Hawk was born in San Diego, California, to a retired U.S. Navy officer, Frank Hawk and his wife Nancy, a part-time business teacher. An older brother of Tony bought a used skateboard at the age of 8 and his father constructed a ramp in their backyard. [1]

At the age of 11, he landed his first contest win and turned pro by the age of 14. He graduated from Torrey Pines High School in the North County Coastal area of San Diego, California

In 1987, Tony Hawk appeared in the film Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol as one of the teenage skateboarders. In 1989, he appeared as a skateboarder in Gleaming The Cube. In 2002, he appeared in Neal H. Moritzs's and Christopher Gilcrest's film xXx playing the role of one of Xander Cages stuntman friends, and later in the movie, a skateboarder at a party. In 2004 he played himself in the Australian skateboarding movie Deck Dogz. In 2006, Tony Hawk appeared in a cameo on the film Drake & Josh Go Hollywood as himself, When Drake & Josh steal his car to escape from two crooks with the Geo(iPods) that carry illegal information for counterfeiting money. Tony Hawk also asks for the cops to give Drake & Josh a police escort to Sunset Studios, for a performance on TRL. Hawk has had a cameo in film The New Guy. Hawk appeared in Jackass: The Movie with Mat Hoffman and Bam Margera, skateboarding in a fat suit and Jackass 2, while skateboarding thorugh a obstacle course. He also plays the police officer who arrests Ryan Dunn in the movie Haggard: The Movie. Hawk also made a brief cameo appearance in Lords Of Dogtown as an astronaut, where he is shown comically falling off the skateboard as he is a "rookie".