Capital: € 20 million
Age: 62
Born: 18/08/1957
Country of origin: Germany
Source of wealth: actor
Last updated: 2024

Short introduction

Harald Franz Schmidt is a German actor, presenter, cabaret artist and entertainer. He gained great fame mainly through his various late-night shows, which were produced from 1995 to 2014. He currently lives with his partner in the Marienburg district of Cologne and is the father of five children.

Early life

Harald Schmidt was born in Neu-Ulm in 1957, the son of his father Anton and his wife. Both parents are displaced from home, the father from Karlsbad in western Bohemia and the mother from Brno in South Moravia. Schmidt grew up in Nürtingen in Baden-Württemberg and was raised strictly Catholic by his parents. He was a member of the Catholic Boy Scouts at a young age and, after successfully completing his training as a church musician at the church music school in Rottenburg am Neckar, worked as an organist in the Catholic community of St. Johannes in Nürtingen. Harald Schmidt also did his Abitur in his hometown at Hölderlin Gymnasium before he did his community service in a parish office. From 1978 to 1981 he studied acting at the State University for Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. In 1983, Schmidt applied to the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg to gain initial experience in film and broadcasting. There he was eliminated in the final selection.

He was able to gain his first stage experience in the period from 1981 to 1984. During this period he played several roles in pieces on the municipal stages in Augsburg. In 1984 Harald then moved to Düsseldorf to the cabaret stage “Kom (m) ödchen” and laid the foundation stone for his cabaret career before he left the stage again.

Career

In 1985 Harald Schmidt went on tour with his first solo program. Schmidt finally gained his first experience in broadcasting in 1988 at the station “Freies Berlin”. This was followed by further TV formats such as the rate show “Psst…” and the show “Schmidteinander” which he moderated together with Herbert Feuerstein. From 1992 to 1995 Schmidt also moderated the well-known television show “Do you understand fun?”. Shortly thereafter, Schmidt’s best-known television format “The Harald Schmidt Show” began. The late-night show polarized strongly, thanks to Harald’s cynical and sarcastic nature. The show ran regularly from 1995 to 2003, from 2011 to 2012 and from 2012 to 2014 before being completely discontinued. Harald Schmidt was active in many other television programs as a presenter and in various German feature films in major and minor roles before completely withdrawing from the television business in 2015. He was also present in some German television series. Schmidt has appeared in episodes of the TV series “Wilsberg” and “Unser Charly” and has been in the role of Oskar Schifferle in the series “Das Traumschiff” since 2008.

Career highlights

His late-night show “Die Harald Schmidt” is still his most successful broadcast format and has won numerous prizes. The show was awarded the German TV Prize in the “Best Comedy” category, the German-French Journalist Prize in the “Television” category and the Adolf Grimme Prize in the “Special” competition. For his general work as a moderator, he was awarded the German Television Award twice in a row in 2000 and 2001. Schmidt’s production company received 8 million euros a year from ARD for broadcasting 60 programs of the “Harald Schmidt Show”.

Famous quotes

“In service stations in southern France, you don’t know: is that a pothole or is it already the toilet?”
-Harald Schmidt

“The wealth tax is coming. Rich tax or, as the FDP says, “membership fee.”
-Harald Schmidt

Amazing facts

Harald Schmidt had to deal with a stalker problem for years. As early as 1998, he bothered him with calls. The 39-year-old Koblenz terrorized Harald’s manager and his family in the years that followed until a court hearing occurred.

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