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Don Novello (born January 1, 1943, Lorain, Ohio)
is an United States|American, writer, film
director, producer, actor and comedian. 

Novello is best known for his work on NBC's
Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1987, as the
character "Father Guido Sarducci". 

Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many
television shows since then, including Married
with Children, Blossom, It's Garry Shandling's
Show, and Square Pegs. 

Novello made newspapers around the world when he
visited the Vatican City|Vatican wearing the full
Father Guido Sarducci costume and was arrested by
the Swiss Guards for "impersonating a priest". The
charges were later dropped. 

Novello started his career as a performer on The
Smothers Brothers Show in 1975. 

In the early 1980s, Novello produced SCTV, a
Toronto-based comedy show, which starred Martin
Short, Joe Flaherty, John Candy, Eugene Levy,
Andrea Martin, and Catherine O'Hara.

In the 1970s Novello started to write letters to
famous people under the pen name of Lazlo Toth
(name taken from that of a deranged man who
vandalized Michelangelo|Michelangelo's
Michelangelo's_Pietà |Pietà in Rome).  The
letters, designed to tweak the noses of
politicians and corporations, were full of
deliberate misstatements of fact and inside jokes.
 Many of these letters 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 (ISBN 1563052857), Citizen
Lazlo! (ISBN 1563051826), and From Bush to Bush:
The Lazlo Toth Letters (ISBN 0743251083).

In August 1981 Novello was arrested in Chelsea - a
smart area of London, England - outside the home
of a man named William Donaldson, against whom he
held a grudge. The London "Evening Standard"
newspaper reported him as saying, "I'll wring the
guy's neck if ever I get hold of him!"  Charges of
causing a breach of the peace were later dropped
when Novello accepted a police "invitation" to cut
short his vacation and return to the U.S.

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 (script)|Noble Rot", with John Belushi. 

In 1990, Novello portrayed "Dominic Abbandando" in
the film, "Godfather: Part III".

In 2003, he filed papers to enter the 2003
California recall election, but failed to 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. 

Don Novello currently resides in Marin County,
California.

His sister Antonia Novello
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/history/bion
ovello.htm was Surgeon General of the The U.S.
from 1990-1993.