Harald Schmidt

A son of refugees who fled from Sudetenland (now Czech Republic) in 1945, Schmidt spent his youth in Swabian Nürtingen.

Due to his strict Catholic upbringing he devoted time to the Roman Catholic church, serving as Choirmaster and playing the organ.

At the age of 21, Schmidt went to Stuttgart to attend drama school for three years.

After that, he gained on-stage experience at Städtische Bühne (Municipal Stage) in Augsburg.

His first role was that of the 2nd Mamaluke in Lessing's Nathan the Wise.

Harald Franz Schmidt (born 18 August 1957) is a German actor, comedian, television presenter and writer best known as the host of two popular German late-night shows.

In 1984, Schmidt became a lyricist for the cabaret Kom(m)ödchen in Düsseldorf and in 1986, was honoured as "Best Newcomer cabaret artist" and toured through Germany with his own show.

Before long, TV noticed the talented young comedian, and in 1988, Schmidt began to host his first TV show, MAZ ab.

This was followed by shows like Psst! and Schmidteinander.

The biggest boost to his career occurred in 1992, when Schmidt started hosting the popular Saturday night show Verstehen Sie Spaß? (a variation of Candid Camera).

Schmidt was awarded Germany's most important TV award, the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, which would be followed by many others.

Just one year later, he was honoured as the "Entertainer of the Year" and awarded the Bambi Award, as well as the Golden Camera.

In 1995, Schmidt changed from the publicly funded TV station ARD to the privately owned German television network Sat.1 in order to host a late night show similar to Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Late Show with David Letterman.

The show, named Die Harald Schmidt Show, featured stand-up comedy as well as famous national and international guests.

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

On 8 December 2003, Schmidt suddenly announced the end of the show, following a change of management of Sat.1.

The last show was aired on 23 December 2003.

In 2004, Schmidt toured through Germany with a live comedy show, featuring his former late night show sidekick Manuel Andrack.

In 2004, Schmidt began a second run with a new show named Harald Schmidt on publicly funded ARD, where he had begun his television career 16 years earlier.

The show no longer featured "celebrity" interviews but dealt even more with the discussion of current events in a rather freely associative manner.

Manuel Andrack returned as his sidekick.

On his first show after the break, Schmidt appeared with long hair and a full beard, making fun of his long absence from the public.

In October 2005, his daughter Amelie was born.

Schmidt resides in Cologne with his partner Ellen Hantsch, a school teacher, and their five children, the eldest being from a previous relationship.

Little is known about the children and their two mothers as Schmidt shields them from the public.

In interviews he hardly talks about them.

After summer break in 2005 the "celebrity guest" segment was reintroduced.

Late in 2007, Manuel Andrack was replaced by comedian Oliver Pocher, who had a more active part than his predecessor, and some other elements changed as well.

The broadcast's title was changed to Schmidt & Pocher, trying to attract a younger audience.

Pocher appeared "less intellectual", a fact that caused some criticism among Schmidt's core audience and broadsheet newspaper comments in Germany.

After the termination of Schmidt & Pocher, Schmidt again hosted the show under its former title Harald Schmidt, this time without any sidekick.

The following suspension of the TV format lasted until 2011, when the show returned to Sat.1.

On 15 September 2011, Schmidt returned to his former network Sat.1, picking up its former name of Die Harald Schmidt Show again.

However, Sat.1 cancelled the show after one season due to low ratings.

Starting 4 September 2012, new episodes were shown on Sky Hits HD and Sky Atlantic HD, two channels of the German Pay-TV network Sky Deutschland.

Schmidt hosted his very last show on 13 March 2014.

He announced he would not return to TV.

SKY published the last show on video-sharing website YouTube.

The self-proclaimed hypochondriac became popular for his cynical jokes, cruel remarks and wry intellectual wit.

(Even though he is obsessed with health he was able to lampoon this weak spot in a self ironic TV commercial for a medicine curing colds.) Schmidt models himself after people like Johnny Carson and Conan O'Brien, but adds factors and qualities to his show himself.