Jay Adams, the legendary skateboarder and one of the original members of 1970s skate gang Z-Boys has died at the age of 53 of a heart attack. He was immortalised in film by the 2005 film Lords of Dogtown, starring Heath Ledger, in which he was portrayed by Emile Hirsch. 

Emile Hirsch
Emile Hirsch played Adams in a 2005 biographical film

Adams was on a surfing holiday in Mexico with his family at the time of his death, having been unable to leave the country for some time prior due to his trouble with the law. Adams had struggled with drug addiction for many years and had served three seperate prison sentences, two for drugs offences and one for assault. According to reports Adams had no history of heart problems. 

Born in Venice, California, Adams began skating at a young age and rose to prominence as part of the Z-Boys gang who originally were a surf gang based out of the Zephyr surfboard shop. The news of his death was first broken on the Instagram of fellow Z-Boy member Stacy Peralta.

He featured prominently in the 2001 documentary film Dogtown and Z-Boys and Emile Hirsch was praised for his portrayal of Adams in the biographical drama it spawned, Lords of Dogtown. Hirsch tweeted his condolensces at the news.

Tony Hawke also paid tribute to his friend on Twitter.  

Adams is survived by his wife Tracy and two children, Venice and Seven.

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