# Who is America's David Hasselhoff? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013 "2004-07-14T03:03:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/21 "2004-07-14T15:33:01Z")
Natalie Imbruglia. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/22 "2004-07-14T15:33:48Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I wish I could remember her name, but a soap opera actress from (likely) Australia had a song that was big hit in the US a a few years ago. She had really striking eyes, is all I can recall. > > Boy, that ain’t a hell of lot to go on, but she was really well known for her eyes. Natalie Imbruglia? I had no idea Ron Moss was touring in Australia; I too loved him on TBATB. I’d think there have to be Hasslehoffian writers, but right now I can’t think of anybody who qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/23 "2004-07-14T16:05:11Z")
International embarrassment, say ye? My vote’s for Milli and/or Vanilli. _Girl you know it’s true, ooh ooh ooh, I love you…_ (My wife has now all but banned me from the house. I threw a mop on my head, busted into “the running man” and promptly knocked over a china cabinet. I guess those dance moves should stay in the grave with Rob Pilatus.) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/24 "2004-07-14T18:32:23Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > He seemed to get a warm enough reception at the 2000 Olympics closing ceremonies, so if he was viewed that way maybe they got over it? Heh. I read your response before reading what you’d quoted, and instead instantly assumed it was Benny Hill. This spawned a wonderful vision of the little old guy running around sped up and winning all of the track and field events while scantily clad nurses ended up in socially embarrassing situations on the sidelines. Then I saw that it was about Paul Hogan. Not nearly as much fun. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/25 "2004-07-14T20:47:45Z")
William Hung? Admittedly I’m just assuming (can you blame me?) that inhabitants of his Hong Kong birthplace haven’t embraced him with equal measure. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/26 "2004-07-14T22:53:11Z")
Showing my age, but what about the Gabor sisters? Or Zsa-Zsa at least. There is no reason for her to be famous (Ava at least did _Green Acres_), but I bet most Americans (maybe over 25) know her and regard her fondly. How is she regarded in her own country? I agree that Paul Hogan sems to be the best analogy to the head scratching German fame of David Hasselhoff, although nowhere near as long-lived. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/27 "2004-07-14T23:01:55Z")
> [@El Cid Viscoso](#): > > Natalie Imbruglia. Yup, thanks. You too **Judith Prietht**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/28 "2004-07-14T23:41:25Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. > > He’s the personification of a foreign wet-dream of what an Australian is. He’s stands iconic for Australia, but the truth is he’s as completely bizarre to us as he is to you. A few years ago I was hanging out in a ski lodge with 3 people from Sydney. We were watching Croc Hunter, and they were all trying to figure out what his bizarre accent was. They finally decided that he was Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/29 "2004-07-14T23:42:01Z")
Icelanders HATE Björk, from what a friend who spends a lot of time in Iceland tells me. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/30 "2004-07-15T00:06:00Z")
I know I am cheating a bit, I hope you see it as within the spirit if not the letter of the OP: California-born to Mexican parents, boxer Oscar De La Hoya has traded on his Mexican Heritage, e.g. often wearing an oversized sombrero into the ring and accompanied by a mariachi band. To say: that a very large portion of the Mexican and Mexican-American community spurned him, made fun of him and, largely because they saw him as sell-out to Anglo-America, called him a tool and traitor, to say all that would not overstate the case. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/31 "2004-07-15T01:21:39Z")
Well, although I don’t think it exactly meets your criteria, as a Canadian I’ll say, you in America have Celine Dion now and you’re keeping her! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/32 "2004-07-15T01:49:35Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > I know I am cheating a bit, I hope you see it as within the spirit if not the letter of the OP: California-born to Mexican parents, boxer Oscar De La Hoya has traded on his Mexican Heritage, e.g. often wearing an oversized sombrero into the ring and accompanied by a mariachi band. > > To say: that a very large portion of the Mexican and Mexican-American community spurned him, made fun of him and, largely because they saw him as sell-out to Anglo-America, called him a tool and traitor, > to say all that would not overstate the case. Oscar de la Hoya is definitely unpopular with Mexicans and more “Mexican” (ie. Spanish speaking, less assimilated) Mexican-Americans - mainly because he has badmouthed or fought real Mexican boxing icons like Julio Cesar Chavez. However many of his fans are “Hispanic”. Anyway, I suppose that doesn’t really count - unless we extend the analogy from country to “community” or ethnic groups. I thought that Benny Hill was famous in Britain for a while, became a has-been by the late 1970s and then became famous in America for a few years after his show was picked up here. Many hard rock bands have that sort of success - for instance some of the “hair metal” bands like Winer and Mr. Big had second careers in Japan or Europe once they fizzled out in America around 1991. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/33 "2004-07-15T01:53:24Z")
Oops not “Winer” but Winger. Just to elaborate, “Mr. Big” had one or two minor hits here around 1990, but I believe they have sold millions of albums in Japan and rake it in during their Asian tours. Unfortunately, the All Music Guide site is currently a mess and I can’t provide examples from there, ---
**Author:** ![Skully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skully)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/34 "2004-07-15T02:10:27Z")
Is American rap music popular anywhere else? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/35 "2004-07-15T02:43:56Z")
> [@Skully](#): > > Is American rap music popular anywhere else? American rap and hip-hop are hugely popular among young people in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/36 "2004-07-15T04:39:21Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Icelanders HATE Björk, from what a friend who spends a lot of time in Iceland tells me. Really? How come? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/37 "2004-07-15T04:46:46Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Really? How come? Probably for the same reason Australians hate Steve Irwin. She’s incredibly strange (or, in Irwin’s case, takes incredibly stupid risks) AND is one of the most visible natives of the country, so everyone outside the country thinks ALL Australians/Icelanders are like that. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/38 "2004-07-15T05:14:28Z")
To hear one of my friends from Australia tell it, they’ve got the highest percentage of Hasselhoffian exports to the U.S. Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, and Naomi Watts. (The last one surprised me; I was always under the impression she had some street cred for being semi-indie as well as extremely hot). Apparently, Canada is in second place, just for Alanis Morisette. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/39 "2004-07-15T09:53:45Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > To hear one of my friends from Australia tell it, they’ve got the highest percentage of Hasselhoffian exports to the U.S. Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, and Naomi Watts. (The last one surprised me; I was always under the impression she had some street cred for being semi-indie as well as extremely hot). My opinion is probably swerved by the company I keep, but Kylie remains hugely popular in Australia (although she gets even more attention in the UK). Even if people don’t like her, I don’t think they’d consider her a joke. Natalie Imbruglia is too unnoticeable and bland to be an embarrassment. Similarly, I’ve never heard a bad word said about Naomi Watts until this year. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013/40 "2004-07-15T10:37:06Z")
I’ve ne’er heard bad about Naomi Watts. Then again I don’t really follow celebrity gossip so she’d have to fuck up pretty badly for me to know. Agreement on Steve Irwin. And his zoo still sucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-americas-david-hasselhoff/255013.md?page=3)