Printable Biography of Fabio

Fabio Lanzoni was born in Milan, Italy, the son of Flora (née Carnicelli) and Sauro Lanzoni, a mechanical engineer. He started as a male model and film star in Italy, then moved to New York City and became a runway and catalog model for the Ford agency. He became famous in the romance world for appearing on hundreds of romance book covers, the first of which was Hearts Aflame in 1987.

He is known among video game enthusiasts for his box cover pose for the NES game Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II in 1989. After retiring from modeling in 1991, Fabio left New York for the lure of the big screen, where he hoped to follow in the tradition of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a new action-adventure film actor. He has also modeled for many authors, including Bertrice Small and Nora Roberts.

In 1992, the William Morris Agency's number one literary agent Robert Gottlieb, became Fabio's literary agent, making Fabio the first best selling male romance writer 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.

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, Your World with Neil Cavuto, CNBC’s Business Hour and in print publications including Fortune, People and many local newspapers across the country. The line sold out in 48 hours.

Fabio was a frequent guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where he consistently garnered 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 seeming to promote a new Fabio brand shampoo. After several cuts back and forth, he appears to age about 30 or more 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.
This became the number 3 Super Bowl commercial of all time.

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".