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Guy Mariano (born March 31, 1976) is an American professional
skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...
. Mariano first gained recognition at the age of 14 for his video part in the
Blind Skateboards Blind (stylized as bLind) is a skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco's World Industries distribution company. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwindle Dis ...
video ''
Video Days ''Video Days'' is a skateboarding video by Blind (company), Blind Skateboards released in 1991. It is considered one of the most influential skate videos, as director Spike Jonze's format is frequently cited as its definitive filming template. '' ...
'' (1991).


Early life

Mariano attended John Burroughs High School in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
.


Professional skateboarding

Val Surf, a Californian retail outlet, was Mariano's first ever sponsor. Mariano's first skateboard deck sponsor was
Powell Peralta Powell Peralta is an American skateboard company founded by George Powell and Stacy Peralta in 1978. The company rose to prominence in the 1980s as skateboarding began maturing as a sport. The company featured the Bones Brigade, a team featurin ...
and he appeared in the company's video "Ban This", alongside Paulo Diaz, Rudy Johnson, and Gabriel Rodriguez. Together with
Mark Gonzales Mark Gonzales (born June 1, 1968), also known as "Gonz" and "The Gonz", is an American professional skateboarder and artist. He is known as the godfather of modern street skateboarding and was named the "Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time ...
,
Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...
, Jordan Richter, and Rudy Johnson, Mariano appeared in the Blind video, ''Video Days'', considered a classic achievement in skateboarding history. ''Skateboarder'' magazine brought together all of the video's members for a reunion article that celebrated twenty years since the video's release, while Gonzales has since been named the most influential skateboarder of all time by the ''Transworld Skateboarding'' magazine. Professional skateboarder, Paul Rodriguez explained in 2003 that he first saw ''Video Days'' in 1999 to better understand why his generation skated the way it did and also because the video inspired him to skateboard. Mariano joined professional skateboarders
Rodney Mullen John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is considered one of the most influential skaters in the history of the sport, being credited fo ...
, Jeron Wilson, Andrew Reynolds, Gershon Mosley, Ryan Wilburn, Heath Kirchart, and Mike York on a trip to Australia for the filming of a documentary entitled ''Canvas''. The film was co-directed by Matt Hill, part owner of Globe. Following Blind, Mariano joined the
Girl Skateboards Crailtap is a skateboarding distribution company based in Torrance, California, United States. The distribution company is home to Girl Skateboards, Chocolate Skateboards, Royal Skateboard Trucks, and Fourstar Clothing. Girl Skateboards History ...
team and appeared in the video ''Mouse'' (1996). Since joining the Girl team, Mariano has appeared in every major Girl video production since the company's inception. Following a hiatus related to illicit drug use, Mariano returned to professional skateboarding in 2005. Mariano contributed a part in
Lakai Limited Footwear Lakai Limited Footwear is an American footwear company based in Torrance, California that creates shoes designed for and inspired by skateboarding. Lakai was founded by professional skateboarders and Girl Skateboards co-founders Mike Carroll (ska ...
's
skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...
video ''
Fully Flared ''Fully Flared'' is a street skateboarding video by the Lakai footwear company, featuring video parts from its team riders. The film is directed by Ty Evans, Spike Jonze, and Cory Weincheque. In 2007, it won "Best Video of the Year" at the Tran ...
'' and won the "Best Street", "Best Video Part", and "Readers Choice" awards at the 2008 awards event that is presented annually by the ''Transworld Skateboarding'' magazine—the video itself won the "Best Video"award. Mariano did not present a pre-written speech after receiving any of the awards and was quoted as stating, "I’m older than most of you so I’m going to cry." after his "Best Street" accolade and "I love everybody! I love skateboarding" following the announcement of the "Best Video Part" decision. In 2012, Mariano appeared in ''Pretty Sweet'', a collaborative video between the Girl and Chocolate brands, and received the closing video part, a symbol of a video part's excellence (often referred to as the video's "ender"). Initially, Mariano was merely going to be featured in a montage section, but after he was encouraged by the video's filmer, Ty Evans, to "focus more" on his "stuff", Mariano eventually assembled enough footage for a full video part that features a number of tricks that were filmed in China. Mariano revealed in a 2012 interview that the filming process for the video was very physically intensive and "ice baths, massage therapy and chiropractic adjustments" were factors in the completion of the part. Following his ''Pretty Sweet'' video part, a level of anticipation developed in regard to the awarding of the Skater of the Year (SOTY) trophy to Mariano by ''Thrasher'' magazine and Gary Rogers, from the Internet show, ''Skateline'', was a significant contributor to this momentum—the award was eventually given to David González.


Company owner

Mariano co-founded the
Royal Trucks Crailtap is a skateboarding distribution company based in Torrance, California, United States. The distribution company is home to Girl Skateboards, Chocolate Skateboards, Royal Skateboard Trucks, and Fourstar Clothing. Girl Skateboards History ...
skateboard truck company with Rudy Johnson in 1999, and is also a part owner in the Fourstar clothing brand with
Eric Koston Eric Koston (born April 29, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder and company owner. He has been featured in the '' Tony Hawk's'' video game series and the Electronic Arts (EA) video games ''Skate 2'' and ''Skate 3''. Koston co-owns bot ...
.


Awards and accolades

Following his return from an extended period of leave from professional skateboarding, Mariano received the awards for "Best Street Skater" and "Best Video Part" (for ''Fully Flared'') at the 10th Annual Transworld SKATEboarding Awards. Mariano received the Best Video Part award again at the 15th Transworld award event for his closing part in the Girl/Chocolate co-production ''Pretty Sweet''. Professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez identified Mariano in his "top ten" list of favorite professional skateboarders in July 2013. Rodriguez stated: "He’s just one of those guys that did legendary things that people who were there witnessed and you would just hear about. Then taking such a long hiatus and coming back from that better than ever."


Personal life

Mariano is Italian-American and has revealed that, at the age of 37, professional skateboarding has led to significant difficulties in his personal life:
"I made a lot of sacrifices—I missed my mom's birthdays, my girlfriend's birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, because I was on skate trips. I have to put a lot of my life on hold to be a skateboarder at this age. A lot of people are moving on in life and having babies and families, but I'm still not around every weekend. It can get a little old for the people around you in your life, you know?"


References

*''Thrasher Magazine'', 14 page article with Guy Mariano, November 2005 issue *Telephone interview ''Transworld SKATEboarding'', February 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mariano, Guy American skateboarders Living people 1976 births American people of Italian descent Sportspeople from Los Angeles