Background

Ethnicity: Hasselhoff family is of German, Irish and English descent.

David Michael Hasselhoff was born on July 17, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland to the family of Dolores Therese (née Mullinex/Mullinix; died February 11, 2009), a homemaker, and Joseph Vincent Hasselhoff, a business executive. As a child, Hasselhoff and his family moved frequently and the relatively shy youngster became interested in acting, singing, and dancing.

Education

David began his education at Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia. He also graduated from Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois, in 1970. He studied at Oakland University before graduating with a degree in theater at the California Institute of the Arts.

Career

Hasselhoff's big break came in 1973 when he was cast in the role of Snapper Foster on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless. However, in 1982 he came to even wider fame starring alongside K.I.T.T. the talking car on the hit prime-time TV series Knight Rider. A hugely popular show, Knight Rider ran for four seasons and helped make Hasselhoff a household name. It was while on Knight Rider that he launched his pop career, issuing his debut album, Night Rocker, in 1984. Produced by Joel Diamond, the album spawned three singles including "Our First Night Together," "No Way to Be in Love," and "Let It Be Me," all of which were featured in the 1984 episode of Knight Rider titled "Let It Be Me." The album hit number one in Austria and cracked the Top 30 in Germany, sparking a lasting European fan base for Hasselhoff. A sophomore album, Lovin' Feelings, followed three years later and performed similarly well.

After Knight Rider ended in 1986, Hasselhoff turned his attention to his music, and in 1989 he issued Looking for Freedom, recorded in collaboration with noted German producer/composer Jack White. Included on the album was a cover of White's song "Looking for Freedom," which hit number one in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Also that year, Hasselhoff returned to television, starring as lifeguard Mitch Buchannon on the drama Baywatch. While the series was canceled after one season, Hasselhoff remained convinced of the show's potential. In 1991, acting as executive producer and investing his own money, he helped bring the series to first-run syndication. This revived version of Baywatch proved a success, running for over a decade and further cementing Hasselhoff's reputation as a TV icon. The show also enjoyed massive international success, a fact that dovetailed with the actor's continued pop ventures. Subsequent albums including 1990's Crazy for You, 1993's You Are Everything, and 1997's Hooked on a Feeling were well-received by his fervent European fan base. Also in the late '90s, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2000, Hasselhoff made his Broadway debut starring in a production of Jekyll & Hyde, and in 2004 he starred in a London staging of the musical Chicago. That same year, he issued the covers album Sings America, as well as the holiday-themed The Night Before Christmas. Buoyed by his continued stage work, and a series of self-parodying roles in films like The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, he has remained a popular figure. In 2006, Hasselhoff was brought on as a judge for the first season of America's Got Talent, and in 2010 he won a spot on season 11 of Dancing with the Stars. Also that year, he starred with his daughters in the A&E reality show The Hasselhoffs.

In 2011, he returned to his pop career, releasing A Real Good Feeling, followed by This Time Around in 2012. He made a surprise cameo in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in 2017, and returned that same year playing "The Hoff" alongside Ken Jeong in the satirical comedy Killing Hasselhoff. In 2019, he issued his 14th studio album, Open Your Eyes, which found him pairing with Ministry's Al Jourgensen on a cover of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline."

Achievements

• 

  David Hasselhoff is a widely known and respected actor and musician. He set a Guinness World Record as the most-watched man on TV. According to IMDB, at its height, 'Baywatch' was seen in over 140 countries by more than one billion people each week.
  
  Hasselhoff was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.
  
  On April 21, 2006, fans of David Hasselhoff launched a tongue-in-cheek website "Get Hasselhoff to Number 1" in an attempt to get the 1989 hit "Looking for Freedom" to the top of the UK music charts through Internet downloads of the single. The campaign attracted attention on British radio and television broadcasts, in the national press and on the Internet. Over 40,000 people signed up to receive the "Hoff Alert" e-mail when the time had come to purchase the single. The focus of the campaign shifted to "Jump in My Car" when that was actually released as a single, and BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills lent his support. On October 3, 2006, "the Hoff Alert" was sent out, and Hasselhoff promptly gained his highest ever UK chart entry (number 3) on October 8, 2006.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Don't Hassel the Hoff: The Autobiography

    (Don’t Hassel the Hoff follows David Hasselhoff’s phenomen...)

    2007

• movie

  • The Magicians: Season Two

    (Based on the bestselling novels from Lev Grossman, The Ma...)

    2012
  • The Christmas Consultant

    (This Lifetime Original Movie stars David Hasselhoff as a ...)

    2012
  • Killing Hasselhoff

    (A struggling nightclub owner resorts to desperate measure...)

    2017
  • Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!

    (When a mass of Sharknadoes threatens America's East Coast...)

    2015
  • Shaka Zulu: The Citadel

    (Conceived as a sequel to the popular miniseries, Shaka Zu...)

    2001
  • Kung Fury

    (Kung Fury travels back in time to kill Adolf Hitler (aka ...)

    2015
  • Knight Rider 2000

    (When a city official is shot and killed with an illegal h...)

    1991
  • The Cartier Affair

    (Convict Curt Taylor owes a substantial sum to Phil Drexle...)

    1984
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

    (Set to the sounds of Awesome Mixtape #2, Marvel Studios’ ...)

    2017
  • Ring of the Musketeers

    (A contemporary re-telling of the legend of the Three Musk...)

    1992
  • Bulkin Trail 1992
  • Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding 2003
  • Anaconda 3: Offspring 2008
  • Sharknado: The 4th Awakens 2016

• music

  • Night Rocker 1985
  • Looking for Freedom 1989
  • Crazy for You 1990
  • David 1991
  • Everybody Sunshine 1992
  • You Are Everything 1993
  • David Hasselhoff 1997
  • Sings America 2004
  • The Night Before Christmas 2004
  • A Real Good Feeling 2011
  • This Time Around 2012
  • Open Your Eyes 2019

• TV series

  • Baywatch

    (When a dangerous crime wave hits the beach, Lt. Mitch Buc...)

  • The Young and the Restless
  • Knight Rider
  • Just Shoot Me! 2002

Religion

David is a Roman Catholic since childhood.

Views

David started his own charitable initiative, "Race For Life", works with the terminally ill and handicapped children in America.

Quotations: "I think people know that I've got a good heart."

"I let people down easy with inspiration."

"I feel like Elvis. Only alive."

"My Christmas wish would be to have an entire week off. To spend it with my family and just curl up and watch Christmas movies when it's snowing outside."

"My problem is people seem to laugh at me, but the one that laughs harder than anybody is me."

"Come on, I'm a television star. Nobody on television is curing cancer. I've had a great ride, and I'm very honored to have been in this business. I'm happy if I managed to affect people in a positive way."

"When you're on stage, you're in control. No one can get to you."

"I think that without sushi there would be no David Hasselhoff because sushi is like the perfect way of describing the insides of David Hasselhoff. He is like a protein, clean and easy. That's how I feel about myself."

"That's one of the good things about being recognisable - if you need a quick escape, the cabbies will take care of you."

Personality

Hasselhoff is an outdoor sports enthusiast whose interests include scuba diving, hiking, white water rafting, tennis, and jogging. In addition, he has parachuted with the US Army Parachute Demonstration Team, The Golden Knights, and flown with the US Navy's Blue Angels. He is an avid sports fan and has attended the World Cup Soccer Finals, the NBA Finals, the Olympics, the Indy 500, and the Kentucky Derby. Hasselhoff has traveled throughout Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean.

On May 3, 2007, a viral video surfaced online of Hasselhoff appearing to be severely drunk inside his home. His daughter, Taylor Ann, who filmed the video, can be heard interrogating him and asking him to stop abusing alcohol. She also warns her father he could be jeopardizing his spot on the Las Vegas production of The Producers he starred in at the time. In the wake of the leaked clip, Hasselhoff issued a statement saying it was recorded by Taylor Ann so that he could see how he behaved while intoxicated and the footage was deliberately released. As a result of the video, Hasselhoff's visitation rights with his two daughters were suspended on May 7, 2007, for two weeks until the video's authenticity and distributor were determined. In May 2009, Hasselhoff's attorney, Mel Goldsman, described Hasselhoff as "a recovering alcoholic."

Physical Characteristics: Hasselhoff once said "I'm 6-foot-4, an all-American guy, handsome and talented as well!" and in the Daily Mail mentioned his weight: "I'm 6ft 4in and 13st 9lb (191 lbs)."

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  scuba diving, hiking, white water rafting, tennis, jogging,
  
  his favourite Scottish football team is Partick Thistle F.C.

• Athletes

  Dirk Nowitzki

Connections

Hasselhoff was married to actress Catherine Hickland from March 24, 1984, to March 1, 1989. Then David was married to actress Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff, with whom he has two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley Amber. In January 2006, Hasselhoff announced he was filing for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in August 2006. Bach was given custody of one daughter and Hasselhoff custody of the other until Hasselhoff later obtained custody of both.

In 2012, Hasselhoff began dating Hayley Roberts, from the town of Glynneath in Wales. He is a fan of Welsh rugby union, and they regularly attend matches in Wales. He and Hayley were married at a ceremony in Italy on July 31, 2018.

Father:

Joseph Vincent Hasselhoff

Mother:

Dolores Therese Hasselhoff

Wife:

Catherine Hickland

Wife:

Pamela Bach

Daughter:

Taylor-Ann Hasselhoff

Daughter:

Hayley Amber Hasselhoff

colleague:

Pamela Anderson

colleague:

Shawn Weatherly

colleague:

Billy Warlock

colleague:

Alexandra Paul

References

• Did David Hasselhoff End the Cold War?
  2007
• Focus On: 90 Most Popular American Bodybuilders
• Baywatch the Official Magazine # 1