Greg Noll (' Lawhead; February 11, 1937 – June 28, 2021) was an American pioneer of big wave surfing and a prominent longboard shaper. Nicknamed "Da Bull" by Phil Edwards in reference to his physique and way of charging down the face of a wave, he was on the U.S. lifeguard team that introduced Malibu boards to Australia around the time of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. series of five Search for Surf films.
Early life
Noll was born Greg Lawhead in San Diego, California, on February 11, 1937. He subsequently adopted the surname of his stepfather, Ash. At the age of three, Noll moved with his family to Manhattan Beach, California. He began surfing at the age of 11 He was the first surfer to ride a wave breaking on the outside reef at Banzai Pipeline in November 1964.
Noll was readily identified in film footage while surfing by his now iconic black and white horizontally striped "jailhouse" boardshorts.
The filmmakers of the 1964 surf drama Ride the Wild Surf were so impressed by his exploits while they were shooting footage of surfers on the North Shore surfing Mecca of Hawaii before returning to California to film the movie that they created the movie's character Eskimo based on footage featuring him, dressing the character in Noll's famous black & white "jailhouse stripe" boardshorts.
Board shaping
Having shaped surfboards since his youth, and having founded his own surfboard business in the 1950s which reached a high level of commercial success,
Personal life
Noll had four children — sons Tate and Rhyn by his first wife, Beverly; daughter Ashlyne and son Jed by his second wife, Laura Archuletta, to whom he was married until his death.
Noll resided in Crescent City, California, during his later years. He died on June 28, 2021, at the age of 84.