Edie Robertson - 2019 Skateboarding Hall of Fame Inductee

Edie Robertson – 2019

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Edie Robertson was one of the most accomplished pro female skateboarders of the 1970s, with a stellar competitive record and sponsorship deals that speak for themselves. Born in 1962, Edie’s first skateboard ride went down at age 10 on a friend’s Black Night with clay wheels. She dug it so much, she immediately got her own green Bahne with Cadillac wheels. By 1974, Edie had progressed so far, Jim O’Mahoney put her on the Skateboarder Magazine team. She also became the first girl on the Sims team that same year and got flowed Vans. Mainly skating slalom, freestyle (barefoot!), the Tea Bowl, ramps, halfpipes, and even cross country courses, Edie was the first female to do the gorilla grip (a flatground air grabbing each end of the board with your toes; this was before the Ollie ever existed). She usually enjoyed skating with Sims team members Marc Hollander, Doug de Montmorency, Tom Sims, the Blood brothers and Jamie Johnston. Edie turned pro in 1978, scoring first place in a plethora of freestyle and slalom contests.

Appearances in print ads for Robinak skate packs and Nikon cameras followed, as well as footage in movies like Five Summer Stories, The Magic Rolling Board and Freewheelin’. The small screen also beckoned, most notably in the form of a Skippy peanut butter commercial, as well as an appearance with Tom Sims and Steve Monihan on the Merv Griffin Show in 1976. In 1980, she even landed a lead role opposite Carabeth Burnside in a CBS after school special featuring skateboarding titled A Different Kind of Winning. In 1981, Edie left pro skateboarding to pursue a career in music, doing radio voiceovers, TV show soundtracks, session vocal work and equity theater. She was the lead vocalist for the band Sherlock, who in 1986 had the honor of being the first American rock band to tour and record an album in China. Edie plays guitar, keyboards, drums, trumpet and French horn, as well as percussion. She enjoys running, bicycling, hiking and playing in her band, Jayne Wayne. Edie currently works as a private chef in Santa Barbara, California.