Christoph Maria Herbst, born on February 9, 1966, in Wuppertal, made his first TV appearance as an actor in the comedy series "Sketchup – The Next Generation" in 1997. He then played various roles in TV action series like "Der Clown" or "Alarm für Cobra 11" and in TV movies like "Scharf aufs Leben" and "Solange es Männer gibt" (both 2000). In 2002, Herbst made his break-through performance in the TV comedy series "Ladykracher" alongside Anke Engelke. Since then, Herbst, a very versatile actor, was mainly to be seen in comical roles and starred in sidekick roles in successful productions like "(T)Raumschiff Surprise – Periode 1" and "Der Wixxer" (both 2004). With his performances in Helmut Dietl"s "Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe" and in Doris Dörrie"s "Der Fischer und seine Frau" (The Fisherman and his Wife, both 2005), Herbst proved that he is also able to give a poignant touch to his minor roles in more serious films.

Since 2004, Herbst plays the title role in Pro7"s comedy series "Stromberg" which won him Bayerischer Filmpreis in 2005 as well as the Grimme Preis in 2006. This cinema season sees Herbst in further comical roles: He stars in "Hui Buh – Das Schlossgespenst", the film version of the radio play classic, in the hospital satire "Offene Wunden", and in the Edgar Wallace crime movie parody "Neues vom Wixxer".