Niels Ruf
German journalist, actor
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Key Takeaways
- Niels Ruf (born 21 May 1973) is a German television presenter, author and actor.
- Career Writing Ruf worked for one year at the German newspaper Rhein-Zeitung .
- He worked as a columnist for publications including music magazine Intro , the weekly magazine Die Zeit , and Maxim .
- Afterwards he became the presenter of his own call-in show, Niels' Ruf , on DSF.
- He then worked as a freelance employee for Focus TV while pursuing acting opportunities.
Niels Ruf (born 21 May 1973) is a German television presenter, author and actor.
Early life
Born in Worms, Ruf attended high school at Rhein-Wied-Gymnasium in Neuwied.
Career
Writing
Ruf worked for one year at the German newspaper Rhein-Zeitung. He also wrote scripts for the German children's television program Clubhouse.
He worked as a columnist for publications including music magazine Intro, the weekly magazine Die Zeit, and Maxim.
Television
At 21 Ruf was cast by ZDF as the presenter of the video game show X Base. Afterwards he became the presenter of his own call-in show, Niels' Ruf, on DSF. The series was cancelled after nine episodes; Ruf later stated the cancellation was "because of blasphemy". He then worked as a freelance employee for Focus TV while pursuing acting opportunities.
Ruf was cast by German music television station Viva II in 1998 for the TV show Kamikaze, which he hosted and produced. His provocative monologues and announcements were characterised as "rabble-rousing". He earned a reputation as a "sex piglet" and "scandal-facilitator".
In 2002, Ruf started a hidden camera show, Dumm erwischt, in which people on the street had tricks played on them. Six episodes aired. In October 2006, Ruf hosted Die Niels Ruf Show on Sat.1's comedy channel. After criticism for low ratings, Ruf left Sat.1 and produced the internet-exclusive show Looki Looki. Deutsche Telekom cancelled the project in May 2011.
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