Thomas Gottschalk

Thomas Gottschalk (born May 18, 1950) is a famous 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 Bolzano-Bozen (Italy).

Gottschalk was born in the Bavarian city of Bamberg 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 already during this time that he discovered his actual vocation.

From 1971 on, Gottschalk worked as a freelancer for the youth program of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian radio); 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 moderating the TV show "Telespiele" from 1977 on; the show was first broadcast in the Bayerischer Rundfunk's TV channel, and switched to the national public ARD channel in 1980. From 1982 to 1987, Gottschalk moderated the show "Na sowas" on ZDF, and was awarded the Golden Camera for it in 1985.

Gottschalk quickly gained popularity, a trend that only increased when he replaced Frank Elstner as a showmaster for "Wetten, dass..?" in 1987, which he still continues to host today, with only a brief interruption from 1992 to 1994 when the show was taken over by Wolfgang Lippert.

From 1992 to 1995, Gottschalk also hosted a late night show on TV, "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". In "Gottschalk Late Night" was also in 1992 the "Model '92" Competition, in which Heidi Klum was the winner and received a model contract and winning prize - thus paved her career in the modeling business.

Gottschalk was awarded a number of prizes for his work; apart from those mentioned above, these included 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 honour" which he accepted.

Gottschalk has been married to his wife Thea since 1976. He has two sons, Roman and Tristan.

Gottschalk also starred in several films during his career, with varying success. In November 2004, he bought castle Marienfels in Remagen, Germany, and is currently living there. He has had a secondary residence in Malibu, California since the beginning of the 1990s.

As of 2007, he is the host of the longest running ad with one person, since 1991 he is appearing in ads for the sweets company Haribo, according to Guinness World Records.

elected filmography

* "Piratensender Powerplay" (1981)
* "Die Supernasen" (1983)
* "Zwei Nasen tanken Super" (1984)
* "Zärtliche Chaoten" (1987, English as "Lovable zanies")
* "Eine Frau namens Harry" (1990, English as "Harry and Harriette")
* "Trabbi goes to Hollywood" (1991, English as "Driving me crazy")
* "Late Show" (1999)
* "Sister Act 2" (1993) - Gottschalk starred as a consequence of leading actress Whoopi Goldberg losing a bet in Gottschalk's gameshow "Wetten, dass..?" He plays the sausage-obsessed German cook.

Persondata
NAME=Gottschalk, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German TV host
DATE OF BIRTH=May 18, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bamberg, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=