Jesse James

Jesse James (born April 19, 1969, in Long Beach, California) is an American custom motorcycle builder, entrepreneur and television personality. He is the founder of West Coast Choppers, the shop whose bikes and iron-cross logo became an emblem of the early-2000s chopper craze.

After working as a bodyguard for rock bands, James started building motorcycles in his mother's garage and turned the hobby into West Coast Choppers in Southern California. His hand-fabricated bikes were featured in Discovery Channel documentaries, which led to his own series.

As the host of Discovery's Monster Garage, which premiered in 2002, James and a team of mechanics turned ordinary vehicles into outrageous machines against a deadline. The show made him one of the best-known faces of reality television of the decade.

His personal life drew as much attention as his work. James married actress Sandra Bullock in 2005; the marriage ended in divorce in 2010 after reports of his infidelity. He later moved his businesses to Austin, Texas, where he runs Jesse James Firearms Unlimited and continued to build cars and motorcycles.

Jesse James is not to be confused with the 19th-century outlaw of the same name, to whom he has said he is distantly related.