Editing David Hasselhoff (section)

==Early career==

[[File:DavidHasselhoff1986.jpg|thumb|right|Hasselhoff in costume as Michael Knight in 1986]]

Hasselhoff portrayed Dr. "[[Snapper Foster]]" on ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'' from 1975 to 1982, leaving the series as the show wrote out many of their original characters. His feature film debut was in 1974 as "Boner" in ''Revenge of the Cheerleaders'', which he did to get accredited into the [[Screen Actors Guild]]. At the time, he believed that the film would not be released, but it was: two years later, also appearing under the title ''Caught with their Pants Down''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075137/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv |title = Revenge of the Cheerleaders (1976)|website = [[IMDb]]}}</ref> In 1979, he played "Simon" in ''[[Starcrash]]''. He launched his singing career with guest appearances on the first season of children's program ''[[Kids Incorporated]]'', performing "[[Do You Love Me]]". He guest-starred on two episodes of ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'' and the soap opera ''[[Santa Barbara (soap opera)|Santa Barbara]]'' as himself in 1984.

===''Knight Rider''===

Hasselhoff was recruited by then-[[NBCUniversal Television Group|NBC]]-president [[Brandon Tartikoff]] to star in the [[Action fiction|action]] [[crime drama]] series ''[[Knight Rider (1982 TV series)|Knight Rider]]'' from 1982 to 1986 as [[Michael Knight (Knight Rider)|Michael Knight]].  The actor has described ''Knight Rider'' as more than a TV show: "It's a phenomenon. It's bigger than ''[[Baywatch]]'' ever was." On the success of ''Knight Rider'' – "It's because it was about saving lives, not taking lives, and it was how one man really can make a difference."<ref name="Khaleej Times 2006 p419">{{cite web | title=The good knight | website=Khaleej Times | date=September 9, 2006 | url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/city-times/the-good-knight | access-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref>

He describes the acting he has done as "a little more difficult than if you had a regularly well-written script – like, if I was going to be in, say, ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', or ''[[The Godfather]]'', or ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' or ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]'' or ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]'' -- I had to talk to a car."<ref>{{cite web|last=Moore|first=Alex|title=A David Hasselhoff Story You Won't Hear on TV|url=http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/39361/a-david-hasselhoff-story-you-wont-hear-on-tv/|access-date=September 22, 2012}}</ref> His role in the show led him to win Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program at the [[9th People's Choice Awards]] in 1983.<ref>{{cite web|title=9th Annual Favorite Male Performer...|url=http://search.peopleschoice.com/v/26948933/and-the-9th-annual-favorite-male-performer-in-a-new-television-program-people-s-choice-david-hasselhoff.htm|website=People's Choice|access-date=June 24, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625193640/http://search.peopleschoice.com/v/26948933/and-the-9th-annual-favorite-male-performer-in-a-new-television-program-people-s-choice-david-hasselhoff.htm|archive-date=June 25, 2015}}</ref>

===''Baywatch''===

Hasselhoff returned to television on ''[[Baywatch]]'' which premiered in 1989. Although it was canceled 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 for a total of 11 years and, from the 1990s until its series finale in 2001, was watched by almost 1&nbsp;billion viewers across 140 countries, solidifying his status among the world's foremost television personalities of the said period.<ref>{{cite web|title=Catching Wave Of Popularity: 'Baywatch' Seen in 140 Countries|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4254419.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508225224/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4254419.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 8, 2013|work=chicago sun times|date=October 28, 1994| access-date=September 22, 2012}}</ref>
This success combined with his royalties and his other ventures have placed Hasselhoff's fortune at more than $100&nbsp;million.<ref>[http://extratv.warnerbros.com/v2/news/0106/13/2/text.html "Former 'Baywatch' Hunk Hasselhoff Files for Divorce"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208025812/http://extratv.warnerbros.com/v2/news/0106/13/2/text.html |date=December 8, 2006 }}, ExtraTV.com, January 13, 2006.</ref>

In 1991, Hasselhoff reprised his role as Michael Knight in the television film ''[[Knight Rider 2000]]'' as a sequel to the original series. The movie served as a pilot for a proposed new series, but despite high ratings, the plan was abandoned.

In 1996, Hasselhoff was given a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]. In 1997, he performed a duet with Filipino singer [[Regine Velasquez]], which was used as the main theme for his 1998 movie ''Legacy''. He made his Broadway debut in 2000 in the title role of ''[[Jekyll & Hyde (musical)|Jekyll & Hyde]]''. In August 2001, he hosted an event at the [[Conga Room]], in Los Angeles honoring the Latin rock band [[Renegade (band)|Renegade]] for record sales in excess of 30 million units worldwide, taking the stage with the Latin rockers and singing in Spanish.<ref>David Hasselhoff Introducing Renegade at 30&nbsp;million Platinum Sales Award event {{YouTube|D7byydLZVoc|Renegade with David Hasselhoff at Conga Room }}</ref> Beginning on July 16, 2004, he played the lead role in London performances of ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]'' for three months.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9477714/David-Hoff-Hasselhoff-through-the-years.html?frame=2310866|title=David 'Hoff' Hasselhoff: through the years|work=telegraph.co.uk|date=November 13, 2015 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref>
[[File:DavidHasselhoff 20050926.jpg|thumb|Hasselhoff in 2005]]
Hasselhoff has made several [[self-parody|self-parodic]] appearances in movies. He had a major role in ''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]'', released November 19, 2004, starring as himself (though resembling his bygone ''Baywatch'' character) and meeting [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob]] and [[Patrick Star|Patrick]] (his full name is heard once in the movie; he is referred to as "Hasselhoff"). Hasselhoff also had another short appearance in the movie ''[[DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story]]'' as the [[dodgeball]] coach to the German national dodgeball team, Team Hasselhoff. Berating his team after being eliminated from a tournament, he shouts "Ihr seid alle ''Schweine''!" (translated: "You are all ''pigs''!", a common German insult) and smashes a photo of himself in his ''Baywatch'' attire. In 2004's ''[[EuroTrip]]'', Hasselhoff appears in a washroom. In the 2006 [[Adam Sandler]] film ''[[Click (2006 film)|Click]]'' Hasselhoff portrays Sandler's despicable boss. Hasselhoff also appears in an episode of ''[[Wildboyz]]''. In 2007, he again played himself in the [[Jamie Kennedy]] comedy ''[[Kickin' It Old Skool]]''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In his music video for "[[Jump in My Car]]", he engages in self-parody; this time parodying his performance as Michael Knight in ''[[Knight Rider (1982 TV series)|Knight Rider]]''. The car in the video was a black [[Pontiac Trans Am]] with a pulsing [[Light-emitting diode|LED]] and an interior nearly identical to that of the [[KITT]] car in the series. The video was shot in Sydney, Australia using a [[right-hand drive]] KITT replica, including KITT's [[ejection seat]] system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/07/break-yo-tv-david-hasselhoff-jump-in-my-car/|title=Break Yo' TV: David Hasselhoff – "Jump In My Car"|work=[[Consequence of Sound]]|date=July 28, 2009}}</ref>

In November 2006, [[Mel Brooks]] announced Hasselhoff would portray Roger DeBris, the director of the [[Nazism|Nazi]] musical ''[[The Producers (1968 film)|Springtime for Hitler]]'', in the [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] production of ''[[The Producers (musical)|The Producers]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6113274.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Hasselhoff lands Producers role|date=November 3, 2006|access-date=April 1, 2010}}</ref>

In 2006, Hasselhoff became a co-judge on [[NBC]]'s ''[[America's Got Talent]]'', a show that showcases America's best amateur entertainers. He also judged in the [[America's Got Talent season 2|second]], [[America's Got Talent season 3|third]] and [[America's Got Talent season 4|fourth]] seasons alongside [[Sharon Osbourne]] and [[Piers Morgan]]. On the 2007 season finale, Hasselhoff sang "[[This Is the Moment]]". He was replaced by comedian [[Howie Mandel]] for [[America's Got Talent season 5|season five]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/howie-mandel-to-replace-hasselhoff-on-americas-got-talent-80738/|title=Howie Mandel To Replace Hasselhoff On 'America's Got Talent'|work=[[Access Hollywood]]|date=January 10, 2010}}</ref>