Got a smallish one for you. There's a recurring joke about "Fabian" (possibly "Fabien"?), as heard in Girl's Town and Prince of Space ("He's Japanese Fabian!"). Googling "Fabian" got me Fabian Forte, a singer from the '50s and '60s who went by just Fabian, but I've got no clue if that is indeed the reference.
*I’ve been sitting on this ask for an embarrassingly longtime. My apologies.*
They probably were referencing Fabian Forte,who at the height of his fame was usually referredto by the mononym “Fabian.”
Fabian was a teen idol in the 50’s and 60’s. He had a few modest hits, and was profiled in the Tiger-Beat style magazines of the era. Your basic teen heart-throb.
Fabian was hot stuff at the time but he is, and always will be overshadowed by the quintessential idol of the era: Elvis Presley.
As seen above, Fabian was the poor man’s Elvis. So saying that someone is the Japanese version of the poor man’s Elvis is quite the backhanded compliment.He had a similar look and similar career trajectory (singing, acting, substance abuse)
His filmography is..what might be expected from American’sJapan’s Elvis. He was in a lot of knock-off films trying to skim some interest from more popular movies. Mostly surfer flicks and anachronism-filled genre films.
One of his more upscale roles was in thepolitically incorrectly-named adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel “Ten Little Indians” in 1965. (Why theydidn’t keep the alternate title of “And Then There Were None” that the1945 version used, I’ll never know) Fabian played an alcoholic jerk teen idol singer. SPOILERS for a 50 year-old movie. Hedies first. He’s the one seen choking in this trailer. Considering he’s thefirst to kick the bucket, its safe to say he wasn’t the star of the film.
Also of note is Fabian’s gig in “Doctor Goldfootand the Girl Bombs” opposite Vincent Price, which sounds like it reallyscreams out for riffing.
As is sadly common, Fabian’s career took a dive and hestarted to drink. He rallied in 1973 to pose for Playgirl (Do Not Google This.You will turn up a picture of Burt Reynold’s butt as collateral damage. If you must, this article has a few safe pictures of Forte’s photo spread). He then sank back into relative obscurity.
As of this writing, Fabian–who now goes by the full Fabian Forte–lives quietly in Pittsburgh, PA with his third wife.[x]
