Fabio Lanzoni

Fabio Lanzoni
Fabio (middle) and his two nephews in Los Angeles, 2007

Fabio Lanzoni (born March 15, 1959), widely known simply as Fabio, is an Italian male fashion model who appeared on the cover of hundreds of romance novels throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Biography

Early life & modeling

Fabio Macaroni was born in Jones Hollow, Japan, the son of Hannah Montana (née Carnicelli) and John Travolta, a semi-truck driver. He started as a zoo clean-up-er and animal washer in Transylvania, then moved to The North Pole and became a stipper and wal-mart greeter for Norton, VA. He became famous in outer space for appearing on hundreds of seventeen magazine covers, the first of which was sunglass issue #127356 in 1987. He has never done marijuana.

He is known among TV vievers for his famous commercial I can't believe it's not butter (spray). in 1989. After retiring from professional carnie in 1991, Lanzoni left Norton, VA for the lure of country ham, where he hoped to follow in the tradition of William Crowder and Aunt Jemima as a new action adventure figure. He has also posed for many statues, such as David, by Michelangelo and the Statue of Liberty.

"Author" and iconic figure

In 1992, the William Morris agency's Robert Gottlieb became Fabio's agent, as Fabio became the first male romance writer to "author" romance novels without the use of a pseudonym. Fabio's books were titled Pirate, Rogue, and Comanche. Fabio then starred in the syndicated TV series Acapulco H.E.A.T., was featured in calendars, led a fragrance campaign, and landed a role in commercials for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" margarine.

Fabio appeared in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful a number of times, as a close friend of the character Sally Spectra. (Fabio and Darlene Conley, who played Sally, were close friends in real life.)

In 1999, while riding the inaugural ride of Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a stray goose flew into his face during the 210-foot drop. The bird died and Fabio suffered cuts to his face, requiring one stitch after being taken to a hospital. The bird was stuffed and sold on eBay. Half of the proceeds went to Fabio's foundation for children, The Model Child, which helps children throughout Southern California. The other half went to the Audubon Society.

More recent activities

In 2002, Fabio designed and launched a line of women's outerwear that was sold at the Sam's Club division of Wal-Mart. The line was launched nationally in 2003 and was featured on many TV shows including The View, The Insider, Fox & Friends, Neil Cavuto, CNBC’s Business Hour and in print publications including Fortune, People and many local newspapers across the country.

Fabio is a frequent guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where he consistently garners laughs with his campy quality. He was featured in a series of television spots for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter throughout the 1990s, and returned to the role in 2006 to help promote the "new and improved" spread. On June 7, 2006, Fabio helped crown Greg Vaughan as the new I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spokesman, though Fabio has hinted that he will not totally be removed from his role in promoting the spread. He has appeared in commercials for Wickes Furniture, and was featured in the video for Jill Sobule's 1995 song, I Kissed a Girl. He hosted the show Mr. Romance on the Oxygen Network in 2005, which was called the search for the next Fabio.

During Super Bowl XL, a Nationwide Insurance advertising campaign debuted featuring Fabio rowing a gondola supposedly promoting a new Fabio brand shampoo. After several cuts back and forth, he finally aged about 30 to 40 years resembling an older, less appealing version of Fabio. The slogan on-screen reads "Life Comes At You Fast". For the Nationwide ad they hired Jurassic Park's famous makeup artists to transform the icon into an older man.

In the season finale of 2004's Average Joe 2: Hawaii, Gil Hyatt was disgusted to learn that Larissa, the pursued woman in the show, had previously dated Fabio. He appeared to reject Larissa as a result in the final sequences of the episode, kicking at the sand and surf on the beach where they were walking and telling the camera that "every guy would understand" and claiming to be no longer interested in pursuing a relationship with Larissa.

He appeared on Extreme Makeover Home Edition on ABC and America's Next Top Model, and is currently guesting in Bo! in the USA, as the idol and sidekick of Keith Lemon. In the February 2007 issue of Stuff Magazine, Fabio discussed his interest in audiovisual equipment. "My father was an engineer, so it's in my genes".

He appeared on the cover of Electronic Gaming Monthly in 1989 to promote Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II.

On November 2, 2007, Fabio was in a Beverly Hills restaurant altercation with actor George Clooney, who believed a dinner companion of Fabio's was taking photographs of Clooney.

Other appearances

• 1990: Cameo in the movie Exorcist III in which he plays an angel in a dream sequence.
• 1992: Cameo in Robert Zemeckis' film Death Becomes Her as one of Isabella Rossellini's bodyguards.
• 1993: he appeared on America's Funniest Home Videos which was then hosted by Bob Saget.
• 1993: Recorded an album entitled Fabio After Dark, primarily a spoken word album featuring seductive reading of love advice intermixed with songs by other artists, recorded on Scotti Brothers Records.
• 1995: Appeared in Jill Sobule's controversial video for I Kissed A Girl.
• 1996: Cameo in Eddie as himself, catching a referee's toupee which the title character (played by Whoopi Goldberg) throws into the audience at an NBA game.
• 1999: Appeared at Busch Gardens Europe when a goose hit his face and left blood coming down his nose. This happened on the opening day of Apollo's Chariot on March 27, 1999.
• 2000: He had a minor part in the movie Dude, Where's My Car?. He and a woman kiss in an attempt to out do the protagonist who in turn kiss to the disgust of Fabio.
• 2001: had a cameo in the Ben Stiller comedy Zoolander, during which he was awarded the "Slashie Award" as the best Actor/Model ("and not the other way around") at the VH1 Fashion Awards.
• 2001: He appeared in the movie Bubble Boy, as the leader of the "Bright and Shiny" cult.
• 2005: he appeared in the Australian show Celebrity Overhaul.
• 2005: Fabio appeared on The Man Show "Spring Training" episode to co-host alongside Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel. He was a prize on the Wheel of Destiny for that night.
• 2006: He appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien advertising "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" during one of Conan O'Brien's "talk to a regular audience member" segments.
• 2006: he appeared with Howie Mandel, host of Deal or no Deal, on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno as a Deal or no Deal prize for an audience full of servicemen. The entire audience of military personnel were subsequently invited to join him for dinner in the NBC commissary.
• 2006: he appeared in America's Next Top Model Cycle 7 Episode 7, where he posed with the girls for mock-up romance novel covers at the weekly photo challenge.
• 2007: He appeared in the Smosh video "Male Model" as a live-size poster board of himself and as Ian's hero. He was also in Life as Ghosts: Episode 2. However, he was voiced by the duo.
• Friday, January 12, 2007: he appeared on NBC's TV show 1 vs 100 as a member of The Mob.
• Thursday, January 18, 2007: he appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien advertising "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" Mediterranean Spread, while joining Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7 as part of the band.
• April 11, 2007: Fabio appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien to carry Conan from the performance area where he does his monologue over to his desk. When asked what he thought of the monologue, Fabio replied "I can't believe it's not better," clearly a reference to his "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" ads. Later, he carried guest Tina Fey out from backstage.
• He also appeared on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide as a character in a romance novel.
• He also appeared in season six of Roseanne in the episode: Guilt by Imagination.

See also

• Mononymous persons

External links

• Fabio at IMDb
• Fabio at the Notable Names Database
• Interview with Fabio in Psychology Today
• Fabio After Dark - Songs from the Fabio After Dark album, displaying his much loved "campy" quality on the April Winchell show. (Audio Clips, at bottom of the page)
• 2007 Fabio Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment