18 Facts About Jay Adams

Jay Adams has been called "the original seed" of skateboarding.

Jay Adams was the only child of Robert Adams and Philaine Romero, and grew up with his mother and his stepfather, Kent Sherwood.

Jay Adams began skating and surfing at the age of four.

Sherwood worked at Dave Sweet's Surf Shop under Pacific Ocean Park, where Adams was introduced to skateboarding.

Jay Adams' skateboarding was greatly influenced by Larry Bertlemann, a professional surfer known for dragging his hands along the waves as he rode them.

In 1974 at age 13, Jay Adams became the youngest member to join the Santa Monica-based Zephyr surf team representing Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions.

Jay Adams was the first member to enter the competition, held in Del Mar, California, taking second place in the Junior Men's Freestyle.

Sherwood and Jay Adams created the brand and team EZ-RYDER, which changed its name to Z-Flex six months later.

Jay Adams collaborated with Z-Flex, designing boards in the Z-Flex range, most notably the Z-Flex Jay Adams Cruiser Skateboard.

Jay Adams was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2012.

Jay Adams is featured prominently in the 2001 Peralta-directed documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys.

Jay Adams was portrayed by Emile Hirsch in the 2005 dramatized feature-film account of the Z-Boys origins, Lords of Dogtown, written by Peralta and directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

Jay Adams was featured in Joshua Pomer's 2010 surf documentary The Westsiders.

Jay Adams spent time in prisons as he struggled with drug addiction.

Jay Adams was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to six months in relation to the death of Dan Bradbury.

Jay Adams was serving two-and-a-half years on drug charges in Hawaii during the production of Dogtown and Z-Boys and was released in 2002.

Jay Adams was released to a halfway house on July 8,2008, for the remainder of his sentence.

Jay Adams has a son, Seven, with ex-girlfriend Samantha Baglioni.