Prominent Afro-Germanย politician,ย actor, andย authorย Charles M. Huber was born Karl-Heinz Huber in Munich,ย Germany, on December 3, 1956, the illegitimate son ofย Senegalese diplomat Jean-Pierre Faye, a nephew ofย Lรฉopold S. Senghor, the first president of independent Senegal, and German domestic worker Olga Huber. He was raised by his maternal grandmother and did not meet his father untilย age 28. Decades later he revealed the challenges he faced growing up biracial in Lower Bavaria.
After finishing high school Huber trained to work as aย dentalย technician but turned to acting using the stage name Charles Muhamad, reflecting his nickname (Charly) and his admiration for the boxerย Muhammad Ali.ย Huber eventually gained considerable notoriety for his role as Criminal Commissioner Henry Johnson in the Germanย televisionย seriesย Old One(Alte), a popular crime drama that was broadcast in numerous European countries from 1986 to 1997. He also had roles in the German motion picturesย Kolpย (1985),ย Erkan & Stefan(2000); and the American productionsย Enemy Mineย (1985) starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr., andย Skyscraperย (1996) starring Anna Nicole Smith. While in the United States, Huber graduated from the New York Film Academy. His graduation filmย The Arrivalย was shown at the 1999 International Hofer Filmtage. His stage credits includeย Driving Missย and the lead role in the musicalย Mandela, both German productions.
Exploring other career opportunities, in 2007 Huber founded an agency to advise and promoteย soccerย players of color. He also acquired experience with national and international aid and marketing organizations, particularly those serving Germany and Senegal. Aย Roman Catholicย who identified with three major German political parties, he delved more deeply into politics and government when he worked as the internet campaign designer for Prime Minister Angela Merkel in the 2009 federal election campaign. In 2013, representing the constituencies of Darmstadt and Darmstadt-Dieburg as a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische Union, or CDU), he successfully campaigned for a seat in the German Parliament (Bundestag), defeating the countryโs former justice minister 65,812 to 63,400 votes.
Fluent in German, English, French, Italian, and Wolof (a language of Senegal), during Huberโs four years in office, 2013 to 2017, he chaired or was a member of parliamentary groups that focused onย Africanย andย Central Americanย nations. He also was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development, Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliamentary Advisory Council of the World Population Foundation, Economic and Energy Committee, Advisory Committee of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, and the Subcommittee on Civilian Crisis Prevention. In 2016, Huber accompanied civil rights activist and German Federal President Joachim Gauck on his trip toย Maliย andย Nigeria.ย He also wrote articles in the German version of theย Huffington Post; was a guest speaker at Harvard University addressing the topic of immigration policy and migrants in Germany andย Europe; and was a spokesman for the CDU-related Konrad Adenauer Foundation activities in Africa and other foreign regions.
Huber, divorced from Shobha Zandie Huber, is father of four children. In 2005 he published his autobiography,ย A Lower Bavarian in Senegal: My Life Between Two Worldsย (translated title).
