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Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character created by AmericancomedianDon Novello. Sarducci is achain-smoking priest with tinted glasses, who works in the United States asgossip columnist androck critic for theVatican newspaperL'Osservatore Romano (sometimes mentioned asThe Vatican Enquirer, a take-off of theNational Enquirertabloid).
Novello created the character in 1973, after he purchased the outfit (consisting of big floppy black hat, whiteclerical collar, and a long, red-trimmed black coat with cape) for $7.50 at aSt. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. The character was featured in 1970s cartoons by theunderground cartoonistsDave Sheridan and Fred Schrier, appearing in person in the early 1970s onRowan & Martin's Laugh-In and later in the 1975The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His most prominent appearances were onSaturday Night Live 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 forHigh Times magazine, where he offered to perform blessings for a fee.
On his first appearance onSaturday Night Live, a sketch called "How to Pay for Your Sins" on a 1978 episode hosted byRichard Dreyfuss, he was on crutches from an injury suffered during a dress rehearsal sketch about hockey players. Most of his appearances onSNL have been onWeekend 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 toLondon to try to wake upPaul McCartney at 4:30 in the morning (11:30 p.m. in New York) by throwing coins, obnoxiously singingThe Beatles andWings songs, and finally, throwing a rock at the window—he says it works every time.
Sarducci appeared in fourcold opens in the1979–1980 season (on episodes hosted bySteve Martin,Teri Garr,Elliott Gould, andRodney Dangerfield), two commercial parodies ("MX-5 Tampons" on the 1981–1982 Christmas episode hosted byBill Murray and "Bocce Ball My Way" on the last episode of the 1985–1986 season hosted byAnjelica Huston andBilly Martin), and two monologues on the 1985–86 season (the first hosted byMadonna in a pretaped sketch showing Madonna's wedding to Sean Penn (played byRobert Downey, Jr.) 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 twoSNL episodes during the 1983–1984 season (whenDick Ebersol was executive producer) and cameoed during two 1990s episodes, most notably on aWeekend Update segment where he reports onPope John Paul II's missing wallet. Father Guido Sarducci has 31 appearances onSNL, the most of any of the recurring characters.
In 1981 Novello made newspaper headlines when he visitedVatican City wearing the Father Guido Sarducci costume to do a photo shoot forTime magazine. After taking pictures in an area where photography was prohibited, he and his photographer, Paul Solomon, were arrested by thePapal 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.
During the 1980s and 1990s Sarducci appeared on other television shows, includingFridays,Late Night with David Letterman,The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,Married... with Children,Unhappily Ever After,Blossom,It's Garry Shandling's Show, theTales of the City miniseries, andSquare Pegs. In 1980, Sarducci appeared inGilda Live, a film and an album recording based onGilda 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 amusic video for theJefferson Starship song "No Way Out". In 1995, he appeared as a priest trying to perform an exorcism in the movieCasper. The same movie featured a cameo by his fellowSNL alumnusDan Aykroyd as theGhostbuster Ray Stantz. In episode 11 of season four ofArcher, “Papal Chase”, Archer goes undercover at the Vatican, dressed exactly like Guido Sarducci.
He appeared on the 2002 albumA Classic Rock Christmas performing the song "Santa's Lament" featuringJoe Walsh andJoe Vitale.
The character also appeared on theHandsome Boy Modeling School albumsSo... How's Your Girl? andWhite People, telling biographical stories of the life of a professional male model in the latter. Novello also released twocomedy albums as Sarducci:Breakfast in Heaven andLive at St. Douglas Convent.
He also appeared on theMSNBC showCountdown with Keith Olbermann on March 19, 2005, discussingThe Da Vinci Code and his DaVinci Code Decoder Ring.
In the 2001Disney animated filmAtlantis: The Lost Empire, 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 inSouthington, Connecticut. He gave the prayer of invocation and roasted theUConn Huskies women's basketball coachGeno Auriemma. He also made a guest appearance on the April 30, 2005, broadcast of NPR and Chicago Public Radio'sWait Wait... Don't Tell Me! news quiz show, commenting on the ascension ofPope Benedict XVI.
He appeared onThe Colbert Report on June 23, 2010, claiming to have conducted an interview withGlenn Beck while visiting theVatican.[1]
He delivered thebenediction at the Stewart/ColbertRally 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.[2]
