Biography

Harald Franz Schmidt was born on 18 August 1957 in Neu-Ulm, Germany as the oldest son of an administrative employee and a kindergarten educator. After graduating in his hometown Nürtingen, he studied acting at the Stuttgart School of Music and Performing Arts from 1978 to 1981. During his first stage engagement in Augsburg, he was discovered by Kay Lorentz, making him a cast member at the Düsseldorf cabaret Kom(m)oedchen. As television noticed the talented comedian, he started hosting his first shows _"Maz ab!" (1988) and _"Psst...!" (1989)_, followed by the satirical Schmidteinander (1990). Although his first Saturday night show Verstehen Sie Spaß? (1980) flopped, the private network SAT.1 gave him the opportunity to host his own late night show Die Harald Schmidt Show (1995), which gained cult status during its eight-year-run due to Schmidt's sophisticated, disrespectful humor. At the end of 2004, after a break of one year, he returned to the public network ARD and started a second run with Harald Schmidt (2004).

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He grew up in middle-class circumstances in Nürtingen. After graduating from high school, Schmidt showed an early interest in show business. He first passed an examination for church music at the music school in Rottenburg. He then studied acting at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart from 1978 to 1981. Afterwards, Schmidt received his first engagement at the municipal theaters in Augsburg. From there he moved to "Kom(m)ödchen" in Düsseldorf in 1984, where he worked as a cabaret author until 1989. In 1985 he started the solo program "I've overdrawn again". In 1986, Schmidt was awarded the Salzburg Bull as the best young German cabaret artist at the ARD, ORF and SRG cabaret competition. Television viewers got to know Harald Schmidt in 1988 through his first TV show "MAZ ab" on WDR. Due to its success, the show was moved from the third program to the main evening program on ARD the following year. Schmidt subsequently also moderated the program "Psst..." for WDR until 1993, which was then also moved to ARD.

From December 1990 he appeared in front of the camera together with Herbert Feuerstein in "Schmidteinander", which gave him his final breakthrough in German television culture. In 1992, Schmidt, as Kurt Felix's successor, moved to the Saturday evening show "Understanding Fun", which he moderated until 1995. The successful talk master was also awarded the bronze "Adolf Grimme Prize" in 1992 for the "Christmas with Harald Schmidt" gala. A year later, Schmidt, who now received recognition as "best entertainer of the year," published his book "Tears in the Aquarium." In 1994 Schmidt received the "Golden Camera". His first feature film was made in 1995 and was released in German cinemas under the title "Not with Leo". In 1995, Schmidt moved to the private television provider SAT.1, for which he generated the first late-night show in German television culture based on the US model. Since December of the same year, the program has been broadcast five times a week under the title "The Harald Schmidt Show".

In a daily rhythm, the entertainer, under the musical accompaniment of the band led by Helmut Zerlett, burned off a tireless fireworks display of sketches, humorous depictions and political satires. In 1999, Schmidt appeared in another film on "Late Show". After numerous other awards, he received the German Television Award as "best entertainment presenter" in 2000 and 2001. In 2002 the talk master received the Adolf Grimme Prize for the second time. In 2003, Schmidt received the German-French Journalist Prize 2003 in the television category for his show edition of May 28, 2002: The program in question was broadcast in French as "Le show en francais", which is now considered a contribution to German-French cultural exchange was recognized. In September 2003, the "Harald Schmidt Show" was awarded the German Television Prize as the best comedy program. Two months later, their presenter was honored with the Hans Bausch Media Prize. At the beginning of December 2003 it was announced that Schmidt did not want to continue his talk show in 2004 after eight years.

The popular entertainer's broadcast slot was taken over by comedian Anke Engelke in May 2004. On January 8, 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the SAT.1 station, Schmidt hosted the program "20 Years of SAT1". It remained unclear to what extent the successful presenter's job was motivated by the personnel changes initiated by the new main shareholder of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, Haim Saban. At the end of 2004, the talk show host and entertainer returned to public television, where he went on air again for the first time on December 23rd on ARD. In advance, there was a public debate about the TV entertainer's multi-million dollar contract, in which the ARD was said to have not sufficiently observed the public law control regulations. The comeback of the entertainer, which had a peak audience of over 5 million viewers in the first broadcast at Christmas 2004, was celebrated by the media, although there were also critical voices. The entertainer began his regular ARD show "Harald Schmidt" with twice-weekly broadcasts on January 19, 2005. The show was contractually scheduled to run at least until July 2006.

Together with Waldemar Hartmann, Harald Schmidt led an accompanying ARD program to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Under the leadership of Harry & Waldi, the two picked apart the events in the Olympic Village without neglecting the essential facts. Schmidt celebrated another success by moderating the Bambi awards in 2006. Together with the model Eva Padberg, he led the evening in Stuttgart. From October 25, 2007, Harald Schmidt led together with the entertainer Oliver Pocher through the new show "Schmidt & Pocher", in which both presenters lead through the program in a dual leadership role. In April 2009, Schmidt and Pocher ended their collaboration. From September 2009 it could be seen again on ARD with a revised format by Harald Schmidt. From 2017 and 2019 he hosted the programs "Gysi und Schmidt" (n-tv, annual and semi-annual review) and "Echt Schmidt" (Schauspiel Stuttgart).

Harald Schmidt lives in a committed relationship and is the father of three children.

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