Francesco Matano is an Italian comedian, television personality, YouTuber, and actor. Matano rose to prominence in 2008 through prank videos on YouTube, and was the first Italian YouTuber to surpass one million subscribers.

Frank Matano
Born
Francesco Matano

(1989-09-14) 14 September 1989 (age 35)
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • YouTuber
  • actor
  • voice actor
  • television personality
Years active2008–present
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]

Shortly following his online success, Matano eventually joined into the television industry. He starred in Le Iene, serving as an envoy and presenter. He was also a judge on Italia's Got Talent.

Biography

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Francesco Matano was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere in 1989 to an Italian father and an American mother. He grew up in Carinola but studied as a teenager in the United States, where he graduated from Cranston High School East in Rhode Island.[2] 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.[3][4] He briefly studied languages at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, but did not take any exams.

His first television appearance was in 2009, on the program Le Iene. The following year, he presented a program on Sky 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.[5] 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, also directed by Ruffini, released in cinemas on 9 October 2014.[6] Matano also began dubbing in 2014, performing in the Italian South Park 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 Italia's Got Talent. 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 on the Italian channel TV8. In 2021, he participated as a competitor in the Italian comedy show LOL - Chi ride è fuori.[7]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Role Notes
2013 Fuga di cervelli Franco Esposito Feature film debut
2014 Tutto molto bello Antonio
2015 What a Beautiful Surprise Paolo
2016 Zootopia Duke Weaselton (voice) Italian voice-over role
2018 Tonno spiaggiato Francesco
I'm Back Andrea Canaletti
2019 Beware the Gorilla Lorenzo Caputo
2021 Una notte da dottore Mario
Sing 2 Darius (voice) Italian voice-over role
2023 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Stratosphere (voice) Italian voice-over role

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2009–2013 Le Iene Himself/ Reporter Variety show (seasons 13–17)
2010 Sky Scherzando? Himself/ Host Comedy series
2011 Ti lascio una canzone Himself/ Co-host Talent show (season 5)
2012 Lost in Google Himself Webseries
2014 South Park Additional voices 2 episodes
2015 Scherzi a parte Himself/ Reporter Crossover version with Le Iene
Tale e quale show Himself/ Guest judge Variety/Talent show
2015–present Italia's Got Talent Himself/ Judge Talent show (season 6–present)
2016, 2018 Le Iene Himself/ Host Variety show (seasons 20, 22)
2017 The Comedians Frank Main role, 10 episodes
2018 Guess My Age Himself/ Guest Contestant for one episode
2021 LOL - Chi ride è fuori Himself Contestant (season 1)
2022 Himself/ Co-host Season 2
The Bad Guy Director on Stage Episode: "I Saw a Light"
Zootopia+ Duke Weaselton (voice) Main role; 6 episodes
2023 Gigolò per caso Luigi Main role

Music videos

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Year Title Artist(s) Notes
2013 "Ragazzo inadeguato" Max Pezzali
2017 "Volare" Fabio Rovazzi
2019 "Non avere paura" Tommaso Paradiso

References

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  1. ^ "Frank Matano chi è, età, altezza, fidanzata, genitori, fratello, vita privata, Lol, biografia e Youtube". blitzquotidiano.it. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  2. ^ (in Italian) Frank Matano, comico pigliatutto
  3. ^ (in Italian) Frank Matano - YouTube
  4. ^ (in Italian) "Gli scherzi telefonici d'autore che hanno conquistato il Web" Corriere della Sera, 3 dicembre 2008
  5. ^ (in Italian) www.fugadicervelli.it
  6. ^ (in Italian) Paolo Ruffini torna sul set: è "Tutto molto bello", astenersi depressi e tristoni - Cinema - Spettacoli - Repubblica.it
  7. ^ "LOL: Chi ride è fuori - Uscito il trailer dello show comico di Prime Video". MAM-e (in Italian). 19 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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