Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character created by American

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

Don Novello Donald Andrew Novello (born January 1, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, singer, writer, film director and producer. He is best known for his work on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1978 to 1980, and again from 1985 to 1986, often as the ...

. Sarducci is a

chain-smoking Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finished cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not nece ...

priest with tinted glasses, who works in the United States as

gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal l ...

and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper '' L'Osservatore Romano'' (sometimes mentioned as ''The Vatican Enquirer'', a take-off of the ''

National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in t ...

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...

Description

Novello created the character in 1973, after he purchased the outfit (consisting of big floppy black hat, white

clerical collar A clerical collar, clergy collar, or, informally, dog collar, is an item of Christian clerical clothing. The clerical collar is almost always white and was originally made of cotton or linen but is now frequently made of plastic. There are vario ...

, and a long, red-trimmed black coat with cape) for $7.50 at a St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. The character was featured in 1970s cartoons by the underground cartoonists Dave Sheridan and Fred Schrier, appearing in person in the early 1970s on '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' and later in the 1975 '' Smothers Brothers'' TV show. His most prominent appearances were on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' in the late 1970s, during which time Novello was also a writer for the show. In the late 1970s, Father Guido Sarducci was featured on radio commercials for ''

High Times ''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade.Danko, Danny"Norml Founder Retires – Exhal ...

'' magazine, where he offered to perform blessings for a fee.

Broadcast history

On his first appearance on ''Saturday Night Live'', a sketch called "How to Pay for Your Sins" on a 1978 episode hosted by

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including '' American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), '' Close Encounters of the ...

, he was on crutches from an injury suffered during a dress rehearsal sketch about hockey players. Most of his appearances on ''SNL'' have been on '' Weekend Update'', including one where he reported that "The take at the shrines in Italy has gone down", which he suggested correcting by creating "Shrinemobiles" and thus taking the shrines to where the people were, and another where he is sent to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to try to wake up

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

at 4:30 in the morning (11:30 in New York) by throwing coins, obnoxiously singing

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and Wings songs, and finally, throwing a rock at the window — he says it works every time.

''Saturday Night Live''

Sarducci appeared in four

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Amer ...

s in the 1979–1980 season (on episodes hosted by Steve Martin, Teri Garr,

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s. Elliott's breakthrough role was in the '' Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination ...

, and

Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-line joke, one-liner humor, his c ...

), two commercial parodies ("MX-5 Tampons" on the 1981–1982 Christmas episode hosted by Bill Murray and "Bocce Ball My Way" on the last episode of the 1985–1986 season hosted by

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nom ...

and Billy Martin), and two monologues on the 1985–86 season (the first hosted by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

in a pretaped sketch showing Madonna's wedding to Sean Penn (played by

Robert Downey, Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

) and the second on the Christmas episode of the 1985–86 season hosted by Garr as Sarducci's alter ego, Pope Maurice). Sarducci also hosted two ''SNL'' episodes during the 1983–1984 season (when Dick Ebersol was executive producer) and cameoed during two 1990s episodes, most notably on a ''Weekend Update'' segment where he reports on

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's missing wallet. Father Guido Sarducci has 31 appearances on ''SNL'', the most of any of the recurring characters.

Vatican visit

In 1981 Novello made newspaper headlines when he visited

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

wearing the Father Guido Sarducci costume to do a photo shoot for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine. After taking pictures in an area where photography was prohibited, he and his photographer, Paul Solomon, were arrested by the Swiss Guards and Novello was charged with "impersonating a priest". Although the guards attempted to confiscate the film from the shoot, Solomon managed to hand them the wrong film. The charges were later dropped. In the early 1980s, Novello was featured in advertisements promoting candidates for the priesthood. He listed one advantage of being a priest as getting first pick at the annual parish garage sale.

Other media appearances

During the 1980s and 1990s Sarducci appeared on other television shows, including '' Fridays'', ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production compa ...

'', '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', '' Married... with Children'', '' Unhappily Ever After'', ''

Blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as ...

'', '' It's Garry Shandling's Show'', the '' Tales of the City'' miniseries, and '' Square Pegs''. In 1980, Sarducci appeared in ''

Gilda Live ''Gilda Live'' is a 1980 American comedy documentary film starring Gilda Radner, directed by Mike Nichols and produced by Lorne Michaels. Radner and Michaels and all of the writers involved with the production were alumni from the television progr ...

'', a film and an album recording based on Gilda Radner's successful one-woman show that had been playing on Broadway. In 1983, he appeared in a music video for the Rodney Dangerfield song "Rappin' Rodney", where he gave Rodney his last rites on death row, and helped himself to Rodney's french fries from his last meal. In 1984, he appeared in a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for the

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

song "No Way Out". In 1995, he appeared as a priest trying to perform an exorcism in the movie ''

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * Da ...

''. The same movie featured a cameo by his fellow ''SNL'' alumnus

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

as the Ghostbuster Ray Stantz.

Albums

He appeared on the 2002 album ''A Classic Rock Christmas'' performing the song "Santa's Lament" featuring Joe Walsh and Joe Vitale. The character also appeared on the

Handsome Boy Modeling School Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul ( Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted ...

albums '' So... How's Your Girl?'' and ''

White People White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

'', telling biographical stories of the life of a professional male model in the latter. Novello also released two

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

albums as Sarducci: ''

Breakfast in Heaven ''Breakfast in Heaven'' is a comedy album by Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello), released in 1986 by Warner Brothers. It was recorded at Washington Hall, University of Notre Dame. It was Novello's second album. Critical reception ''The Fresno Be ...

'' and ''Live at St. Douglas Convent.''

Additional appearances

He also appeared on the

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

show ''

Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories ...

'' on March 19, 2005, discussing '' The Da Vinci Code'' and his DaVinci Code Decoder Ring. In the 2001

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

animated film ''

Atlantis: The Lost Empire ''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' is a 2001 American animated science fiction film, science fiction action film, action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ...

'', Novello uses the voice and speech style of Father Sarducci to portray the character of demolitions expert Vinny Santorini. Sarducci was present at the First Annual "Geno Roast" at the Aqua Turf in Southington, Connecticut. He gave the prayer of invocation and roasted the UConn Huskies women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma. He also made a guest appearance on the April 30, 2005, broadcast of NPR and Chicago Public Radio's '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' news quiz show, commenting on the ascension of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

. He appeared on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

'' on June 23, 2010, claiming to have conducted an interview with Glenn Beck while visiting the Vatican.

Benediction

He delivered the benediction at the Stewart/Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear from the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 2010. He was wearing his classic white clerical collar, a long red-trimmed black coat with cape, zebra vest/jacket and black beret.Father Guido Sarducci Gives Benediction at Rally to Restore Sanity
; ''Long Island Press''; October 30, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarducci, Father Guido Saturday Night Live characters Television characters introduced in 1973 Fictional priests and priestesses Warner Records artists Saturday Night Live in the 1970s Saturday Night Live in the 1980s