Hugo Egon Balder
Hugo Egon Balder is a German actor and comedian. He was born 22 March 1950 in Berlin to Egon Friedrich Balder and Gerda Balder, née Schure. Gerda Balder was a Jew who, together with her mother and her son from her first marriage, survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
Balder was a founding member of the Krautrock band Birth Control in 1968. He received acting training at a private acting school in Berlin from 1973 to 1976. Following that, he temporarily joined the ensemble of the Berliner Schillertheater. In 1985 he switched to the ensemble of the Düsseldorf cabaret Komödchen, where he collaborated with Lore Lorentz and Harald Schmidt.
Secondarily, he performed as a pop singer and had a notable success with his single "Erna kommt".
His first roles as a show host were in various radio shows at Radio Luxembourg, until in 1984 he began to appear regularly on TV. His popularity is principally based on the shows Alles nichts oder?! and Tutti frutti which he hosted from 1988 until 1992 at RTL. As a producer he was involved in the making of "April, April" and RTL Samstag Nacht.
Currently Balder works as the producer and show host of Genial daneben and the spin-off Genial daneben - Das Quiz on Sat.1.
Balder is divorced and has two children.