Thomas Gottschalk
Encyclopedia
Thomas Johannes Gottschalk (born 18 May 1950) is a German
TV
host. He is best-known for hosting the popular show Wetten, dass..?
, which he has led to a huge success in Germany
, Austria
, Switzerland
and South Tyrol
.
city of Bamberg
, Upper Franconia
as the son of a lawyer
. After attending the Humanistisches Gymnasium (Humanistic
gymnasium
) in Kulmbach
, he studied history
and German philology
, eventually taking his exams as a teacher for primary and secondary schools; however, it was during this time that he discovered his true vocation: entertainment.
(Bavarian Broadcasting); in 1973, he became anchor for a news program. In 1976, after a brief detour to the newspaper Münchner Merkur, he became a regular employee of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, and subsequently gained popularity as the host of the show Pop nach acht. He was awarded the Kurt-Magnus-Preis for his "outstanding talents" as a radio host in 1978.
His career continued with him hosting the TV show Telespiele from 1977 onwards; the show was first broadcast on the Bayerischer Rundfunk's television channel, and switched to the national public ARD channel in 1980. From 1982 to 1987, Gottschalk hosted the show Na sowas on ZDF
, and was subsequently awarded the Goldene Kamera (golden camera) in 1985.
Gottschalk quickly gained popularity, a trend that only increased when he replaced Frank Elstner
as a host on Wetten, dass..?
in 1987, which he still continues to present today, with only a brief interruption from 1992 to 1994 when the show was taken over by Wolfgang Lippert
. He is planning to retire after summer 2011 largely due to an accident on Wetten, dass..?
. This incident unfortunately led to a young man being paralyzed from the shoulders down after being hit by a car he was proposing to jump over on spring like contraptions.
From 1992 to 1995, Gottschalk also hosted a late night show on television, Gottschalk Late Night, and while it was not very successful, it paved the way for other shows such as the Harald Schmidt
Show, TV Total
and the Johannes B. Kerner
Show. Gottschalk Late Night also featured the Model '92 Competition during 1992, in which Heidi Klum
was the winner and received a modeling contract and winning prize, paving the way for her modeling career.
Gottschalk has been awarded a number of prizes for his work; apart from those mentioned above. These include the Telestar
in 1987, the Goldenes Schlitzohr (golden rascal) and the Goldenes Kabel (golden cable) in 1991, as well as the Goldene Feder (golden feather) in 2001. He also received a total of three Bambi
awards, which he gave back in 1988 after a dispute with the publisher Burda
; however, in 2001, he was awarded a "Bambi of honor" which he accepted.
Gottschalk has also starred in several films during his career, with varying success. In November 2004, he bought Castle Marienfels in Remagen
, Germany, where he currently lives. He has had a secondary residence in Malibu, California
, since the beginning of the 1990s.
As of 2007, according to Guinness World Records
, he is the host of the longest running ad featuring one person; since 1991 he has appeared in ads for the sweets company Haribo
.
On 20 November 2008 he won €1 million for charity in a celebrity version of Wer wird Millionär?, the German version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
host. He is best-known for hosting the popular show Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..? is a long-running German-language entertainment television show. It is the most successful Saturday television show in Europe...
, which he has led to a huge success in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
.
Early life
Gottschalk was born in the GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
city of Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
, Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...
as the son of a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. After attending the Humanistisches Gymnasium (Humanistic
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
) in Kulmbach
Kulmbach
Kulmbach is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is famous for Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its famous sausages, or Bratwürste.-Location:...
, he studied history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and German philology
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
, eventually taking his exams as a teacher for primary and secondary schools; however, it was during this time that he discovered his true vocation: entertainment.
Career
From 1971 on, Gottschalk worked as a freelancer for the youth program of the Bayerischer RundfunkBayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
(Bavarian Broadcasting); in 1973, he became anchor for a news program. In 1976, after a brief detour to the newspaper Münchner Merkur, he became a regular employee of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, and subsequently gained popularity as the host of the show Pop nach acht. He was awarded the Kurt-Magnus-Preis for his "outstanding talents" as a radio host in 1978.
His career continued with him hosting the TV show Telespiele from 1977 onwards; the show was first broadcast on the Bayerischer Rundfunk's television channel, and switched to the national public ARD channel in 1980. From 1982 to 1987, Gottschalk hosted the show Na sowas on ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
, and was subsequently awarded the Goldene Kamera (golden camera) in 1985.
Gottschalk quickly gained popularity, a trend that only increased when he replaced Frank Elstner
Frank Elstner
Frank Elstner, full name Timm Maria Franz Elstner is a German television presenter.Elstner went to school in Rastatt in Germany and gained his first experience in broadcasting as a child when he acted in radio plays for the station then known as Südwestfunk, now as Südwestrundfunk, which served...
as a host on Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..? is a long-running German-language entertainment television show. It is the most successful Saturday television show in Europe...
in 1987, which he still continues to present today, with only a brief interruption from 1992 to 1994 when the show was taken over by Wolfgang Lippert
Wolfgang Lippert
Wolfgang Lippert is a German entertainer and actor. He was one of the most popular entertainers of the GDR. After working as an auto mechanic and photographer Lippert "Lippi" came into the show business as a tv show host and singer.-Life:From 1978 to 1980 as the son of a Kapellmeister he completed...
. He is planning to retire after summer 2011 largely due to an accident on Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..? is a long-running German-language entertainment television show. It is the most successful Saturday television show in Europe...
. This incident unfortunately led to a young man being paralyzed from the shoulders down after being hit by a car he was proposing to jump over on spring like contraptions.
From 1992 to 1995, Gottschalk also hosted a late night show on television, Gottschalk Late Night, and while it was not very successful, it paved the way for other shows such as the Harald Schmidt
Harald Schmidt
Harald Franz Schmidt is a German actor, writer, comedian and television entertainer best known as host of two popular German late-night shows.- Early life :...
Show, TV Total
TV total
TV total is a German late-night television comedy talk show that has run since 8 March 1999 on ProSieben, and is currently aired at around 23:15 from Monday to Thursday....
and the Johannes B. Kerner
Johannes B. Kerner
Johannes Baptist Kerner is a German TV personality best known as a sportscaster.Kerner was raised in Hersel, Germany in a Catholic household...
Show. Gottschalk Late Night also featured the Model '92 Competition during 1992, in which Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum
Heidi Samuel , better known by her birth name Heidi Klum, is a German model, actress, television host, businesswoman, fashion designer, television producer, and occasional singer. In 2008 she became an American citizen while maintaining her native German citizenship...
was the winner and received a modeling contract and winning prize, paving the way for her modeling career.
Gottschalk has been awarded a number of prizes for his work; apart from those mentioned above. These include the Telestar
Telestar
The Telestar was a former German television award, created by Das Erste and ZDF. It was succeeded in 1999 by the Deutscher Fernsehpreis....
in 1987, the Goldenes Schlitzohr (golden rascal) and the Goldenes Kabel (golden cable) in 1991, as well as the Goldene Feder (golden feather) in 2001. He also received a total of three Bambi
Bambi (prize)
The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...
awards, which he gave back in 1988 after a dispute with the publisher Burda
Hubert Burda Media
Hubert Burda Media is a German privately held, family-owned global media company with its origins in printing and magazine publishing. The company is headquartered in Offenburg and Munich, has additional main offices in Berlin and Hamburg and has more than 7400 employees...
; however, in 2001, he was awarded a "Bambi of honor" which he accepted.
Personal life
Gottschalk has been married to his wife Thea since 1976. He has two sons, Roman and Tristan and one grandson (born 2010).Gottschalk has also starred in several films during his career, with varying success. In November 2004, he bought Castle Marienfels in Remagen
Remagen
Remagen is a town in Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one hour drive from Cologne , just south of Bonn, the former West German capital. It is situated on the River Rhine. There is a ferry across the Rhine from Remagen every 10–15 minutes in the summer...
, Germany, where he currently lives. He has had a secondary residence in Malibu, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, since the beginning of the 1990s.
As of 2007, according to Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, he is the host of the longest running ad featuring one person; since 1991 he has appeared in ads for the sweets company Haribo
HARIBO
Haribo is a German confectionery producer, founded in 1920 by Hans Riegel Sr. The company headquarters are in Bonn, and the name is an acronym for Hans Riegel, Bonn....
.
On 20 November 2008 he won €1 million for charity in a celebrity version of Wer wird Millionär?, the German version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
.
Filmography
- Piratensender Powerplay (1981)
- Die SupernasenDie SupernasenDie Supernasen is a 1983 West German comedy film featuring Thomas Gottschalk and Mike Krüger. The name of the movie, "The Supernoses", refers to the fact that both of them have big noses.The two have worked together in several very popular movies...
(1983) - Zwei Nasen tanken Super (1984)
- Die Einsteiger (1985)
- Zärtliche Chaoten (1987, English as Lovable zanies)
- Think BigThink BigThe New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon and his New Zealand National Party government in the early 1980s sponsored Think Big as an interventionist state economic strategy. The Think Big schemes saw the government borrow heavily overseas, running up a large external deficit, and using the...
(1990) - Eine Frau namens Harry (1990, English as Harry and Harriette)
- Trabbi goes to HollywoodTrabbi goes to HollywoodTrabbi Goes To Hollywood is a 1991 US comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub, starring Thomas Gottschalk, Billy Dee Williams, Dom DeLuise, and James Tolkan.-Synopsis:...
(1991, English as Driving me crazy) - Sister Act 2 (1993) – Gottschalk starred as a consequence of leading actress Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
losing a bet in Gottschalk's gameshow Wetten, dass..?Wetten, dass..?Wetten, dass..? is a long-running German-language entertainment television show. It is the most successful Saturday television show in Europe...
He plays the sausage-obsessed German cook. - Late Show (1999)
- 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde is a 2008 German film directed by Til Schweiger. It stars Til Schweiger, Rick Kavanian, Julia Dietze, Thomas Gottschalk and Udo Kier...
(2008) - ZookeeperZookeeper (film)Zookeeper is a 2011 comedy film starring Kevin James, and featuring the voices of Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Nick Nolte, Don Rickles, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, Cher and Faizon Love. The film contains computer animation, is produced by Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, and is...
(2011)