possession and rehab

On June 4, 2008, Steve-O pleaded guilty to possession to cocaine. He will avoid jail if he successfully completes his treatment program.

Noteworthy TV and radio appearances

Too Late with Adam Carolla

On September 26, 2005, a heavily intoxicated Steve-O appeared on Too Late with Adam Carolla. He had originally planned on getting drunk, having a policeman give him a Breathalyzer test, and then pulling a cloth out from under a table of food. Unfortunately, the plan fell through at the last second as Steve-O had already consumed a large amount of alcohol. On the show Steve-O yelled obscenities, attempted to tackle Adam Carolla, broke a glass table with his foot, inadvertently cutting his leg, and was taken away by security at the end of the segment. In the segment that followed, Adam attempted to perform the stunt Steve-O had planned. Despite the turmoil, on October 17, 2005, Steve-O appeared again on Too Late. His second appearance was no less chaotic, with Steve-O lighting a table on fire, breaking the replacement for the glass table he had broken previously, and ended with him stapling his scrotum to his thigh.

Loveline

Following the departure of Adam Carolla from Loveline, Steve-O periodically guest co-hosted in his place and was being considered, among many others, as a possible replacement. Loveline producers eventually chose KROQ DJ Stryker to replace Carolla on the show. While guest co-hosting on May 23, 2006, Steve-O announced he had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a serious cardiac condition which can be life threatening. Steve-O claimed his doctor told him he was dying and had "the heart of a 90 year old man" also adding without treatment he "wouldn't live past 40." On June 16, 2006, however, Steve-O announced his heart was perfectly fine on Radio Bam after visiting a heart specialist who said that his original doctor misread the results of a test.

Love Island

On July 18, 2006, Steve-O became a late contestant on the British reality show Love Island broadcast on ITV from Fiji in an effort to boost ratings. Despite stating he has stopped drinking he asked for beer while on the show, on July 19, 2006 he abruptly left Love Island because he was not allowed the beer and chocolate which he requested.

Tom Green Live

On October 10, 2006, Steve-O appeared on Tom Green Live, an Internet talk-show hosted by comedian Tom Green, alongside guests Jukka Hildén and Carson Daly in which he discussed his hatred for current U.S. President George W. Bush and organized religion. Steve-O also spoke out about his feelings towards his clown college alma mater, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, for abusing the animals used in the circus. He took calls from viewers while repeatedly huffing medical-grade compressed nitrous oxide (commonly called "whippits"), smoking, drinking alcohol and eating hash brownies. The show ran for three times its normal length, ending with Steve-O collapsing on the floor after drinking a bottle of Italian salad dressing and vomiting violently.

The Dean Blundell Show

On March 27, 2006, Jackass co-stars Steve-O and Chris Pontius visited The Dean Blundell Show, a morning show on Toronto radio station CFNY (102.1 The Edge), to promote their "Don't Try This At Home" tour. During the interview, Pontius and Steve-O said multiple expletives on the air. Steve-O also proceeded to urinate on the floor and perform a stunt called "Unwrapping the Mummy" all in front of a live studio audience. Hosts Dean Blundell, Jason Barr, and Todd Shapiro were suspended for the week following the appearance, after the contents of the show received attention from the public, and garnered many complaints.

The Howard Stern Show

On February 5, 2008, Steve-O joined Howard Stern, Robin Quivers and Artie Lang on Sirius Satellite radio to promote his upcoming rap album Hard As a Rock. Steve-o, drunk, rapped a little and discussed his favorite drugs with the radio legend. His strange laugh, ripped from the broadcast, is still used by Fred Norris as a laugh track to this day.

References

External links

• Official Website
• Steve-O at The Internet Movie Database.
• Steve-O at MySpace (blog also syndicated on LiveJournal)
• Steve-O on Tom Green Live, 01/06/2007