Dieter Hallervorden, born September 5, 1935, in Dessau, fled the GDR in 1958 during his time at university. He then continued to study theatre studies and journalism in West Berlin and scraped along with occasional jobs as a tourist guide or as a brewery worker. When his applications for "Berlin Max-Reinhardt-Schauspielschule" and for the political satire cabaret group "Die Stachelschweine" got rejected, Hallervorden set up his own cabaret group "Die Wühlmäuse" without further ado in 1960. Hallervorden runs "Die Wühlmäuse" until today. At the same time, in 1960, Hallervorden dropped out of university and took private acting lessons with Marlise Ludwig.

In 1960, Hallervorden also made his movie debut in the tiny role of a photo reporter in Fritz Lang"s film "Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse" ("The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse"). Besides his work on stage, Hallervorden was repeatedly seen in movie and TV productions, in comedic as well as in dramatic roles, from the end of the 1960s on.

Dieter Hallervorden played one of his most memorable and unusual roles in 1970 in "Das Millionenspiel" ("The Millions Game"). In Tom Toelle"s and Wolfgang Menge"s dark media satire, he played the head of a gang of killers that hunts the participants of a cynical TV show. Besides further dramatic roles, for instance, in the "Tatort" episode "Rattennest" (1972), or as an escaped psychopath in the TV thriller "Der Springteufel" (1974), Hallervorden became an established comedian and satirist in TV series like "Abramakabra" (1972).

In 1975, Hallervorden made his final breakthrough with the slapstick comedy show "Nonstop Nonsens" that aired until 1980 and garnered a cult following. Today, countless sketches of the show are considered as classic comedy performances. Furthermore, Hallervorden published a number of songs; first and foremost joke versions of popular songs like "Die Wanne ist voll" (with his regular show partner Helga Feddersen) or "Punker Maria".

After the completion of "Nonstop Nonsens", Hallervorden focused on his movie career from the early 1980s on and established his most famous character to date, the goofy and clumsy "Didi". With slapstick comedies like "Alles im Eimer" ("Up the Creek", 1981), "Der Schnüffler" ("Non-Stop Trouble with Spies", 1983), "Didi – Der Doppelgänger" ("Non-Stop Trouble with My Double", 1984), or "Didi – Und die Rache der Enterbten" ("Non-Stop Trouble with the Family", 1986), Hallervorden landed a couple of box office hits. In 1988, he played a comparatively untypical role as a car mechanic who turns into a political manager against his will in Reinhard Schwabenitzky"s political satire "Der Experte" ("Non-Stop Trouble with the Experts").

In 1965/86, Hallervorden returned to the TV screen with the TV series "Die Nervensäge" and with his "Didi-Show". However, he was not able to tie on his success on the movie screen.

In the early 1990s, Hallervorden returned to political satire, for instance, with his shows "Spottschau" (in 1992 on Sat.1) or "Hallervordens Spott-Light" (from 1994 to 2003 on ARD). From 1996 to 1997, he temporarily hosted the Saturday evening show "Verstehen Sie Spaß?". Since 2005, he is a member of the team of "Comedy-Falle" on Sat.1. Furthermore, he regularly tours Germany with his solo programs. In 2005, he published his autobiography "Wer immer schmunzelnd sich bemüht" on the occasion of his 70th birthday. In 2008, Hallervorden took over Berlin"s Schlossparktheater and re-opened it for theatre performances in September 2009.

Nowadays, Hallervorden is rarely seen on the movie screen: He, for instance, appeared in small roles in the comedy "1 1/2 Ritter – Auf der Suche nach der hinreißenden Herzelinde" (1½ Knights -- In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde, 2009) or in the thriller "Armee der Stille" ("La Isla Bonita", 2009). Dieter Hallervorden lives alternating in Berlin and in Trégastel, Northern France, where he owns a castle.