African American in Germany: Bruce Darnell

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   BRUCE DARNELL

Bruce Darnell at a book signing in Cologne in 2008. PHOTO: A. Savin, Wikimedia Commons

Born illegitimate in New York City as the fifth of ten children, German TV personality Bruce Darnell grew up in Colorado. After briefly studying sociology, he joined the army, where he served as a paratrooper at Fort Bragg, NC for six years. As an African American in the South, he has spoken about the racial prejudice he encountered there. Having spent time in West Germany with the military, Darnell decided to go back there in 1983 without any definite plans.

First in Munich, later in Cologne, he began a career as a fashion model. Soon he was modeling in Paris, Milan, New York and other fashion capitals around the world. In 1990 he became a choreographer and modeling coach. But his real fame in Germany began in 2006 when he appeared as a juror on Heidi Klum’s “Germany’s Next Topmodel” on the ProSieben TV network. His broken German (“Das ist der Wahrheit.”) with a strong American accent became a trademark that he later used in German TV commercials for the clothing chain C&A and the wireless provider O2.

His 2008 “Bruce” fashion tips TV show (ARD) got poor ratings and was cancelled after only a few months. For the 2012 season he is a judge on the popular German talent show “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (DSDS). Darnell also has his own perfume line, with “Bruce” for men and “Darnell” for women.

In 2008 he published a bestselling book entitled Drama, Baby, Drama! Wie Sie werden, was Sie sind, with styling and self-improvement advice. In November 2010 the German magazine Stern published an interview in which Darnell admitted he has battled depression all his life – even during his success as a model and TV star. After intentionally crashing his car, he finally realized he needed help and got it.

Bruce Darnell lives near Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), close to Germany’s border with Belgium and the Netherlands, and only about 40 miles from Cologne (Köln).

• WEB > bruce-darnell.de - official site (in German)

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