Jackass Performer Ryan Dunn Dies in Car Accident

Sad news for fans of MTV stuntfest Jackass: Daredevil driver Ryan Dunn, one of the many thrillseeking stars of the hit cable show, died early this morning after a gruesome car accident in his home state of Pennsylvania. According to media reports, the 34-year-old was speeding home from a night out...

By Benjamin Leatherman

June 20, 2011

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Sad news for fans of MTV stuntfest Jackass: Daredevil driver Ryan Dunn, one of the many thrillseeking stars of the hit cable show, died early this morning after a gruesome car accident in his home state of Pennsylvania.

According to media reports, the 34-year-old was speeding home from a night out with friends when his Porsche 911 GT3 ran off the road into a wooded area and caught fire. Dunn tweeted a pic of himself getting hammered approximately two hours before the crash.

An infamous daredevil who seemed to live his life at 100 miles-per-hour, Dunn performed vehicle-related death-defying stunts as a regular part of both the Jackass TV show and the three feature films it inspired.

He unleashed some jaw-dropping pranks during his early days with the CKY skateboard crew or staging goofy stunts on both Jackass and Viva La Bam -- which starred his good friend Bam Margera -- including escaping grievous injury after crashing golf carts, skateboards, and a even stuffing a toy car up his rectum. His latest, fatal stunt wasn't for television.

Jackass cohorts including Margera, Jason "Wee-Man" Acuña, and Steve-O have been expressing their shock and sadness at Dunn's death via Twitter throughout the day, including a touching tweet from Johnny Knoxville stating, "Today I lost my brother Ryan Dunn."

Margera is currently scheduled to make a special appearance at American Junkie in Scottsdale later this week to host the bar's Wednesday night party. According to American Junkie employees there's been no word as of this writing if Margera's appearance will be rescheduled or cancelled outright.

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Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music, and nightlife. He began writing for New Times in 2003 and joined the staff full-time in 2005. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Benjamin Leatherman

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