Celebrity Knife Collectors

Many well-known movie stars, musicians, and other celebrities from around the world enthusiastically participate in physically manifesting their love of all types of knives. Their numbers include such surprising faces as Pamela Anderson, Keith Richards, and even Kid Rock. Here we take a look a look at just a few of the quirkiest famous collectors (and, of course, their collections).

Joe Perry and Steven Tyler (lead guitarist and lead vocalist of Aerosmith)

(By Edvill. - Originally uploaded to Flickr as Aerosmith @ Estadio de River 2007,, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5374892)

These two men have quite a lot in common—both are incredibly talented musicians who also just happen to harbor a deep-rooted love of knives. A great many knife brands and top-notch knife sellers can all proudly claim the Aerosmith duo as their customers. Furthermore, Tyler himself is well known for his affinity for taking a knife with him almost everywhere he goes.

Avid watchers and fans of American Idol did not have to pay too close attention to notice that he almost always wore a knife during his stint as a judge. In fact, he was witnessed sporting a Leatherman penknife attached to his jeans on multiple occasions while filming the eleventh season of the show in Pasadena, California.

What’s more, Tyler has been known to frequent some of the most popular knife stores around the country and purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of decorative knives at one time, both for his own personal collection and as gifts for friends and family.

Sylvester Stallone (of the Rocky film series, The Expendables, Rambo)

If you have seen Rambo, you are definitely aware that the film’s protagonist, John Rambo, is a huge knife enthusiast, but so too is the actor that inhabits the role.

One of the biggest action stars of the last few decades, Sylvester Stallone is one perhaps one of the least surprising inclusions on this list, as he is well-known for bringing in members of his own eclectic collection to the big screen—think the Herman Schneider knife in Cobra, and the Spyderco from Cliffhanger.

Stallone reportedly has an entire wall in his house dedicated to displaying his many knives, some of which include knives from such historically top notch knife makers as Bill Moran, Bob Loveless, and Jimmy Lile.

Nicolas Cage (of the National Treasure movies, Ghost Rider, and The Wickerman)

Cage occupies a special place in American hearts; while he has, objectively speaking, acted in some notable roles in some good films, he has also provided global audiences with some of the most iconic dreadful movies and characters in recent Hollywood history. Aside from Leonardo DiCaprio, almost no other celebrity is quite as subject to—or ripe for—Internet memes as Nicolas Cage. It should come as no surprise, then, that he is one of the biggest knife collectors on our list.

Cage’s arsenal includes a great many gems, but unlike Stallone (and, frankly, most other knife collectors), Cage actively utilizes his knives to cook. In fact, one of the most infamously strange stories of the actor revolves around one of his knife purchases: in 2011, he casually dropped a cool $2,000 on a customized ivory-handled steak knife at a local knife store in Anchorage, Alaska.

This particular knife was an original Don Dezarn, which was crafted with an American bald eagle carved into a gleaming four-inch blade. Is he really that different from his American history-loving, treasure hunting counterpart Ben Gates in the National Treasure movies, after all?

Although this Don Dezarn knife is generally bought for decorative and display purposes—enthusiasts who carry one with them usually wear it as a flashy accessory paired with a suit or other dressy attire—Cage bought it in order to cut his steak.

Angelina Jolie (of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Tourist, Changeling, and Maleficent)

While she has done a lot of fantastic work, both in the film/directing industries as well as in the global humanitarian realm, Angelina Jolie is a bit of an oddball celebrity herself. Think back to when she used to carry a small vial of former husband Billy Bob Thornton’s blood in a chain around her neck, and you will realize that her collecting knives is almost right in keeping with the intriguing persona she puts forward for public consumption.

Knife collecting appears to run in the family for Jolie. She has been purchasing knives since she was hardly a preteen, when her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, bought her first knife, and she has reportedly already begun buying knives for her son Maddox to get him started early on his own collection—although she emphasizes the knives she purchases for him are specially made with blunt edges and points so as to avoid accidental injury.

Furthermore, she is turning knife collecting into an educational experience in history and culture for her son. “My mom took me to buy my first daggers when I was eleven or twelve,” she told The Telegraph in 2008. “And I’ve already bought Maddox some things. We take him to a special shop. We also talk about samurais and about the idea of defending someone as good. We talk about everything.”

Ted Nugent (solo musician and of the Amboy Dukes, Damn Yankees, and Damnocracy)

One of the most celebrated guitarists in the American hard rock scene, Ted Nugent, is also well known for his conservative political activism and relative eccentricity (which seems to be a bit of a trend on this list).

Nugent has been one of the most famous knife collectors in recent celebrity history, to the point where there existed several Ted Nugent signature Swiss Army knives from Victorinox, as well as a special Ted Nugent version of the Kershaw Leek. A vocal proponent of knife rights, Nugent maintains a spiffy knife collection which includes many Outdoor Edge knives.

Nugent is almost equally as well-known for his love of the outdoors as he is for his music, and he even incorporates humanitarian efforts into his obsession with all things outside. In addition to hosting his own show Ted Nugent: Spirit of the Wild on the Outdoor Channel, he spearheads multiple hunts each year for children suffering from terminal diseases by partnering with Hunt for a Cure, Kamp for Kids, and Hunt of a Lifetime.

What’s more, the brand Buck Knives took Ted Nugent on as part of their Pro staff—in other words, signed him as a celebrity ambassador—in January of 2014.