Best known in his native U.S. for the television hits #Knight Rider and #Baywatch, actor David Hasselhoff also enjoyed success throughout Europe as a recording star. Born July 17, 1952 in Baltimore, after graduating high school he studied at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, in his spare time also singing with local bands; upon relocating to Los Angeles, Hasselhoff enrolled at the California Institute of Arts, additionally working as a waiter. His big break followed in 1973, when he was cast in the role of Snapper Foster on the daytime soap #The Young and the Restless; he remained with the show for six years, in 1982 graduating to prime time alongside talking car K.I.T.T. in the hit #Knight Rider. Hasselhoff issued his debut pop album Night Rocker in 1984, followed three years later by Lovin' Feelings; with 1989's Looking for Freedom, he began his collaboration with noted German producer/composer Jack White, scoring a major chart hit throughout much of Western Europe. That same year Hasselhoff starred as lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the television series #Baywatch, which in the decade to follow enjoyed unparalleled international success. While subsequent LPs including 1990's Crazy for You, 1993's You Are Everything and 1997's Hooked on a Feeling continued selling briskly to his fanatical European audience, at home Hasselhoff remained known almost exclusively for his TV work, although in 1995 he saved a drowning child and aided in the rescue of a car crash victim.

~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi