Fabio Lanzoni Biography

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

Career

Television and media

Fabio starred in the syndicated TV series Acapulco H.E.A.T. as the role of Claudio. He was also featured in calendars, led a fragrance campaign for Mediterraneum by Versace, and landed a role in commercials for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!". He appeared in "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). He appeared in one episode of Step by Step called "Absolutely Fabio". Fabio has also appeared on the two Nickelodeon television series Ned's Declassified and Big Time Rush. In 2010, he played the character Captain Hawk in an episode of The Suite Life on Deck called "Senior Ditch Day". He has also cameoed in the films Dude, Where's My Car?, Spy Hard and Zoolander.

In 1994, Fabio released an album titled Fabio After Dark, which included soliloquies on his philosophy of love.

Fabio can also be seen posing as the hero Kuros on the cover of the 1989 video game Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Fabio hosted the American reality television series Mr. Romance in 2005. The series featured a dozen male contestants competing for the title of "Mr. Romance" and the opportunity to appear as a romance novel cover model.

In collaboration with Eugena Riley, Fabio has written a series of historical romance novels: Pirate, Rogue, Comanche, Viking and Champion. He wrote three more books in collaboration with Wendy Corsi Staub titled Dangerous, Wild, and Mysterious. Robert Gottlieb became Fabio's literary agent in 1992.

Spokesperson

One of Fabio's most memorable advertising campaigns was for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!. He was the spokesperson for the company since 1994. He was also the spokesperson for the Geek Squad in 2007, Oral-B's Sensitive Advantage Toothbrush in 2006 (whose ad was featured in Times Square), and one of his most popular ads to date is for Nationwide Insurance. In 2006, the commercial for Nationwide aired during the Super Bowl and was the most viewed commercial for the game, garnering over 1 million views within two weeks. Other endorsements included Wickes Furniture, Ames Hardware, Old Spice, and the American Cancer Society.

On July 26, 2011, Old Spice launched a new campaign on YouTube in which Fabio challenges Isaiah Mustafa to try to replace him as the New Old Spice Guy. The online challenge was entitled Mano a Mano in el Baño (hand-to-hand in the bathroom). Mustafa emerged as the winner, though Fabio's Old Spice YouTube Channel received more than 9 million views in the week after its debut, rising to Number 4 on YouTube for the week.

Once a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, Lanzoni has recently spoken for the controversial Burzynski Clinic, where his sister was receiving treatment for ovarian cancer. Lanzoni stated in a recent interview "?He is a genius. He definitely, I believe, he has the cure for cancer? They have to let him get his office back and let him do his work?" A response made by David Gorski, MD, PhD at his Respectful Insolence blog reads "No one knows how he or she will react to a loved one dying of cancer. However,? does not entirely excuse the spouting of pure nonsense in the service of an unproven cancer cure that could endanger other patients by enticing them to go to the Burzynski Clinic too." His sister died in August 2013.

Business ventures

In 2003, Fabio launched a clothing line at Sam's Club Division of WalMart. The line was casual wear for women. Prior to his clothing line, he wrote a fitness book and created a work-out video called Fabio Fitness.

Other

On March 27, 1999, Fabio was involved in an accident in Busch Gardens Williamsburg, located in James City County, Virginia. Fabio rode in the first car of Apollo's Chariot, a roller coaster, during its maiden ride. During the rapid descent on the 210-foot drop after the lift hill, a goose collided with Fabio, leaving his nose covered in blood. He received a one-inch cut on his nose but no one else on the roller coaster was hurt.

Personal life

Hobbies

Fabio Lanzoni's hobbies include a passion for off-roading and motorcycles. He owns an extensive collection of 200 motorcycles including dirt bikes, racing bikes and a championship Ducati.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1990	The Exorcist 3	Angel	uncredited
1991	Scenes from a Mall	Handsome Man
	The Hard Way	Bar Patron/Bouncer (?)	Uncredited
1992	Death Becomes Her	Fabio	Movie
	Big Time Christmas Live	Himself
1993	Acapulco Heat	Claudio/Hotel owner
1996	Spy Hard	Himself on the cliff	Uncredited
2000	Dude, Where's My Car?	Himself	Cameo
2001	Zoolander	Himself	Cameo
	Bubble Boy	Gil/Cult Leader	Cameo
2010	Big Time Christmas	Himself	(TV Movie)
2011	Hollywood Sex Wars	Himself	Cameo
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Roseanne	Himself	"Guilt by Imagination" (Season 6, Ep.8)
1997	Step by Step	Himself	"Absolutely Fabio" (Season 6, Ep.11)
2003	Yes, Dear	Himself	One episode (Season 4, Ep. 21)
2005	Mr. Romance	Himself/Host
2006	The Bold and the Beautiful	Friend	One episode
	Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide	Romantic Guy	One episode
	Bo! In The USA	Himself	Two episodes
2009	Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory	Himself	One Episode
2010	Big Time Rush	Himself	3 episodes
	The Suite Life on Deck	Captain Hawk	"Senior Ditch Day"
2010	Keith Lemon's World Tour	Himself	One episode
2011	Cupcake Wars	Himself	One episode
2012	Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory	Himself, Fabulous Fabio	One episode
2013	Lemon La Vida Loca	Himself	One episode
2014-	Coronation Street	Fabio	ITV Drama
2014	The Simpsons	Himself	Season Finale (Voice)
Music Video
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	I Kissed A Girl
2012	Home " Flying Frog Productions	Gabe Tansley