DAVID HASSELHOFF - HASSELHOFF'S NAME BECAME HIS BIGGEST ENEMY

DAVID HASSELHOFF struggled to win TV and film parts because he became the victim of his own name - producers wanted to hire a "Hasselhoff-type" but not the KNIGHT RIDER star himself.

The 51-year-old actor cites the iconic status he acquired playing MICHAEL KNIGHT in the popular '80s series as the reason so many Hollywood bosses rejected him.

So the typecast Hasselhoff responded to the lack of on-screen work he was being offered by launching a successful singing career in Germany.

He says, "I'd read scripts that would say, 'This guy's a David Hasselhoff type,' and I'd turn up and they'd reject me saying, 'You are David Hasselhoff.' They wanted a David Hasselhoff-type guy - but not the real one.

"That's when I got into music. Thanks to my parents, especially my mother, who had encouraged me to act, sing and dance since I was a child.

"The opportunity came along for me to sing in Germany. It was an amazing time for me, one that lasted a good five years. I sold millions of records."