Legendary surfer Laird Hamilton was born Laird John Zerfas on March 2, 1964 in San Francisco and was taken by his mother to Hawaii shortly after his father left them. When he was a young boy, Laird met legendary 1960's big-wave surfer Bill Hamilton on the beach of the North Shore of Oahu. Laird introduced Bill to his mother and later on the two got married. Ten years later, the couple divorced and in 1997, Laird's mother died of a brain aneurysm. It was Bill who influenced and molded Laird into a surfer, as Laird was exposed to the one of the greatest surfing locations in the world on the north coast of Oahu. When Laird was sixteen, he left school to pursue a modeling career and a year later was discovered by a photographer from Italian Men's Vogue. Laird was given the option to become an accomplished surfer but he wasn't enticed by competitive surfing because he saw the sport more as a work of art. In 2007, Laird was cast for the reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.
Laird Hamilton is one among twelve celebrities to race to the finish line, stock car style on Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race. Serena Williams and John Elway are among the other stars in the competition. They are joined by six Gillette Young Guns, and the competition runs for six episodes and an hour-long finale.
(Photo courtesy of ABC)