Harald Schmidt

Harald Franz Schmidt is a German actor comedian television presenter and author best known as the host of two popular German latenight shows The son of refugees who fled the Sudetenland now the Czech Republic in 1945 Schmidt spent his youth in the Swabian town of Nürtingen Due to his strict Catholic upbringing he became actively involved in the Roman Catholic Church serving as a choirmaster and playing the organ At the age of 21 Schmidt moved to Stuttgart where he attended drama school for three years Subsequently he gained stage experience at the Städtische Bühne Municipal Theater in Augsburg His first role was that of the Second Mamluk in Lessings Nathan the Wise In 1984 Schmidt became a lyricist for the cabaret ensemble Kommödchen in Düsseldorf and in 1986 he was named Best UpandComing Cabaret Artist That same year he toured Germany with his own solo show Television soon took notice of the talented young comedian and in 1988 Schmidt hosted his first TV program MAZ ab This was followed by shows such as Psst and Schmidteinander He experienced the greatest boost of his career in 1992 when he took over as host of the popular Saturdaynight show Verstehen Sie Spaß Schmidt was awarded the Adolf Grimme PrizeGermanys most prestigious television awardthe first of many such honors to follow Just one year later he was named Entertainer of the Year and received both the Bambi and the Goldene Kamera awards