Don Novello
| Don Novello | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Donald Andrew Novello January 1, 1943 Ashtabula, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, comedian |
| Years active | 1963–present |
Donald Andrew "Don" Novello (born January 1, 1943) is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer and comedian. He is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1977 until 1980, and again in 1985–86, often as the character Father Guido Sarducci. He appeared as Sarducci in the video of Rodney Dangerfield's "Rappin' Rodney", and on many subsequent television shows, including Married... with Children, Blossom, It's Garry Shandling's Show, Unhappily Ever After, Square Pegs and The Colbert Report.
Novello was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, the son of Eleanor Eileen (Finnerty), a nurse, and Augustine Joseph Novello, a physician. He is of Italian and Irish descent. In 1961, he graduated from Lorain High School in Lorain, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Dayton. In 1965, he graduated from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.
In the late 1960s, Novello worked as an advertising copywriter for Leo Burnett in Chicago.
Novello created the Father Guido Sarducci character in 1973 after finding a monsignor's outfit for $7.50 at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop. Adding sunglasses, a broom mustache, cigarette and a thick Italian accent, Sarducci became popular in a San Francisco nightclub. Sarducci appeared on San Francisco Channel 20's Chicken Little Comedy Show, and comic David Steinberg was watching. Steinberg hired Novello as a writer for a TV show that never aired, but he also introduced Novello to Tommy and Dick Smothers, and they hired Novello, too. Novello performed on The Smothers Brothers Show in 1975, appearing as Sarducci.
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