Interesting Facts About Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

I'm not much of a wrestling fan, but I did happen to catch Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson a couple times on the former World Wrestling Federation (WWF). One look at him, and I was drawn in. Johnson is one tall drink of cool water. Standing at six-foot-four-inches and weighing in around 225 pounds, he's an ample man with good looks. I, for one, am glad Johnson moved from wrestling into acting. He's charismatic and talented. Read this informative article and learn some interesting facts about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson!

His Beginning
Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. He is half Black Nova Scotian and half Samoan. He and his mother Ata Maivia held their Samoan citizenships. Since Johnson's father was "Soulman" Rocky Johnson, and his maternal grandfather, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, was also a professional wrestler, and he had 3 uncles and 6 cousins who wrestled as well, it was natural that Dwayne Johnson would eventually follow suit.

His School Years
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson played football at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He also was on the track and field, and he wrestled as well. His football excellence won him college scholarships, and he finally chose the University of Miami.

An interesting fact about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is, he played defensive tackle for the University of Miami Hurricanes. But a shoulder injury sidelined him. Johnson graduated in 1995 with a degree in criminology. He played for a short time on the Calgary Stampeders. After he was cut from that Canadian Football League team, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson became a professional wrestler until he retired in 2004.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson earned much acclaim in the world of wrestling. He was a nine-time World Heavyweight Champion. He was a seven-time WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Champion and a two-time WCW (World Championship Wrestling) Champion.

His Acting Career
Although Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stills owns the rights to his wrestling name, he prefers not to use it. He told Entertainment Magazine (October 2006): "I no longer am a wrestler, I am now pursuing a future as an actor and someday as a director. I am not the Rock. I am Dwayne Johnson".

The wrestler-turned-actor is building quite a filmography. His movies include The Scorpion King (2001), The Rundown (2003), Walking Tall (2004), Doom (2005), Southland Tales (2006), The Gridiron Gang (2006), Operation Filmmaker (2008). Get Smart (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), The Tooth Fairy (2009) and Planet 51 (2009). An Untitled Tomorrowland Project and Spy Hunter are also due out in 2010.

An interesting fact about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is, even though The Rundown earned him a cool $12,500,000., and Walking Tall's pay was $15,000,000, the $5.5 million he got for The Scorpion King was a record. According to the Slam Sports website, "WWF star the Rock (earned) the highest salary ever paid to an actor in a debut starring role."

His Personal Life
Dwayne Johnson met Dany Garcia while they were attending the University of Miami. They married in 1997, had daughter Simone Alexandra in 2001, and divorced in 2008. Johnson and Garcia will share custody of their daughter. He's scheduled to pay $22,000. a month in child support. He also pays $5,000 a month for Simone's education.

"The Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation" was started in 2006. "Our mission is to educate, empower and motivate children worldwide through health education and physical fitness," according to the foundation's website.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson also became an author with his 2000 book, The Rock Says (HarperEntertainment). It hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

And finally, an interesting fact about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is, he has a wax figure likeness at the famed Madame Tussaud's museum.

Resources
http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_13022.html
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20041195,00.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425005/biohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwayne_Johnson
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509148,00.html
http://www.celebritywonder.com/html/therock.html
http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingRock/sep27_therock-can.html
http://www.djrockfoundation.org/
http://www.fandango.com/dwaynejohnson/filmography/p47655921
http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingRock/sep27_therock-can.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425005/bio