David Hasselhoff

David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "the Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He first gained recognition on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (1975–1982), playing the role of Dr. Snapper Foster. His career continued with his leading role as Michael Knight on the crime drama series Knight Rider (1982–1986) and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the drama series Baywatch (1989–2000). He also produced Baywatch from the 1990s until 2001 when the series ended with Baywatch Hawaii.

Hasselhoff has appeared in films, including DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), Click (2006), Hop (2011), and Piranha 3DD (2012). Before Samuel L. Jackson, Hasselhoff was the first actor to portray the Marvel Comics character Nick Fury in the telefilm Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998). In 2000, he made his Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde. Following his debut, he starred in other musicals including Chicago and The Producers.

Hasselhoff has released a total of fifteen studio albums, which found success mostly in German-speaking parts of Europe, where he has garnered multiple gold and platinum awards, with the single "Looking for Freedom" reaching number one in Germany and Switzerland. Hasselhoff has also worked as a talent show judge on television shows such as America's Got Talent (2006–2009) and Britain's Got Talent (2011).

Hasselhoff was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dolores Theresa (née Mullinex), a homemaker, and Joseph Vincent Hasselhoff, a business executive. His family is Roman Catholic with German, English, and Irish descent. His great-great-grandmother, Meta, emigrated with her family to Baltimore from Völkersen, Kingdom of Hanover, in 1865.

He spent his childhood in Jacksonville, Florida, and later lived in Atlanta, Georgia, where he attended Marist School. Hasselhoff made his theatrical debut at the age of seven in Peter Pan, and ever since his childhood dream was to have a career on Broadway. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois, in 1970. He was a member of the speech team, senior discussion leaders, president of the choir, captain of the volleyball team and held roles in several plays (including one lead role as Matt in The Fantasticks). He studied at Oakland University, then studied theater at the California Institute of the Arts until 1973.

Hasselhoff portrayed Dr. "Snapper Foster" on The Young and the Restless from 1975 to 1982, leaving the series as the show wrote out many of their original characters. His feature film debut was in 1974 as "Boner" in Revenge of the Cheerleaders, which he did to get accredited into the Screen Actors Guild. At the time, he believed that the film would not be released, but it was: two years later, also appearing under the title Caught with their Pants Down. In 1979, he played "Simon" in Starcrash. He launched his singing career with guest appearances on the first season of children's program Kids Incorporated, performing "Do You Love Me". He guest-starred on two episodes of Diff'rent Strokes and the soap opera Santa Barbara as himself in 1984.

Hasselhoff was recruited by then-NBC-president Brandon Tartikoff to star in the action crime drama series Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986 as Michael Knight. The actor has described Knight Rider as more than a TV show: "It's a phenomenon. It's bigger than Baywatch ever was." On the success of Knight Rider – "It's because it was about saving lives, not taking lives, and it was how one man really can make a difference."

He describes the acting he has done as "a little more difficult than if you had a regularly well-written script – like, if I was going to be in, say, Reservoir Dogs, or The Godfather, or Dances with Wolves or Lawrence of Arabia or ER -- I had to talk to a car." His role in the show led him to win Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program at the 9th People's Choice Awards in 1983.

Hasselhoff returned to television on Baywatch which premiered in 1989. Although it was canceled after only one season, he believed the series had potential, so Hasselhoff revived it for the first-run syndication market in 1991, investing his own money and additionally functioning as executive producer. His contract stipulated royalties to be paid to him from the rerun profits, which gave him the financial liberty to buy back the rights to Baywatch from NBC.

In its second incarnation, Baywatch was much more successful. It ran for a total of 11 years and, from the 1990s until its series finale in 2001, was watched by almost 1 billion viewers across 140 countries, solidifying his status among the world's foremost television personalities of the said period.

Hasselhoff produced Baywatch for first run syndication. He has spoken at both the Oxford and Cambridge Student Unions.

He was a celebrity cast member on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars which increased in ratings by 36% from the previous year and served as a judge on NBC's America's Got Talent from 2006 to 2009. In 2011, he joined the Britain's Got Talent judging panel, as the additional fourth judge for series 5.

Hasselhoff was later honored on Comedy Central's The Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff in addition to receiving the International Star of the Year Award for Outstanding Contribution to Global Entertainment by the Bollywood Awards. He was awarded the Comeback Star of the Year award during the VH1 Big in '06 Awards.

In February 2008, towards the end of the Knight Rider 2008, he reprised his career-making role as Michael Knight as he walked on to introduce himself to his on-screen son, Mike Traceur. On November 12, 2008, he became the first celebrity downloadable character for the PlayStation Network's video game Pain.

In September 2009, he featured on a radio podcast for Compare the Meerkat, part of the advertising for British website, Compare the Market. He was the subject of an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a result of his support for the re-opening of Morecambe Winter Gardens.

On February 2, 1977, David Hasselhoff made his musical debut on The Merv Griffin Show performing "Nadia's Theme", the theme song from the American television soap opera The Young and the Restless, the show in which Hasselhoff was starring at the time. Ten years later his version of the song was included on his second album Lovin' Feelings (1987).

Six years after his debut live performance, Hasselhoff released in 1983 his debut single "I Get the Message". In 1984, Hasselhoff made a guest appearance on the first season of Kids Incorporated, performing "Do You Love Me", which became the lead single from his upcoming debut studio album, Night Rocker, which was released in January 1985. The album was a big success in Austria, reaching number one there and being certified Platinum. In 1987, Hasselhoff released his second studio album, Lovin' Feelings, which reached the top-twenty in Austria and West Germany, and being certified Gold in the former country. That same year, due to the popularity of Knight Rider in Europe at the time, Hasselhoff embarked on his first headlining tour across Austria, with a special guest appearance from KITT.

In 1988, Hasselhoff released the song "Looking for Freedom". Due to its success, Hasselhoff released it on June 21, 1989, his third studio album of the same name, which was produced by German music producer Jack White. The album was a commercial success, reaching the top-five in Austria, West Germany and Switzerland; and being certified three-times Platinum in Europe. He was noted for his performance of the song at the Berlin Wall on New Year's Eve 1989, two months after the Wall had come down, but nine months before unification took place. Wearing a piano-keyboard scarf and a leather jacket covered in motion lights, Hasselhoff stood in a bucket crane and performed the song along with the crowd. The performance has had a lasting impact on German pop-culture with Hasselhoff commenting that the song became an "anthem" and "song of hope" for the people of East Germany. In 2004, Hasselhoff lamented the lack of a photo of him in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin. In July 1989, Hasselhoff released his first compilation album, Knight Lover, which contains 17 greatest hits from his first two albums Night Rocker and Lovin' Feelings. The album reached the top-twenty in Switzerland; and the top-forty in West Germany.

Following the breakthrough success of Looking for Freedom, Hasselhoff embarked on his second tour, The Freedom Tour, which took around April and May 1990, across West Germany and Switzerland. In August of that year, Hasselhoff released his fourth studio album, Crazy for You, which topped the charts in Austria and Switzerland, as well as reached the top-ten in West Germany, eventually becoming Hasselhoff's biggest-selling album in his career. In September 1991, Hasselhoff released his fifth studio album, David, which matched the success of its predecessor, with both the album and its lead single "Do The Limbo Dance" reaching number one in Austria. That same year, in order to promote David, Hasselhoff embarked on his third tour, the Dreams Come True Tour, which took around November and December 1991, across Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In late 1991, two compilation albums were released: Looking for Freedom and For You, with the former album including hits from 1989 and 1990, and the latter including hits from 1985 to 1987; however, both albums failed to chart. In September 1992, Hasselhoff released his sixth studio album Everybody Sunshine, which became his last album being produced by Jack White, who collaborated with Hasselhoff since 1988. Though the album was certified Gold in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, it failed to reach the commercial heights of his three previous albums, Looking for Freedom, Crazy for You and David.

In November 1993, Hasselhoff released his seventh studio album You Are Everything, which also met with moderate success in Europe, though it reached the top-ten in Austria and was certified Gold. The songs "If I Could Only Say Goodbye" and "Wir zwei allein" became hits in Europe, with the former becoming his first UK chart entry ever peaking at number 35, and the latter becoming another top-ten hit in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. That same year, he released the single "Pingu Dance" based on the children's show Pingu, and his fourth compilation album, Crazy for You, which contains several hits from 1989 to 1991, however, both releases failed to chart. In 1994, Hasselhoff toured across Germany in order to promote You Are Everything. That same year, he was scheduled to perform a concert on pay-per-view from Atlantic City. The concert was expected to help his singing career in the United States. However, on the night of the concert, O. J. Simpson was involved in his slow-speed chase in southern California. Viewership of the concert was significantly lower than expected due to the live coverage of the chase, and the event was ultimately a $1.5 million loss. Hasselhoff joked that "90 million people watched O. J. and three people watched me, including me and my mom and my dad". Following this, Hasselhoff released his eighth studio album Du, which became Hasselhoff's first studio album not to receive any certification in Europe, and also met with moderate success on European charts.

Hasselhoff's autobiography Making Waves was released in the UK in September 2006. In an interview in April 2006, he said the book would present the "last chapter" regarding controversial elements of his personal life.

In November 2015, Hasselhoff posted a YouTube video in which he announced that he had changed his name to "David Hoff". It was then reported that he was not changing his name; that the video was an excerpt from an upcoming advertising campaign.