Jackass star Ryan Dunn dies in crash
Dunn remembered as a 'beloved member of the MTV family for more than a decade'
CBC News
Posted: Jun 20, 2011 12:05 PM ET
Last Updated: Jun 20, 2011 6:06 PM ET
U.S reality television personality and daredevil Ryan Dunn attended the Jackass 3D U.K. premiere at a central London cinema on Nov. 2, 2010. Dunn died in the early hours Monday near Philadelphia when the Porsche he was driving crashed. (Jorge Herrera/Associated Press)
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Reality show star Ryan Dunn, who shot to fame as a member of the stunt crew for MTV's Jackass and movies by the same name, has died in a fiery crash near Philadelphia.
West Goshen Township police said Dunn, 34, was driving his 2007 Porsche with a passenger following a night out with friends when it crashed early Monday near his home.
In a release obtained by CBC News and other media, police said a preliminary investigation has revealed speed may have been a factor in the single-vehicle crash.
The man in the car with the reality TV daredevil has yet to be identified.
Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
According to gossip website TMZ.com, Dunn tweeted a photo of himself drinking with friends hours before the accident.
Jackass ran on MTV from 2000 to 2002. Dunn was also in Bam Margera's Viva La Bam from 2003 to 2006, as well as all three Jackass movies.
Dunn's latest reality show, MTV's Homewrecker, is billed as "the ultimate in anti-makeover reality shows." Dunn, as host, helps "aggravated" individuals get back at their roommates who have "done them wrong," according to the show's website.
He also hosted Proving Ground on the G4 cable network.
In a statement issued Monday, MTV called Dunn "a beloved member of the MTV family for more than a decade."
Underground hit Jackass hits mainstream
According to his official website, Dunn was born in Ohio, and moved to Buffalo and then Philadelphia when he was 15.
He met Margera, who became one of his closest friends, on his first day of high school.
Margera dropped out of school to become a professional skateboarder, while Dunn developed a penchant for rebuilding cars. In their teens, they teamed with Raab Himself (also known as Chris Raab) and Brandon Dicamillo, and called themselves CKY, for Camp Kill Yourself. They started making their own videos featuring skating and random stunts.
They got ambitious and created their own skits and comedy bits, such as Dunn's breakout character, Capt. UndieThwho, who breezed around town in a diaper and cape.
One CKY video gained local popularity and the crew sold its first video on the underground skateboarding marketing scene.
Over four years, more CKY videos followed, but didn't make much money, so Dunn worked as a welder and at gas stations. He met fellow actor and daredevil Johnny Knoxville, a friend of Margera's through the skate circuit. Knoxville asked Dunn and his crew to allow their videos to be part of the series that eventually was titled Jackass .
Monday's accident isn't the first time Dunn has been involved in a crash.
During filming of the first Jackass movie, he was driving a golf cart when he tried to launch it over a sand bunker. The accident injured his passenger, Knoxville, when the cart landed on top of him.
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