Francesco Matano is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, and actor. Matano rose to prominence in 2008 through prank videos on YouTube, and was the first Italian YouTuber to surpass one million subscribers. Shortly following his online success, Matano eventually joined into the television industry. He starred in ''

Le Iene ''Le Iene'' (; , referencing the Italian name of Quentin Tarantino's 1992 movie '' Reservoir Dogs'') is an Italian television program. The program ''Le Iene'' is a television program broadcast on the Italian channel Italia 1. Beginning in 1997, ...

'', serving as an envoy and presenter. He was also a judge on

Italia's Got Talent ''Italia's Got Talent'' is the Italian version of the international ''Got Talent'' series. The pilot episode was aired on 12 December 2009 on Canale 5 and it was seen by 5.3 million people. After this episode, Mediaset decided to hold on this s ...

''.''

Biography

Francesco Matano was born in

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Santa Maria Capua Vetere is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, in southern Italy. Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and its proximity to the Roman amphit ...

in 1989 to an Italian father and an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mother. He grew up in

Carinola Carinola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located c. northwest of Naples, c. northwest of Caserta, and c. southeast of Rome. Carinola borders the following municipalities: Falciano del ...

but studied as a teenager in the United States, where he graduated from Cranston High School East in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. In 2007, at the age of 18, he found success online with his YouTube channel in Italy. His videos consist mainly of telephone pranks and social experiments. He briefly studied languages at the

University of Cassino and Southern Lazio The University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale'')—Unicas—was established in 1979. It is an Italian public university whose headquarters is in Cassino, while three branches a ...

, but did not take any exams. His first television appearance was in 2009, on the program ''

''. The following year, he presented a program on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

dedicated to telephone pranks called ''Sky Scherzando?'' In 2011, he participated in the program Ti lascio una canzone by Antonella Clerici, conducting short interviews with the cast. In 2012, he participated in the ''Lost in Google'' web series with the JackaL, and in September of the same year participated in ''2012 Prima di morire'' on La3 alongside Jacopo Morini. He also appeared in the music video for "Ragazzo inadeguato" by Max Pezzali. In 2013, he made his acting debut in '' Fuga di cervelli'', directed by

Paolo Ruffini Paolo Ruffini (22 September 1765 – 10 May 1822) was an Italian mathematician and philosopher. Education and career By 1788 he had earned university degrees in philosophy, medicine/surgery and mathematics. His works include developments in a ...

. During the same year, he created a second channel on YouTube dedicated to video games called "FRANK MATANO Games". In 2014 he starred in ''

Tutto molto bello ''Tutto molto bello'' is a 2014 Italian comedy film directed by Paolo Ruffini. Cast *Paolo Ruffini as Giuseppe * Frank Matano as Antonio *Gianluca Fubelli as Eros *Nina Seničar as Eva *Angelo Pintus as Serafino *Chiara Francini Chiara Francin ...

'', also directed by Ruffini, released in cinemas on 9 October 2014. Matano also began

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

in 2014, performing in the Italian ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'' translation. In 2015 he appeared on television as an envoy of ''Le Iene presentano: Scherzi a parte'', planning jokes on victims Paolo Brosio and Ruffini. That same year he starred alongside Claudio Bisio in the film '' What a Beautiful Surprise'', directed by Alessandro Genovesi. He also served as a judge in

. In May 2015, he was announced "Revelation of the year" at the TV Direction Awards. From 16 October 2016, Matano presented the midweek episodes of Le Iene with Ilary Blasi and Giampaolo Morelli. Towards the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, he voiced Duke Donnolesi in '' Zootropolis''. In November 2017, together with Claudio Bisio, he presented ''The Comedians'', broadcast on TV8. In 2018 he starred in the film I'm Back, directed by Luca Miniero. Also in 2018, he was the protagonist of another film'' Tonno spiaggiato'', directed by Matteo Martinez. On 4 February 2018, he participated as a competitor along with Iva Zanicchi on the special edition of ''Guess My Age - Indovina l'età'' led by

Enrico Papi Enrico Papi (born 3 June 1965) is an Italian television presenter. TV Rai * '' Fantastico bis'' (Rai 1, 1988–1990) * ''Unomattina'' (Rai 1, 1990–1994) * '' La Banda dello Zecchino'' (Rai 1, 1992) * '' Unomattina Estate'' (Rai 1, 1992� ...

on the Italian channel TV8. In 2021, he participated as a competitor in the Italian comedy show ''

LOL - Chi ride è fuori LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud, and a popular element of Internet slang, which can be used to indicate amusement, irony, or double meanings. It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread ...

''.

Filmography

Films

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matano, Frank 1989 births Italian YouTubers Living people People from Santa Maria Capua Vetere Male actors from Campania Italian male comedians