Profile | David Hasselhoff: Actor back on lifeguard duty

David Hasselhoff doesn't have an off switch, at least when he's in the company of others. He bounds into a delicatessen near his home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley as if it were a Broadway stage.

The 6-foot-4-inch actor even carries props: a red "Hoff" bag filled with "Hoff" merchandise, including a T-shirt with his picture on it; his autobiography, Making Waves (2006); and his latest CD, This Time Around - released in the spring.

"The Hoff," as he calls himself, wants people to know what he has been up to since the end of Baywatch, the 1989-2001 series in which he starred as hunky lifeguard Mitch Buchannon, following up his success on Knight Rider (1982-86). European concerts, British pantomimes and Celebrity Apprentice Australia are but a few of his activities. He has also been a judge on America's Got Talent (2006-09) and Britain's Got Talent (2011), and he appeared briefly on Dancing With the Stars in 2011.

Now, he's focusing on his film career. In the monster movie Piranha 3DD, to open in theaters on Friday, he slips back into a bathing suit to play a lifeguard. The horror comedy, which also features Gary Busey, Danielle Panabaker and Ving Rhames, is about a school of prehistoric flesh-eating fish that lays siege to a summer resort called the Big Wet Water Park.

''It's over the top and full of blood, bad taste, fish and scantily clad women," the 59-year-old Hasselhoff says. "In a perfect world, I'd rather be doing Knight Rider: The Movie, but I'm not apologizing. It's 3-D, and fish are jumping out at you and girls' anatomy is jumping at you. Christopher Lloyd steals the movie."

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As usual, Hasselhoff has an angle. He was an executive producer of Baywatch and has always been involved in the off-screen end of his projects.

"The Weinstein Co. owns Knight Rider," Hasselhoff explains. "I said, 'If I do Piranha 3DD for you guys, maybe we could sort out the right version of Knight Rider.'??"

The idea of a Knight Rider film has been at the back of Hasselhoff's mind for years - and not as a starring vehicle for himself.

"I have a real take on how to do it," he says. "You can't remake it. You've got to go back and appeal to all the people who grew up with it, those whose childhood dream was to drive a car like that."

It wouldn't be wise to bet against Hasselhoff, who throughout his career has proved to be savvy about what works for him. When NBC canceled Baywatch after its first season, Hasselhoff relaunched it in syndication, where it turned into a juggernaut and ran for a decade. The series, which is still shown in more than 140 countries, made him rich and gave him an international fan base.

"The most important thing is to stay current with the kids," he says, "so I try to do stuff that's hip. That's why I played myself in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) and Hop (2011)."

During a recent tour of Britain, Hasselhoff found that college students there recognized him.

"They had discovered Baywatch on DVD and were holding Hoff parties," he says. "They were dressing up as Mitch Buchannon and then taking off their shirts."

All of which is gratifying for Hasselhoff, but it isn't what he would most like to be doing.

"I prefer to be onstage," he says. "I did The Producers (2006) in Las Vegas, Chicago (2004) in London and Jekyll & Hyde (2000) on Broadway."

Hasselhoff tries not to take himself too seriously, though, which is why he agreed to participate in The Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff (2010). He grinned as his friends made fun of his career, his 2006 divorce from Baywatch co-star Pamela Bach and even his past struggles with alcohol.

During his childhood, he says, his mother's biggest challenge was finding enough activities to keep him busy. "After school, I'd drive an hour and 35 minutes to a theater, do a play and drive back home. I'd go to acting classes, dance classes and singing classes."Hasselhoff's big break came when he was cast as Dr. William "Snapper" Foster Jr. on The Young and the Restless (1975-82). Knight Rider quickly followed, and Hasselhoff was a star until the show ended.

"I couldn't get a job," he admits. "So I went over to Austria with a Knight Rider car. My dad and I drove a couple of Trans Ams down the 405 freeway illegally and shipped them over."

He discovered by accident that he was a star in Austria.

In 2002, finally admitting that he had a problem with alcohol, Hasselhoff sought treatment at the Betty Ford Center. He subsequently got divorced and changed agents and managers.

For a while, he managed the music and acting careers of his daughters, 22-year-old Taylor-Ann and 19-year-old Hayley. "That was difficult," Hasselhoff says. "They went on tour with me, but they didn't want to open for their dad. They're trying to make it on their own, and they just signed a record deal in Australia.''He recently completed The Christmas Consultant, a Lifetime movie that will premiere during the holidays.

"I say yes to everything. I did the wiggle at the American Music Awards. I'm 59 years old, and I'm partying with the kids. How cool is that?"