Guy Mariano
American professional skateboarder (born 1976)
title: "Guy Mariano" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-skateboarders", "living-people", "1976-births", "american-people-of-italian-descent", "skateboarders-from-los-angeles"] description: "American professional skateboarder (born 1976)" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Mariano" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American professional skateboarder (born 1976) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Guy Mariano |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| occupation | Professional skateboarder, company co-owner |
| partner | Gina Rizzo |
| :: |
| name = Guy Mariano | image = | caption = | nationality = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Professional skateboarder, company co-owner | education = | partner = Gina Rizzo | children = | website = | footnotes = | height =
Guy Mariano (born March 31, 1976) is an American professional skateboarder. He first gained recognition at the age of 14 for his video part in the Blind Skateboards video Video Days (1991).
Early life
Mariano attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California.
Professional skateboarding
Val Surf, a Californian retail outlet, was Mariano's first ever sponsor. Mariano's first skateboard deck sponsor was Powell Peralta and he appeared in the company's video "Ban This", alongside Paulo Diaz, Rudy Johnson, and Gabriel Rodriguez.
Together with Mark Gonzales, Jason Lee, 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, 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 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's skateboarding video Fully Flared 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 skateboard truck company with Rudy Johnson in 1999, and is also a part owner in the Fourstar clothing brand with Eric Koston.
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:
::quote
"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?" ::
He is in a long-time relationship with stylist Gina Rizzo, who was married to fellow skateboarder Justin Pierce until he died in 2000.
References
- Thrasher Magazine, 14 page article with Guy Mariano, November 2005 issue
- Telephone interview Transworld SKATEboarding, February 2007
References
- Spanish Mike. (March 31, 2012). "HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Guy Mariano". Wordpress.
- (2013). "Guy Mariano". Skately LLC.
- ilurvemymoosey. (April 24, 2012). "Paulo Diaz, Rudy Johnson, Gabriel Rodriguez, Guy Mariano - Ban This". Google, Inc.
- Jaime Owens. (January 18, 2011). "BEHIND THE SCENES: VIDEO DAYS REUNION SHOOT". Grind Media LLC.
- Killeen Gonzalez. (December 21, 2011). "TransWorld Magazine Releases List of the 30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time: A Fan's Reaction". Yahoo!, Inc.
- (2013). "ON Video - Summer 2003 (2003)". Skately LLC.
- oceanhive. (July 7, 2009). "Canvas: The Skateboarding Documentary (1998) - Pt 1". Google, Inc.
- oceanhive. (August 14, 2009). "Canvas: The Skateboarding Documentary (1998) - Pt 2". Google, Inc.
- oceanhive. (December 16, 2009). "Canvas: The Skateboarding Documentary (1998) - Pt 3". Google, Inc.
- oceanhive. (March 17, 2010). "Canvas: The Skateboarding Documentary (1998) - Pt 4". Google, Inc.
- skaidernation. (October 27, 2009). "Guy Mariano - Girl Mouse". Google, Inc.
- (2005–2013). "Guy Mariano skate videos". SkatevideoSite.com.
- Greg. (June 14, 2008). "Guy Mariano Dominates 10th Annual Transworld SKATEboarding Awards". Action Sports News and Video: Skateboarding, Snowboarding, BMX and Moto.
- Oliver Pelling. (December 15, 2012). "Guy Mariano: Surviving the Times". Huck Magazine.
- RIDEChannel. (December 4, 2012). "SKATELINE - SOTY 2012, Nyjah Huston, Guy Mariano, Chaz Ortiz and Mo ...". Google, Inc.
- (2013). "Links". Chocolate Skateboards.
- transworld. (October 28, 2011). "2007 TWS Awards: Best Street Skater Guy Mariano". Google, Inc.
- Jonathan Young. (June 17, 2008). "10th Annual Transworld SKATEboarding Awards results". Europeskate.com.
- TWS. (February 28, 2013). "WINNERS: 15TH ANNUAL TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING AWARDS PRESENTED BY NEW ERA". Transworld SKATEboarding.
- Paul Rodriguez. (July 21, 2013). "PROD'S TOP TEN: FAVORITE PRO'S". Rodskate, Inc.
- https://www.espn.com/top/story/_/id/9420599
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