Hans-Peter Wilhelm "Hape" Kerkeling (* 9. December 1964 in Recklinghausen) is a German comedian, author, television presenter, actor, director, singer, radio play speaker, audiobook and voice actor. Hape Kerkeling became a popular television and stage comedian from the mid-1980s. In 1985, at the age of 20, he received his first regular television program Kangaroo. This was followed by other comedy formats such as Total Normal or Darüber lacht die Welt as well as the moderation of major television shows such as the German preliminary round for the Eurovision Song Contest or the awarding of the Golden Camera. Kerkeling directed several cinema and television films as an author, director and actor. His art figures such as Hannilein, Horst Schlämmer, Siegfried Schwäbli, Uschi Blum and Evje van Dampen also became known to a wide audience. As a voice actor, he lent his voice to the panda Po in several films in the series Kung Fu Panda and the snowman Olaf from the Frozen films. As a book author, Kerkeling published one of the best-selling German non-fiction books in 2006 with Ich bin dann mal weg.
