Editing Don Novello (section)

==Career==
In the late 1960s, Novello worked as an advertising copywriter for [[Leo Burnett]] in [[Chicago]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Qx0AwAAQBAJ&q=novello |title=The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as told by Its Stars, Writers and Guests |first1=Tom |last1=Shales |first2=James Andrew |last2=Miller |publisher=Little, Brown |date=September 9, 2014 |access-date=February 24, 2022 |isbn=978-0-3162-9507-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/09/02/DD67491.DTL&hw=comedian&sn=095&sc=330 |title=Don Novello Tries To Save His Sheep / One-shot musical detailed in TV special |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=September 2, 1997 |access-date=November 3, 2010 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

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 [[KOFY-TV|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 [[Smothers Brothers|Tommy and Dick Smothers]], and they hired Novello, too. Novello performed on the ''[[Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour|Smothers Brothers Show]]'' in 1975, appearing as Sarducci. He also was with [[Pat Paulsen]] during Paulsen's "Presidential Campaign Tour" in the mid-70s as his "Campaign Manager."{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}

{{anchor <!-- This anchor is linked from the Hatnote of the Dab page [[Tóth]] -->|Lazlo}}In the 1970s, Novello started to write letters to famous people under the pen name of '''Lazlo Toth''' (after [[Laszlo Toth]], a deranged man who vandalized [[Michelangelo]]'s [[Pietà (Michelangelo)|Pietà]] in Rome). The letters, written to suggest a serious but misinformed and obtuse correspondent, were designed to [[satire|tweak the noses]] of politicians and corporations. Many of them received serious responses; Novello sometimes continued the charade correspondence at length, with humorous results. The letters and responses were published in the books ''The Lazlo Letters'',<ref>{{cite book| isbn=978-1-5630-5285-9| title=The Lazlo Letters| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eeTofa1jasQC&q=novello+the+lazlo+letters| last1=Novello| first1=Don| publisher=Workman Publishing| date=January 1, 1992}}</ref> ''Citizen Lazlo!'',<ref>{{cite book| isbn=978-1-5630-5182-1| title=Citizen Lazlo!: The Lazlo Letters, Volume 2| url=https://archive.org/details/citizenlazlocont00nove| last1=Novello| first1=Don| date=January 7, 1992| publisher=Workman Publishing| url-access=registration}}</ref> and ''From Bush to Bush: The Lazlo Toth Letters''.<ref>{{cite book| title=From Bush to Bush: The Lazlo Toth Letters| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCKJRuF4GDgC&q=from+bush+to+bush+the+lazlo+toth+letters| last1=Novello| first1=Don| date=June 15, 2010| publisher=Simon & Schuster| isbn=978-1-4516-0393-4}}</ref>

''The Lazlo Letters'', Novello's first book of stilted letters to celebrities, caught the attention of Lorne Michaels, producer of ''Saturday Night Live''. Novello was hired as a writer for the show's [[Saturday Night Live (season 3)|third season]] in 1977–1978 where he remained through the [[Saturday Night Live (season 5)|fifth season]], and returned as a writer in the [[Saturday Night Live (season 11)|eleventh season]]. He also appeared numerous times on the show in the Father Guido Sarducci character.

In 1980, under the name of Father Guido Sarducci, he sang lead vocals on the Warner Bros. Records release "I Won't Be Twisting This Christmas"/"Parco MacArthur" (WBS49627). Novello co-wrote the first tune with M. Davich, and the second tune is an Italian language cover of "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]", the [[Jimmy Webb]] song, in an arrangement similar to that recorded by [[Richard Harris]].

Novello made newspapers around the world when he visited the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] in 1981 wearing the Father Guido Sarducci costume and, while taking photographs for a magazine article in an area where photography was prohibited, was arrested by the [[Swiss Guard]]s along with his photographer (Paul Solomon), and eventually charged with "impersonating a priest". The charges were later dropped, and Solomon managed to protect the film from confiscation.

In his stage show in Las Vegas and Reno with the Smothers Brothers, Sarducci rolled a wheelchair with a dummy in the robes of a cardinal. In the act, Sarducci explained he was the assistant of 108-year-old "Cardinal Dario Fungi."

For a brief period in 1982, Novello was a producer on ''[[Second City Television|SCTV]]'', a Toronto-based comedy show starring [[Martin Short]], [[Joe Flaherty]], [[John Candy]], [[Eugene Levy]], [[Dave Thomas (actor)|Dave Thomas]], [[Rick Moranis]], [[Andrea Martin]] and [[Catherine O'Hara]]. He was installed by NBC as one of a series of producers for the show's fourth season, and produced a total of nine episodes.

In 1983, Novello had a cameo as Father Sarducci in the video for [[Rodney Dangerfield]]'s [[comedy hip hop|comedy rap]] song "[[Rappin' Rodney (album)|Rappin' Rodney]]" which was heavily played on MTV.

In 1984 Novello wrote ''The Blade'', a high school yearbook parody in which the students are represented by sheep. Novello co-wrote the unfilmed script for ''Noble Rot'' with [[John Belushi]]. He also narrated ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'''s third-season episode ''Pinocchio'' with [[Paul Reubens]] as the titular puppet. Also in 1984, Novello appeared in the music video for the [[Jefferson Starship]] song "No Way Out".

In 1989, Novello co-starred in the anthology film ''[[New York Stories]]'' in the [[Francis Ford Coppola]]-directed segment, ''Life Without Zoe''. In his 2 1/2 star review of the film, [[Roger Ebert]] cited Novello for giving "the most engaging performance in the movie."

In 1990, Novello portrayed "Dominic Abbandando" in the film ''[[The Godfather Part III]]''. Abbandando appears with speaking lines in the first scene as public relations and media coordinator for Don [[Michael Corleone]]. Most notable is when he slaps down a news reporter with the challenge: "You think you know better than the Pope?" Novello appears in many other scenes as well, shadowing George Hamilton, and in the climactic scene on the steps of the Palermo opera house, Teatro Massimo.

In the early 2000s, Novello voiced Vinny Santorini in the [[Disney]] film ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'' and its direct-to-video sequel, ''[[Atlantis: Milo's Return]]''. In 2003, he filed papers to enter the [[2003 California gubernatorial recall election]], but did not collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

In 2005, after the death of [[Pope John Paul II]], Novello, as Father Guido Sarducci, reprised his former ''SNL'' role as "Special Vatican Reporter" for [[Air America Radio]] host (and fellow ''Saturday Night Live'' alumnus) [[Al Franken]]. He continued this role until the election of [[Pope Benedict XVI]]. In 2006, he portrayed the role of [[Galileo]] on the podcast "[[The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd]]".

He portrayed [[Pope Pius XII]] in the 2009 short film ''[[All in the Bunker]]''.

On June 23, 2010, he appeared on ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' as Father Guido Sarducci. On May 6, 2025, he reprised his appearance in an interview with Stephen Colbert regarding the upcoming papal conclave.

On October 30, 2010, he gave the [[benediction]] at the [[Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear]] hosted by [[Jon Stewart]] and [[Stephen Colbert]].<ref>{{YouTube|IGCP5CqHwxk|Colbert's entrance and Father Guido Sarducci }}</ref>

American recording artist [[Guthrie Thomas]] credited Don Novello as "the best performer in the room" when he appeared as Father Guido Sarducci on one of Thomas' albums in a recording studio full of famous performers.{{when|date=August 2023}}{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}