Profile of Harald Schmidt on Famous Like Me

Harald Schmidt is a German television entertainer.

Schmidt is host of the German late night show comparable to Late Night with Conan O'Brien or Late Night with David Letterman, which has now begun a second run after a year-long "creative break". The original show, named Die Harald Schmidt Show and shown on German television network SAT.1, featured stand-up comedy as well as famous national and international guests. The set, general feel and many of his earlier gags were in fact acquired directly from David Letterman ("studiocams", etc.). In the course of time, Schmidt, however, developed his own flavor of more high-brow, sophisticated humor. Schmidt has now begun a second run with a new show on publicly funded ARD, this time without "celebrity" interviews and with even more discussion of current events in a rather freely associative manner. As the German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk recently quipped, Schmidt will always attract the student and intellectual crowd, Gottschalk himself will take care of the rest.

The self-proclaimed hypochondriac became popular for his cynical jokes and intellectual wit. He models himself after people like Johnny Carson and Conan O'Brien, but adds important factors and qualities to his show that neither of these models has. He engages in long, seemingly boring conversations with his "editor-in-chief" Manuel Andrack, who sits at a desk next to Schmidt's, and, like Letterman, also includes his staff into the show. For instance, his band leader Helmut Zerlett and his cue card girl Suzana Novinscak (both omitted in the new show).

Especially during the first years of Die Harald Schmidt Show, Schmidt was sometimes criticised for making fun of minorities like foreigners or gays. His supporters felt that those critics were incapable of understanding satire. Indeed, a steady number of viewers liked the show, many seeing it as a kind of cult television. In its later years, the show became a critic's favourite due to Schmidt's "intellectual" sense of humour. For example, he hosted one show completely in French. On another occasion, the screen was blacked for half of the show making it into a "radio broadcast". Another time, he disproved a critic who had written that it is impossible to spend several minutes on TV just cracking nuts.

Awards include the viewers choice award Bambi, the Grimme Award, the Golden Camera and the Golden Lion as best showmaster.

Biography

Schmidt was born on August 18, 1957 in Neu-Ulm, Germany and spent his youth in Nürtingen, where he went to grammar school. He committed time to the Catholic church, became choirmaster and played the organ.

At the age of 21, he went to Stuttgart to attend drama school, where he stayed for three years. After that, Schmidt gained on-stage experience at Städtische Bühne in Augsburg. His first role was that of the 2nd Mamaluke in Lessing's Nathan the Wise. In 1984, he became a text writer for the cabaret Kom(m)ödchen in Düsseldorf and two years later, in 1986, Schmidt was honoured as "Best Newcomer cabaret artist" and toured through Germany with his own show.

It did not take long before TV noticed the talented young comedian, and in 1988, Schmidt began to host his first TV show MAZ ab. Shows like Psst! and Schmidteinander followed, but the biggest boost to his career occurred in 1992, when he became host of the popular Saturday night show called Verstehen Sie Spaß? (Candid Camera format), which features people being filmed with hidden cameras in embarrassing and funny situations. At this time Schmidt was awarded the most important German TV award, the Grimme Award, but it would not be his last one. Only one year later, he was honoured as "Entertainer of the year" and awarded the famous Bambi and the Golden Camera.

In 1995, Schmidt took another important step in his career when he changed from the publicly funded TV station ARD to the privately owned channel SAT.1 and started Die Harald Schmidt Show. It was not the first time that such a late night show was shown in German TV, since Thomas Koschwitz hosted one a few years earlier.

From June 30, 2003 the show would be broadcast five days a week, including Monday evening.

On December 8, 2003, the end of the show was suddenly announced by Schmidt, following a change of management of SAT.1. The last show was aired on December 23, 2003.

In 2004, Schmidt toured through Germany with a live comedy show, featuring Manuel Andrack.

On December 23, 2004, the new show began featuring Manuel Andrack, back on ARD, where Schmidt began his work on TV. The show now airs twice a week.

Harald Schmidt resides in Cologne with his girlfriend and two children.

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