Alfred Biolek

Alfred Biolek (Alfred Franz Maria Biolek) (born on July 10, 1934 in Freistadt, now Fryštát, Czech Republic) is a well-known German entertainer and television producer, as well as holding a PhD in law and being honorary professor at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne.

Youth

After expulsion from Czechoslovakia in 1946, the Biolek family moved to Waiblingen near Stuttgart, where Biolek's father practiced law again. Biolek was raised a Catholic and used to be an altar boy. He temporarily joined later the German conservative party CDU.

He attended the Gymnasium (high school/grammar school) in Waiblingen and graduated in 1954. He then studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau, Munich und Vienna. In 1958 he took a first state exam of law (third-best exam in Baden-Württemberg) and graduated with honors. He then worked as a lawyer in his father's office and passed the second state exam. In 1970 Biolek moved to Munich and worked for a larger office. Living in the metropolis, Biolek underwent a radical change and distanced himself from his conservative mindset. He actively participated in the Munich bohemian lifestyle and was part of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's circle of friends.

TV career

In 1967, Biolek acted as an assessor in the legal department of the German TV channel ZDF and switched soon to editorial tasks. He became anchor man of the TV show "Drehscheibe" and produced since 1974 the show "Am laufenden Band" for Bavaria Film, together with Rudi Carrell. That led to his career breakthrough. In 1975, he started together with the journalist Dieter Thoma the talkshow Kölner Treff for the channel WDR in Cologne. Since 1978 aired his first own produced and moderated show with the title "Bios Bahnhof" ("Bio's railway station"). In 1980s, commercially unsuccessful shows followed: "Bei Bio", "Show Bühne" and the game show "Mensch Meier".

Production company

With his own company "Pro GmbH", Biolek produced from 1991 to 2003 his weekly show "Boulevard Bio". Biolek developed the art of sensitive conversation and attracted much attention. From 1994 to 2006, he also cooked together with celebrities in his show "alfredissimo". [ [http://www.alfredissimo.de/ Alfredissimo] ]

Additionally, the company owns 25% of the restaurant and discothek "Alter Wartesaal" in Cologne. "Pro GmbH" also acts as a manager for artists like Dirk Bach and Ralph Morgenstern and produced shows for them (e.g. "Kaffeeklatsch", "Blond am Freitag", "Menschen bei Maischberger", "Lukas").

Additional activities

Besides his media career, Biolek has been teaching since 1990 at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne as an honorary professor.

As the first German, he was appointed as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador on November 23, 2000 in New York. He is actively engaged in fighting AIDS and unwanted pregnancy in Africa. Moreover, he supports the intercultural work of the American Field Service Deutschland e.V., with which he spent a year abroad in the US as one of the first German exchange students in the 1950s. In October 2005 Biolek founded the charity fund "Alfred Biolek Stiftung - Hilfe für Afrika", that gives African youngsters the opportunity of a better start in life.

As a patron of the arts, Biolek is also committed to supporting cabaret. He is one of the patrons of the vaudeville "Bar jeder Vernunft" in Wilmersdorf.

Since October 2006, Biolek has been on tour with his program "Mein Theater mit dem Fernsehen" ("My struggle with the TV"), in which he illustrates parts of his TV career.

Private life

On December 10, 1991, the director Rosa von Praunheim outed Biolek among other celebrities on a TV show.cite web |title=Von San Francisco lernen – Hundert Jahre nach ihrer Gründung sucht die Schwulenbewegung neue Ziele |url=http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/1997/0515/none/0006/index.html |date=1997-05-15 |accessdate=2008-05-17 |first=Mechthild |last=Henneke |periodical=Berliner Zeitung |language=German] Biolek lives with his partner in Cologne and Berlin.cite web |title=Guckt mal, Bio, der ist auch schwul! |url=http://www.netzeitung.de/entertainment/people/445310.html |date=2006-10-09 |accessdate=2008-05-17 |first=Wilfried |last=Mommert |periodical=Netzeitung |language=German] .

TV Shows

* 1971/1972 - Synchronizer/Producer of "Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus"
* 1974 - Producer of the Rudi Carrell-Show "Am laufenden Band"
* 1978 - First own show "Bios Bahnhof"
* 1991 - talk show "Boulevard Bio"
* 1994 - cooking show with celebrities "Alfredissimo"

Awards

* 1983 - Adolf-Grimme-Preis in gold
* 1993 - Goldene Kamera - für Boulevard Bio
* 1994 - Bambi
* 1995 - Goldenes Schlitzohr
* 2000 - Bobby
* 2002 - German Books Prize
* 2002 - Deutscher Weinkulturpreis
* 2003 - Karl-Valentin-Orden
* 2003 - Bundesverdienstkreuz
* 2004 - Golden VDP Award „for his his merits for the German wine“

References

External links

* [http://dispatch.opac.d-nb.de/DB=4.1/REL?PPN=118511254 Literature about Alfred Biolek in German National Library.]
* [http://german.imdb.com/name/nm0083142/ Alfred Biolek in Internet Movie Database.]
* [http://www.alfredissimo.de/ Alfredissimo]