Vincent Margera

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title: "Vincent Margera" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1956-births", "2015-deaths", "deaths-from-liver-failure-in-the-united-states", "deaths-from-kidney-failure-in-pennsylvania", "people-from-delaware-county,-pennsylvania", "american-people-convicted-of-child-sexual-abuse", "american-people-convicted-of-sexual-assault", "american-people-of-italian-descent", "american-television-personalities", "cky-crew", "criminals-from-pennsylvania", "american-male-criminals", "alcohol-related-deaths-in-pennsylvania"] description: "American television personality (1956–2015)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Margera" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American television personality (1956–2015) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Vincent Margera
image	Vincent Margera.jpg
caption	Margera in a 2004 episode of Viva La Bam
birth_name	Vincent Roy Margera
birth_date	July 3, 1956
birth_place	Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death_date	November 15, 2015 (aged 59)
death_place	West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
other_names	Don Vito
occupation	Reality television personality
years_active	1999–2009
relatives	Phil Margera (brother)
Bam Margera (nephew)
Jess Margera (nephew)
April Margera (sister-in-law)
::

|name = Vincent Margera |image = Vincent Margera.jpg |image_upright = |caption = Margera in a 2004 episode of Viva La Bam |birth_name = Vincent Roy Margera |birth_date = July 3, 1956 |birth_place = Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. |death_date = November 15, 2015 (aged 59) |death_place = West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. |other_names = Don Vito |occupation = Reality television personality |years_active = 1999–2009 |relatives = Phil Margera (brother) Bam Margera (nephew) Jess Margera (nephew) April Margera (sister-in-law)

Vincent Roy Margera (July 3, 1956 – November 15, 2015), commonly known as Don Vito, was an American reality television personality. He was known for his appearances in Viva La Bam, Jackass, Haggard, and the CKY series alongside his nephew Bam and brother Phil.

Early life

Margera was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, and raised in Concord Township, the son of Darlene (née Stauffer) and Phillip Margera. Sometime around the early '90s Margera had found early success making brief appearances on The Ron and Ron Show on 95YNF in Tampa, Florida. It's also mentioned in an episode of Viva La Bam by Darlene that Margera had suffered a coma from overdrinking and eating as a part of a contest held by the radio show. He was unmarried and lived in a home formerly owned by his brother in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he had moved in the early 2000s.

Career

Margera became known after appearing as a regular on the MTV television series, Viva La Bam, where he was commonly referred to as, "Don Vito," a nickname given to him by his nephew, Bam. The nickname referred to his near-unintelligible speech reminiscent of Don Vito Corleone of The Godfather, and also served as an homage to the Margera family's Italian heritage. He had previously appeared in sketches and videos with his family, most of which were released as part of the CKY series and some later featured in Jackass.

As a result of his 2006 arrest, the stunts involving Don Vito were removed from the theatrical and DVD release of Jackass Number Two, but several stunts were briefly shown in previews leading up to his arrest. Due to the allegations, he was persona non grata among the cast for a time.

In early 2007, Margera featured in Redman's music video "Put It Down," in which he plays a police officer with Donnell Rawlings. March 20, 2007, saw the release of Vito and Ryan Dunn starring in a Viva La Bam-like direct-to-DVD film titled Dunn and Vito's Rock Tour.

Legal issues

On August 18, 2006, Margera was arrested at the Colorado Mills Mall in Lakewood, Colorado, on suspicion of inappropriately touching two 12-year-old girls. He was released after posting bail of $50,000.

During a preliminary hearing on February 1, 2007, Margera was represented by Pamela Mackey, the same lawyer who defended Kobe Bryant in his 2003–2005 sexual assault case. There was an arraignment hearing on March 5, 2007, at which Margera pleaded not guilty.

The trial started on October 22 in Golden, Colorado. Margera's attorney argued that his client had been playing his "goofy, outrageous and vulgar" television persona for the girls, portraying Margera as a "benign bumbler," and arguing that Margera's signature arm movement may have been mistaken for breast fondling.

The jury began to deliberate on the afternoon of October 30, returning on October 31. Margera was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault on a minor and acquitted on one count.

In December 2007, Margera was sentenced to 10 years of probation, to be served in Pennsylvania. He was further ordered not to portray the character of "Don Vito" in any capacity (appearing on television, writing books, autograph signings) while serving his sentence. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender in Colorado and Pennsylvania, to receive an evaluation of his mental health, and to work on his problems with alcohol.

Health issues and death

Throughout most of his life, Margera was obese. He also had strabismus, which made him partially blind in one eye, as well as suffering from alcoholism. According to his nephew, Bam, he also suffered from depression following his conviction.

In October 2015, Margera collapsed in his West Chester, Pennsylvania home and was rushed to the hospital, where he remained in a coma for five days. According to family, he was dying of massive organ failure due to years of obesity and alcoholism. Despite initial improvements in the weeks before his death, he died on November 15, 2015, from kidney and liver failure at the age of 59.

Filmography

Films

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	CKY2K	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2002	CKY4: The Latest & Greatest	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2003	Haggard: The Movie	Don Vito
2005	The Reality of Bob Burnquist	Himself	Direct-to-video-documentary
2005	The Dudesons Movie	Himself	Guest appearance
2006	Jackass Number Two	Himself	Scenes deleted
2007	Jackass 2.5	Himself	Scenes deleted
2008	Dunn & Vito's Rock Tour	Himself	Direct-to-video release
2009	Minghags	Various
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Jackass	Himself	Episode 2.3
Cameo
2003–2006	Viva La Bam	Himself	43 episodes
2005	Totally Busted	Himself	2 episodes
2005	Stankervision	Himself	Episode 1.4
2005	2005 MTV Video Music Awards	Himself	Guest appearance
2006	The Dudesons	Himself	Episode 1.7
Guest appearance
2007	Bam's Unholy Union	Himself	Episode 1.9
Uncredited
2014	CKY: The Greatest Hits	Himself	Archive footage
TV special
2017	Epicly Later'd: Bam Margera	Himself	Archive footage
::

Music videos

::data[format=table]

Year	Artist	Track	Role	Notes
2004	Clutch	"The Mob Goes Wild"	Himself
2007	Redman	"Put It Down"	Police officer
::

References

References

1. Moyer, Justin. (November 16, 2015). "Vincent "Don Vito" Margera, reality TV star, dead at 59". [[The Washington Post]].
2. (2016-05-03). "What Happened to Don Vito - 2018 Updates".
3. Medina, Regina. (2015-11-16). "MTV star Vincent Margera, 59, dies of liver, kidney failure".
4. Auge, Karen. (August 19, 2006). "Reality-show "uncle" jailed". [[Denver Post]].
5. (2007). "MTV to Air Bam Margera Nuptials". [[Long Island Press]].
6. Rodriguez, Jayson. (March 20, 2007). "Redman Hopes To 'Tweak' Hip-Hop With Timbaland, Snoop".
7. [https://www.amazon.com/Dunn-Vitos-Rock-Tour/dp/B000LPS2PY Dunn & Vito's Rock Tour: Movies & TV: Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, Don Vito], amazon.com; accessed November 16, 2015.
8. (August 23, 2006). "Bam Margera's uncle posts $50,000 bail". [[Today.com]].
9. (February 15, 2007). ""Don Vito" Dirty Deeds".
10. Schrader, Ann. (October 24, 2007). "Lawyer: Actor's alleged groping was role". [[Denver Post]].
11. "Suspect termed a benign bumbler". [[Rocky Mountain News]].
12. (October 30, 2007). "Closing arguments presented in Margera trial". [[Denver Post]].
13. (December 20, 2007). "Margera must give up "Don Vito" character for 10 years". [[The Denver Post]].
14. Sennhauser, Morgan. (January 2, 2017). "What Happened to Don Vito – 2018 Updates". [[Gazette Review]].
15. (October 23, 2015). "Bam Margera's Uncle Vito Wakes From Coma, In Critical Condition".
16. (November 15, 2015). "'Jackass' Star Vincent 'Don Vito' Margera Dead".

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