David Hasselhoff as Lt. Mitch Buchannon

At 6'4", 185 lbs., David Hasselhoff, a handsome blue/green-eyed Baltimore, Maryland native, is one of the most recognized faces on television throughout the world. TV Guide recently named him one of the "ten most powerful people in television."

Hasselhoff starred as "Snapper Foster" on CBS's "The Young And The Restless" for six years, where he became the most watched TV-doctor on all three networks combined.

Since that time, he has climbed many rungs in his successful career. Hasselhoff starred for four years as "Michael Knight" in NBC's hit series "Knight Rider" winning a "People's Choice Award" for most popular actor. "Knight Rider" is currently running in 82 countries where it has been number one in the ratings and enjoys a tremendous syndication run in more than 100 markets here in the United States.

In 1984, he starred in "The Cartier Affair" with Joan Collins for NBC-TV where he won raves from the critics and viewers. That same year, NBC cast him in "Terror On London Bridge," a movie-of-the-week that showed an entirely different aspect of this multi-talented actor.

In 1988 Hasselhoff was the lead guest star in NBC-TV's "Perry Mason" movie-of-the-week (MOW). Shot on location in Denver, Colorado, it was the number one MOW in the ratings that week and the highest rated MOW for the year. Hasselhoff recently starred opposite Michael Gross in the FOX movie-of-the-week, "Avalanche." Prior to that, Hasselhoff starred in a four-hour mini-series for Motion Picture Corporation --"The Ring Of The Musketeers"-- in which he plays John Smith, a modern-day crime fighting musketeer. "The Ring Of The Musketeers" is now available on video in the United States.

Hasselhoff, a musical comedy performer as a child, had a dream to be a pop singing star. His dream came true in 1988 when he crossed paths with Jack White, the noted German composer and record producer.

After an in-depth search for the right song for Hasselhoff, White came up with "Looking For Freedom," a song he felt would put Hasselhoff on the map as a singer. He was right. No sooner was the song released when it raced to number one on the German charts and remained in that top spot for eight consecutive weeks.

The album, "Looking For Freedom," hit the top of the German charts and stayed there for months. It went gold and triple platinum in the international marketplace. "Freedom" went on to become Germany's number one-selling album of the year (Madonna's album was runner up), and Hasselhoff was awarded "Most Popular and Best Selling Artist of the Year" in Germany, an accomplishment he is very proud of.

This honor was followed up by a 20 city "standing room only" tour, with Hasselhoff playing to well over 250,000 adoring European fans.

"But the most thrilling performances of my entire career came when I was invited to erform 'Freedom' on the Berlin Wall New Year's Eve 1989," said Hasselhoff. "It was the first time Germany had been unified, and close to a million East and West German fans stood together in the freezing cold at midnight, watching me perform. I was overcome with emotion. It was both awesome and humbling, at the same time."

Back in the U.S., COSMOPOLITAN's editor Helen Gurly Brown was approaching her magazine's 25th anniversary issue, in May 1990. While watching television one night she saw the handsome Hasselhoff and said, "That's the star I want for my 25th Anniversary issue." She soon became aware of David's worldwide notoriety as a singer and actor, and knew she had made a wise decision. That issue broke all records in sales for COSMOPOLITAN.

Another of Hasselhoff's dreams was to see a "Knight Rider" MOW produced and released theatrically worldwide. That dream also came true when NBC aired the MOW "Knight Rider 2000," during sweeps week in May 1991. It was one of the highest rated MOW's of the year.

Hasselhoff's most recent venture is "Baywatch Nights" in which he continues to star as "Lt. Mitch Buchannon," the popular character he created in the hit series, "Baywatch." The new action/adventure series combines the extraordinary production values of "Baywatch" with compelling story lines set among the hot and sexy night-time scene of California's most exciting locations. Hasselhoff will continue his "Baywatch" role concurrent with "Baywatch Nights." He also executive produces on both shows.

"Baywatch," now in its sixth year of production, is the number one American TV import overseas. In 1993, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY proclaimed it as "The most Popular Show in the World!" Domestically the show continues to enjoy very impressive ratings.

After signing a multi-million dollar deal with BMG/Ariola for a worldwide recording contract in 1993, Hasselhoff began working with Grammy-winning engineer/producer Bruce Swedien to produce his fifth album, "You Are Everything," which was released in November 1993 and quickly went gold in Austria and Switzerland. His first single released in England, "If I Could Only Say Goodbye," went immediately to #35 following a tremendous 'live' appearance by Hasselhoff on the highest rated music show in England, "Top Of The Pops." Hasselhoff continues to tour in Europe to sell-out crowds. To sum up his popularity in Europe, two German newspapers ran front page banner headlines: one said, "Hasselhoff, Not Since Elvis!" while the other proclaimed, "Hasselhoff, Not Since The Beatles."

A superstar in Europe, Hasselhoff is now bringing his music home. Hasselhoff had a first last year, doing a "live" Pay-Per-View Special entitled "David Hasselhoff and his Baywatch Friends" at Trump Castle, Atlantic City. The special, which premiered his acclaimed singing talents to the american public, aired "live" on Friday, June 17 -- unfortunately competing against a white Ford Bronco in the ratings race.

His latest album, "David Hasselhoff," was recently released in the United States. Hasselhoff performed the album's single "Fallin' In Love" during a "live" performance on "The Tonight Show."

He spends many hours visiting children's hospitals throughout the world. His charity, "Race For Life," works with the terminally ill and handicapped children in America. He also grants wishes to terminally ill children via the "Make A Wish" and "Starlight" foundations. As Hasselhoff says, "God has given me so much, I have to give back."

And how does this busy, entrepreneurial man relax? At home with his beautiful wife, actress Pamela Bach, their precious five-year-old daughter, Taylor Ann, and their three-year-old daughter, Hayley Amber.


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