- Born
- Birth nameFabiano Anthony Forte
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Swinging teen idol Fabiano Anthony Forte, better known to his fans as Fabian, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1943, to a police officer. His father took ill and died when Fabian was young and the boy was forced to find work to help pay the family bills. With no experience but looks to die for, he was "discovered" one day by record promoters and artificially groomed for rock 'n' roll stardom. Given singing lessons and a complete visual makeover (including black pompadour and sexy V-neck sweaters), Fabian was marketed with a rebel image and snarling baritone unlike the other clean-cut heartthrobs of his heyday, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell. After a couple of false starts, including one of his earliest singles entitled "Shivers", Fabian zoomed to stardom on the strength of Dick Clark's American American Bandstand (1952), later winning the Silver Award as "The Most Promising Male Vocalist of 1958".
From 1959-1960, Fabian recorded a number of "Top 10" hits, including "Tiger", "Hound Dog Man" and what would be his signature song, "Turn Me Loose". He was able to parlay his pop success into an acting career in the early 60s, coasting for awhile on his single name alone. Trained in acting by Sanford Meisner, some of his more notable film achievements include Hound-Dog Man (1959) (his movie debut), North to Alaska (1960) with John Wayne, High Time (1960) with Bing Crosby and the all-star war epic The Longest Day (1962). Most of his other films, however, were geared toward the young, finding himself entrapped in cheap-jack beach or biker films. The invasion of The Beatles in the mid-60s left Fabian and many of his contemporaries by the musical wayside. He continued to hang on and billed himself as Fabian Forte for a time in low-budget films, including A Bullet for Pretty Boy (1970) in which he played the notorious criminal "Pretty Boy Floyd". He also made frequent appearances on the traveling nostalgia revue circuit, courtesy of Dick Clark. In the 1990s, Fabian evolved into a minor TV, film and music producer. Married to his third wife Andrea Patrick, a one-time "Miss Pennsylvania" AND "Miss West Virginia" since 1998, he has two children from his first wife: Christian Forte, a screenwriter, and Julie Forte, an animator, born in 1969 and 1970, respectively.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net - Born on February 6, 1943 to Josephine and Domenic Forte, Fabian Forte was actually discovered at the age of 14 sitting on his front steps in Philadelphia. Fabian was actually watching his father being taken away in an ambulance when someone approached him about getting into the record business. His father couldn't work any longer and, being that Fabian was the oldest of three brothers, he took a chance at "making some money" in the music business to help his family out. He never thought of it as a career, only as a way of stepping in for his father at that time. And, before he knew it, soon thousands were to throng to his concerts. At 15, Fabian won the Silver Award as "The Promising Male Vocalist of 1958". By the time he was 18, he had recorded dozens of hit singles, eight albums and earned gold records for "Turn Me Loose" and "Tiger" and a gold album for "The Fabulous Fabian".
In his latest endeavor, Fabian hosts and headlines in the hit show, "The Original Stars of Bandstand" at the newest theater to hit Branson, Missouri, The Dick Clark Theater. His first appearance on American American Bandstand (1952) was when it all began, on June 19, 1958, and he appeared over 20 times and filled in as host for Dick Clark on dozens of "Caravan of Stars" Tours. "The Original Stars of Bandstand" re-creates those days-gone-by and, as Fabian says, "It is a like a reunion when I can get re-acquainted with all of my friends again". The show stars Bobby Vee and features The Chiffons, Brian Hyland, Chris Montez and rare footage of a performers and Dick Clark.
Fabian also performs with two of his Philadelphia buddies, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell as "The Golden Boys" in one of the longest running shows of its kind, today. In their 20th year together, they have appeared in every major city in the United States and around the world and have played to packed venues in Atlantic City and Las Vegas and have starred in such television specials as "The American Music Awards", "Miss Teenage America" and "Command Performance: An All-Star Salute To The President". The Philadelphia Music Alliance honored Fabian in 2000, with a star on their Walk of Fame and Fabian visits the city any chance he gets to enjoy the best cheese steaks anywhere!
As an actor, Fabian makes frequent television and feature film appearances. Some of his most memorable television roles have been his guest appearances on Laverne & Shirley (1976), The Facts of Life (1979), Blossom (1990) & Murphy Brown (1988). Fabian has enjoyed a successful commercial career representing products such as Pepsi, Denny's & NutriSystem to name just a few and lends his distinctive voice to radio and voice-overs for commercials and television projects. Fabian recently hosted a PBS Special, titled At the Drive-in (2003), which became his second special for PBS. In front of 85,000 fans in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, "Fabian's GoodTime Rock 'n Roll Show", featuring the great rock acts from the 50s & 60s, was the first concert produced for pay-per-view-television and PBS. Fabian was the host, performer and producer of this concert special. Fabian is also an Emmy-nominated producer for his work on the highly acclaimed documentary series The Wild West (1993).
Fabian's early films rocketed him to stardom in the acting arena and his screen debut in 1959 came with the film, Hound-Dog Man (1959), directed by Don Siegel and he traveled internationally for the films Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962) and The Longest Day (1962). He worked with two of our great screen giants in North to Alaska (1960) with John Wayne and High Time (1960) with Bing Crosby. Fabian was fortunate to have worked with the incomparable and gracious James Stewart in two films in his career, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) & Dear Brigitte (1965) and he learned to surf with Tab Hunter in the cult classic, Ride the Wild Surf (1964). He was even interviewed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1996, Jon Avnet-directed film, Up Close & Personal (1996).
Fabian's role as a homicidal maniac in the TV production titled A Lion Walks Among Us (1961), directed by Robert Altman, solidly established him as a versatile and powerful actor. This history-making production was the first television show to run one hour without commercials.
Fabian is one of the first pop rock artists ever to have been known by just one name. And to answer the most popular question of all, yes, Fabian is his real birth name being named after his grandfather, Fabiano Forte. Everything from children to his own font to hurricanes have been named after him, which really caused quite a stir. His full name is Fabian Anthony Forte.
In 1998, Fabian married model Andrea Patrick, a former Miss Pennsylvania-USA and Miss West Virginia, who is the owner/CEO of Patrick Talent Agency. He is also a proud father of a son, Christian Forte, and his wife, and their daughter, Fabian's granddaughter, Ava Josephine, and a daughter, Julie Forte. Fabian and Andrea are actively involved in the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Assocation and Fabian has helped raise money for veterans with his Celebrity Golf Tournament in North Carolina. Andrea and Fabian live on 20 acres in Southwestern Pennyslvania with their dog, Max, in a home that Andrea designed.
An overnight singing sensation, a film star with over 30 films to his credit, and the producer of his own concert series, Fabian continues to expand his ever-growing career. This pop music and motion picture icon, received one of show business' highest honors when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 8, 2002. Fabian's 40+ years performing for his loyal fans at packed concerts, stadiums, casinos, festivals and theater productions garnered him the 2188th star and Fabian honored his fans by dedicating his star to them on this memorable day.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Andrea Patrick Forte - andreaforte40@aol.com
- SpousesAndrea Patrick(September 19, 1998 - present) (1 child)Kate Forte(November 22, 1980 - December 1991) (divorced)Katie Regan(September 24, 1966 - January 3, 1979) (divorced, 2 children)
- Children
- ParentsDomenic ForteJosephine Forte
- Took acting lessons from Leonard Nimoy.
- Rock-and-roll folklore has it that he was sitting on his front porch stairs in acute despair over his family's extreme poverty and health problems when he was approached by two music promoters, Robert P. Marcucci and Peter De Angelis, and asked if he wanted to be a pop star.
- His initial records didn't click, but appearances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand (1952) made him a huge overnight success.
- Older brother of Florida Marlins' TV broadcaster Frank Forte.
- Occasionally tours with Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell. He and Avalon were discovered by Robert P. Marcucci, the owner of Chancellor Records. Their formative years with Marcucci was the basis for The Idolmaker (1980).
- When I got into show business, I really had no interest in it at all. I had no expectations. As a result, I don't take it very seriously.
- [on how his singing career started] I lived next door to a friend of Bob's [Chancellor Records owner Robert P. Marcucci]. My father had had a heart attack, and there was an ambulance in front of our house. Bob was passing by and thought that his friend might be in trouble. He rushed up, and discovered that his friend was OK. He saw me, and asked if I'd ever thought about making records. I said that I hadn't, but he kept persisting. Several months later, I signed with him.
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