Hape Kerkeling

Hans Peter Wilhelm “Hape” Kerkeling (born December 9 1964 in Recklinghausen, Germany) is a well-known German actor, presenter and comedian.

Career
At secondary school in Recklinghausen, Hape Kerkeling and some fellow students formed a band ("Gesundfutter", meaning "health fodder") and brought out a record ("Hawaii").

Kerkeling started out his career as a comedian in radio, working for various German broadcasting companies such as WDR and BR.

The real breakthrough came in 1984/85 when, still aged only 19, Kerkeling got a role in the "Känguru" television comedy show (the German word for "kangaroo" deliberately spelt without an "h" at the end although this broke the spelling rules at that time). The best-known character in this show was the little boy "Hannilein", played by Kerkeling, an irritating child with red hair in a pudding-basin style, dungarees and sitting on giant-sized chairs, who commented on the world of adults.

Later came guest appearances and sketches on the Radio Bremen show "Extratour". Then in 1989 Kerkeling started up his own comedy TV show, "Total Normal" ("Totally Normal") along with pianist Achim Hagemann. This show, which criticised the media, had a totally new format and was awarded several television prizes such as the Goldene Kamera, the Adolf-Grimme-Preis and the Bayerischer Fernsehpreis.

On the show, Kerkeling wrote television history on April 25 1991 when he dressed up as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on a state visit to Berlin and almost managed to get into Schloss Bellevue to meet the President of Germany for dinner. The satirical song from this show, "Das ganze Leben ist ein Quiz" ("All life is a quiz") made it into the German pop charts.

On December 10 1991 in German television talkshow, the filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim revealed that Kerkeling, among others, was gay. Kerkeling's comment on the ensuing fuss (mostly in the gutter press) was that while anyone of a more sensitive nature than him would probably have climbed into the bath with a hairdryer, he could not see the point: they would be dragging another poor soul through the dirt the next day anyway.

In 1992, Kerkeling's first film came out: "Kein Pardon", which he directed and starred in, as well as helping to write the script.

In 1992, Kerkeling turned down an offer by the big public broadcasting company ZDF to work on the prime-time show "Wetten, dass..?" and instead, without his previous partner Hagemann, moved to the independent television sector with the show "Cheese". This was similar in concept to "Total Normal" and viewing figures were relatively high; still this is considered as his first flop.

In the second half of the 90s, Kerkeling worked once more for ARD, presenting the show "Warmumsherz" ("Heartwarming"), and filmed several popular television films ("Willi und die Windzors", 1996; "Die Oma ist tot", 1997). "Club Las Piranjas" (1995), a send-up of club holidays, went on to become a cult film.

In 1999 Kerkeling returned to success with his Sat.1 show "Darüber lacht die Welt" ("What makes the world laugh"). He also presented the yearly fundraising gala for the German AIDS fund Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe. In 2003 he was awarded the Deutscher Fernsehpreis (German Television Prize) in the category "Best Entertainment Presenter".

In January 2004 Kerkeling made another film entitled "Samba in Mettmann", which is set in North Rhine Westphalia. In May 2004 and a year later in May 2005 he presented the "Großer Deutsch-Test" (a national test show for German grammar and spelling) and in October 2004 the "Großer Deutschlandtest" (a test about people's knowledge of Germany). In April and May 2006 he presented the live TV show "Let's Dance", a German version of "Celebrity Come Dancing"/"Dancing with the Stars", with Nazan Eckes.

In a survey by the television station Kabel 1 in 2005, Kerkeling made it into the top ten favourite faces on German television; the only other two presenters were Günther Jauch and Thomas Gottschalk.

In 2001 Kerkeling went on a pilgrimage, following the Way of St James for 650 kilometres (403 miles) to Santiago de Compostela. In June 2006 his book Ich bin dann mal weg ("I'm off for a bit, then"), his diary of this pilgrimage, was top of the Spiegel magazine non-fiction bestseller list.

Hape Kerkeling lives with his life partner and co-author Angelo Colagrossi in Düsseldorf. Colagrossi wrote a large number of texts and sketches for "Total Normal" and other shows, and co-directed the films "Kein Pardon", "Willi und die Windzors", "Die Oma ist tot" and "Samba in Mettmann".

Since Spring 2005, Kerkeling has presented the show "Hape trifft!" (which is ambiguous in the German language and may be translated as "Hape hits the spot!" or "Hape meets!") show, produced by Günther Jauch's production team i&u TV on RTL.

Horst Schlämmer
Horst Schlämmer is one of Kerkeling's current characters (and the most successful), the deputy editor of the fictitious newspaper Grevenbroicher Tagblatt. His motto is to "get up close and ask tough questions". Dressed in a grey trenchcoat and with a small black manbag on his arm, he holds interviews at real events such as the Bundestag elections.

Schlämmer speaks to interviewees in an overfamiliar manner, using "du" for "you" rather than the polite "Sie", and addressing them as "Schätzelein" ("sweetheart"). He seems to think he is a sex symbol, attempting to kiss female interviewees despite his loose false teeth. To impress women, he boasts that he earns three thousand (euro) net a month.

On the ARD's Harald Schmidt show, Kerkeling explained his methods. Before a Schlämmer interview, he said, he pours a few drops of strong liquor over his coat, to give the interviewee the impression he or she is being interviewed by a real reporter, but with an alcohol problem, prompting a real response.

The single "Schätzelein" came out at the start of 2006, including the songs "Schätzelein" and "Meine letzte Zigarette"("My last cigarette").

In May 2006, Schlämmer appeared on "Wer wird Millionär" (the German "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?") as a celebrity candidate, and became the first person to persuade Günther Jauch, the presenter of "Wer wird Millionär", into the contestant's seat. The two made 500,000 euro for a good cause (German AIDS Foundation).

In 2007, a computer game "Weisse Bescheid?!", based on Horst Schlämmer, was released.

Hannilein
Kerkeling, in "Kerkelings Kinderstunde" (Kerkelings children's hour), as a cheeky child of preschool age named "Hannilein", with red tousled hair and a bib overall, sits on oversized chairs and comments on the adult world.

Evje van Dampen
Is a female Dutch relationships counsellor, who meets various German celebrities (such as Günther Jauch or Udo Jürgens).

Siggi Schwäbli
Siegfried (Siggi) Schwäbli is a character who first appeared in 1990 in some episodes of "Total Normal". Slow-witted, short-sighted and with glasses made of plastic blocks, Siggi constantly puts his foot in it and often has no idea what is going on. At the Cannstatter Volksfest festival in Stuttgart, for example, he went on the ghost train with Barbara Schöneberger, a TV host, and almost passed out with fear.

Awards

 * 1983
 * Scharfrichterbeil
 * 1991
 * Adolf-Grimme-Preis in silver for "Total Normal"
 * Bambi
 * Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for "Total Normal"
 * Goldene Europa
 * Goldene Kamera for "Total Normal"
 * Goldener Gong
 * Bronze Rose of Montreux for "Total Normal"
 * Telestar
 * 2002
 * Peter-Frankenfeld-Preis
 * 2003
 * Deutscher Fernsehpreis (as a host) for "Die 70er Show"
 * 2004
 * Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for presenting "Die 70er Show"
 * Deutscher Comedypreis as best presenter, for "Die 70er Show"
 * 2005
 * Deutscher Comedypreis "Best Comedian"
 * Goldene Kamera "Best TV Entertainer"
 * 2006
 * Deutscher Comedypreis best comedian and special award for Horst Schlämmer
 * Deutscher Fernsehpreis in the category best entertainment broadcasting/best presentation for his participation in Wer wird Millionär? (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) celebrity special WM 2006 (RTL)
 * Eins Live Krone (WDR) best comedian
 * Horst Schlämmer given an award by the independent MediumMagazin as "honorary entertainment journalist of the year"
 * Bestseller Author of the Year for 1.1 million copies sold of his travelogue Ich bin dann mal weg
 * Honorary member of the Verein Deutsche Sprache (German Language Association)
 * 2007
 * Adolf-Grimme-Preis Special Honor of the Association of German Adult Education Centres
 * Order of Merit from North Rhine-Westphalia
 * Osgar in the category "Charity"