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Hasselhoff played Dr. William "Snapper" Foster, Jr. on the soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1975-82. At about this time he posed for a series of now infamous and much sought after posters wearing only a leather jacket and black bikini briefs. He later went on to star as Michael Knight in the Glen A. Larson-created series Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986.
In Germany, his song became an anthem of sorts at the time, and the album went gold and triple platinum, topping the charts for three months whilst the single managed a mere eight weeks. He was later announced as the best selling artist of 1989 in Germany even prompting the newspaper headline "Hasselhoff: not since the Beatles." Since then, another six of his albums have gone platinum in Europe.
It was reported that Hasselhoff had teamed with rapper Ice-T and was planning to record a rap album under the handle of Hassel the Hoff. On Late Night with Conan O'Brien Ice-T confirmed that he was not involved in any such project. In June 2006 Hasselhoff confirmed that the project was a "prefabrication" on The Kevin and Bean Show on KROQ, Los Angeles.
Hasselhoff returned to television on Baywatch which premiered in 1989. Although it was cancelled 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 in syndication for another ten seasons. It was also well-received internationally and has been shown in over 140 countries around the world. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Baywatch is the most watched TV show in the world, with over 1.1 billion viewers.
This success combined with his royalties and his other ventures have placed Hasselhoff's fortune at more than $100,000,000.
In 1994, he was scheduled to perform a concert on pay-per-view from Atlantic City. It was supposed to help reignite his singing career in the United States. On the night of his concert, O.J. Simpson was involved in a police chase on the California highway. People who were watching the concert switched over to watch the news. Since then, Hasselhoff has not attempted another concert.
In 1996, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Beginning in July 16, 2004, Hasselhoff played the lead role in London performances of Chicago, for three months and made his Broadway debut in 2000 in the title role of Jekyll & Hyde.
Hasselhoff has made several self-parodic appearances in movies. He had a major appearance in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, released November 19, 2004, starring as himself (though very much in bygone Baywatch character) and meeting SpongeBob and Patrick. Hasselhoff also had another short appearance in the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story as the dodgeball coach to the German national dodgeball team. Scolding his team to play better, he shouts "Ihr seid alle Schweine!" (translated: "You are all pigs!") and smashes a photo of himself in his Baywatch attire. In 2004's Eurotrip, Hasselhoff appears in a fantasy sequence performing his early 90s hit single "Du". In a cameo as himself in John Waters' 2004 effort A Dirty Shame, Hasselhoff defecates in an airplane's washroom. The 2006 Adam Sandler film Click is the first film in which Hasselhoff plays a character, as Sandler's despicable boss.
In his music video for "Jump in My Car", Hasselhoff again demonstrates a penchant for self-parody, this time of his performance as Michael Knight in Knight Rider. The car in the video was a black Pontiac Trans Am with a pulsing LED and an interior nearly identical to that of K.I.T.T. (except for the passenger seat being on the left), including an aptly-timed use of K.I.T.T.'s seat ejection system. The video plays to a skit where he asks one of three girls to 'jump in his car' to take her home. The girl initially refuses but then gets in so long as he behaves politely. She suggests that he should drive quickly, because she lives down south, "about 84 miles". When she insists she is not joking, he asks her to leave the vehicle, but she refuses, so he resorts to using the ejector seat to cause her to exit.
Hasselhoff presented a musical award with Gretel Killeen for the Australian Recording Industry Association on Sunday October 23, 2005 in Sydney.He was recently signed to Pepsi appearing in a massive outdoor campaign in January 2006. He was scheduled to tour Australia with his band mid-2006.
After dropping out of Atlanta's Marist High School, Hasselhoff attended and graduated high school at Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois.
Hasselhoff was married to actress Catherine Hickland from March 24, 1984 to March 1, 1989, when they divorced. Their marriage has been recreated in Knight Rider Season 4 (Episode The Scent of Roses which first aired on January 3, 1986).
Hasselhoff married actress Pamela Bach on December 9, 1989, and the couple had two daughters, Taylor Ann Hasselhoff (born May 5, 1990) and Hayley Hasselhoff (born August 26, 1992). Although Hasselhoff was raised Roman Catholic, he and his family attended non-denominational church services.
On January 13, 2006, Hasselhoff announced that he was filing for divorce from Bach after 16 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. His publicist has stated that the couple has agreed to an amicable settlement. However, on March 9, 2006, Bach accused Hasselhoff of violent behavior towards her. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark A. Juhas signed the order March 6, 2006 ordering the former Baywatch star to stay at least 100 yards (91 m) from Bach except for "peaceful contacts related to court ordered visitation" of their children. Pamela is seeking sole custody of their two daughters.
Hasselhoff's autobiography, called "Making Waves," was released in the United Kingdom in September 2006. In an interview in April 2006, he promised that the book will present the "last chapter" regarding controversial elements of his personal life. On June 29, 2006, Hasselhoff suffered a freak injury when he hit his head on a chandelier while shaving. The broken glass severed four tendons as well as an artery in Hasselhoff's right arm, and surgery was performed that day to repair the damage. Hasselhoff was released from the hospital the following day and was reported to be doing fine.
Hasselhoff received media attention in 2003/2004 for an alleged drinking problem. He attended a rehabilitation program in 2002, at the Betty Ford Center.
His problems with alcohol abuse apparently continued, as he was arrested on June 5, 2004, on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence. He was bailed out with $15,000 and his lawyer once requested the case be continued and the arraignment was postponed to October 28, 2004. On that court day, his lawyer entered his no contest plea while he was absent from the court hearing. He was fined $390 (due to California's "Alcohol Abuse Education and Prevention Assessment" law, and other fees, the total amount paid to the court is assumed to be over $1400), sentenced to self-supervised probation for three years, ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week for 6 months, spend six months in a DUI program (several hundred more dollars), and to perform 200 hours of community service. While his driver's license was restricted for the next 90 days, he could drive only to his work, to take his children to school, and to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
In 2006, Hasselhoff was allegedly thrown out of a Wimbledon, London court-bar for drinking and rioting. However, The All England Club, which runs the Wimbledon Championship, denies this.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Hasselhoff also denied being ejected by The All England Club. "The tabloids make so much stuff up," he says. "I was at Wimbledon, and they said I was escorted out drunk. ... Absolutely not. I don't drink anymore."
On July 26, 2006, tabloids reported that Hasselhoff was publicly drunk at Heathrow airport and was denied boarding a plane by British Airways. The airline only stated that a male passenger had been refused travel after being deemed unfit to travel. The following day Hasselhoff's publicist denied the allegation of Hasselhoff being drunk claiming antibiotics had made him sick and that he voluntarily chose not to board the plane.
On April 21, 2006 anonymous fans of David Hasselhoff launched a tongue-in-cheek website "Get Hasselhoff to Number 1" in an attempt to generate the momentum required to send the 1989 hit "Looking for Freedom" to the top of the UK music charts based on Internet downloads of the single. The campaign is ongoing and has attracted attention on British radio and television broadcasts, the British national press and on the Internet . Over 40,000 people have signed up so far. When the total number of sign-ups on the site reaches 75,000 the owners of the site will send a "Hoff Alert" email to all those who have registered alerting them that the time has come to purchase the single. The intention is that the surge in sales generated will propel the former hit to the top spot in the British chart ensuring radio plays and television appearances for Hasselhoff.
After a press release in September 2006, announcing the release of Hasselhoff's single "Jump in My Car" in the UK, the "Get Hasselhoff to Number 1" website switched the single it was promoting from "Looking for Freedom" to "Jump in My Car". BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills has now lent his support to the campaign , to get "Jump In My Car" to number one. Since this announcement, Scott Mills has played the record again, whilst describing the accompanying tongue-in-cheek music video.
On October 3, 2006 the Hoff Alert was mailed out to over 40,000 subscribers, instructing them to buy the song in hopes that it would top the UK Singles Chart. Although this did not happen, Hasselhoff promptly gained his highest ever UK chart entry (#3) on October 8, 2006.