David Hasselhoff

Biography

David Michael Hasselhoff (born 1952 in Baltimore) is an American actor, producer and singer, known as 'The Hoff'. He became one of the most recognisable television faces of the 1980s and 1990s, and his career has moved between series, music, theatre and, more recently, cameo roles in film.

He trained at the California Institute of the Arts before starting to work as an actor in the early 1970s, taking small roles in series. He gained wider attention as Dr. Snapper Foster on the soap opera The Young and the Restless and made guest appearances on shows such as The Love Boat. His breakthrough came in 1982 with Knight Rider, in which he played Michael Knight for four seasons. The series made him a global name, but when it ended he struggled to find interesting work and considered leaving acting. He turned to music instead, releasing his first album, Night Rocker, in 1985, and went on to record many more.

In 1989 he joined Baywatch, playing Lieutenant Mitch Buchannon and also working as an executive producer. The show ran until 2001 and reached a large international audience. He later led the spin-off Night Man and the 1998 television film Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., which did not lead to a series. On stage he starred in Jekyll & Hyde and in 2004 took the role of Billy Flynn in the London production of Chicago. In film he has mostly appeared in brief, often self-mocking parts, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Click, and in 2017 he appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. His personal life, including well-publicised struggles with alcohol, has drawn press attention, and in 2024 he appeared on the television show Mask Singer. His legacy rests largely on television and on his status as a pop-culture figure of the 1980s, and his willingness to parody himself has kept him in the public eye.

Key films

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017): cameos during the film and the song 'Guardians Inferno' on the home release.
• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004): he plays himself, wearing his famous red swimsuit.
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004): he plays the coach of a German national dodgeball team.
• Click (2006): he plays the boss of the character played by Adam Sandler.
• EuroTrip (2004): a brief appearance in a washroom scene.