Frank Matano

Francesco Matano is an Italian comedian, television personality, YouTuber, and actor. He rose to prominence in 2008 through his YouTube channel, where he gained widespread recognition for his phone prank videos. He was first Italian YouTuber to surpass one million subscribers.

Frank Matano
Born
Francesco Matano

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

In addition to his online success, Matano expanded his presence in the television industry. He starred in Le Iene, where he served as an envoy and presenter. He was also a judge on Italia's Got Talent.

Biography

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 during his teenage years, he studied in the United States, graduating from Cranston High School East, 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 videos of telephone pranks and social experiments.[3][4] For a short period, he attended the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, studying languages, however, he 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, together with Jacopo Morini, and then appeared in the video of the song "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 the world of 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, lending his voice to the Italian South Park series. In 2015 he appeared on television as an envoy of Le Iene presentano: Scherzi a parte, planning jokes with victims Paolo Brosio and Ruffini. In the same year, he returns to the cinema and takes part, together with Claudio Bisio, in the film What a Beautiful Surprise, directed by Alessandro Genovesi and in cinemas from 11 March 2015. He also returned to television as a judge in Italia's got talent. In May 2015, he was announced "Revelation of the year" at the 2015 TV Direction Award.

In 2016 he presented Le Iene with Ilary Blasi and Giampaolo Morelli on Sunday. From 16 October 2016, Matano presented the midweek episode, always supporting the same colleagues. Towards the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, he dubbed Duke Donnolesi in Zootropolis, where he collaborates with Paolo Ruffini who dubbed the character of Yax. 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

Films

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

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

Music videos

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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