Ryan Dunn, the 34-year-old "Jackass" star, died in a fatal car crash on Sunday night in Pennsylvania, MTV News confirmed Monday (June 20).
According to police, the accident occurred at 3 a.m. on Route 322 and New Street in West Goshen Township. While it's unknown who was driving at the time, an unidentified passenger also died in the crash. April Margera, the mother of Dunn's "Jackass" co-star Bam, broke the news to WMMR 93.3's "Preston and Steve" radio show.
"We are devastated by the tragic loss of Ryan Dunn — a beloved member of the MTV family for more than a decade," Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music/Film Group, said in a statement. "He made us all laugh and had the tireless enthusiastic approach to life of your favorite middle school friend. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Ryan's family and friends. The Jackass brotherhood will never be the same."
In the last photo Dunn posted to Twitter, he and two friends are seen drinking what may be alcoholic beverages. TMZ also reported that the car caught fire in the crash. A tow truck was later sent to the scene to remove the car. A photo obtained by an NBC affiliate in Pennsylvania, showed the wrecked car on the side of the road. As of press time, no further information was known about the accident.
Born in Ohio, Dunn grew up in New York, before moving to West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he would hook up with Bam's CKY Crew. He kicked off his career doing crazy stunts and skateboard tricks in a series of online videos, which eventually led to his part in MTV's "Jackass" in 2000. The daredevil was a key member of the crew, appearing in "Jackass" spin-offs like "Viva La Bam" and "Bam's Unholy Union," as Bam's sidekick and often acting as the voice of reason within the zany crew. He also had his own a short-lived home improvement show on MTV called "Homewreckers" in 2005. Dunn's new show "Proving Ground," in which he and co-host Jessica Chobot test out action sequences from TV, games and movies, premiered on G4 last Tuesday.
When MTV News sat down with the "Jackass" crew last year, they named Dunn's first stunt for the show as one of their favorites in 10 years of the TV show and movies. "I loved when [Bam Margera] made Ryan jump into the poo factory, the 'Poo Dive' I think we called it," creator Jeff Tremaine said. " 'Cause that was horrible, but the best part was ... revealing his tattoos that we didn't know about. That was the first time we ever met Ryan."
He appeared in all three "Jackass" flicks and even took a stab at Hollywood, with a role in non-"Jackass" projects like the Jessica Simpson flick "Blonde Ambition" and on the NBC procedural staple "Law & Order: SVU."
Last year, Jackass 3D" found overwhelming box-office success, raking in $50 million in its first week. "Jackass 3.5: The Unrated Movie" just hit stores last week, revealing more stunts that didn't make it into the blockbuster film.
source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666021/jackass-ryan-dunn-dead.jhtml
R.I.P
