Fabian (entertainer) - Later Years

Later Years

After 1965 his film career began to fade, along with his popularity as a teen idol. He made several films for American International Pictures, including a role as Pretty Boy Floyd in A Bullet for Pretty Boy (1970). He also played Josh Ashley in Little Laura and Big John (1973) for Crown International Pictures.

In 1973 he began singing again. He retired once more in 1977, then resumed performing in 1981. Forte never regained his teenage popularity, but has continued performing. Recently he has been appearing with Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell to perform concerts as The Golden Boys.

The 1980 film The Idolmaker, written by Edward Di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor Hackford, was a thinly-disguised biography of Fabian (called "Caesare" in the film), as well as songwriter/producer Marcucci (called "Vinnie Vacarri") and Frankie Avalon (called "Tommy Dee"). In the movie version, singer Caesare—a pretty boy with little singing talent—goes through a whirlwind of success in a short time, and in a fit of pique, he abruptly fires his songwriters and quits his record label. The real-life Fabian threatened a lawsuit at the time of the picture's release, though the filmmakers insisted that the movie presented only fictional characters (even though Marcucci was a paid consultant on the film). Fabian claimed they settled out of court, where he and his wife received apologies and Marcucci's 7.5% ownership of the film passed to Fabian.

He appeared in a 1982 television commercial for The Idols of Rock n' Roll and in the 2005 documentary film The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania.

In his latest endeavor, Fabian hosts and headlines in the hit show The Original Stars of Bandstand at The Dick Clark Theater in Branson, Missouri. The show stars Fabian and Bobby Vee and features The Chiffons, Brian Hyland, Chris Montez and rare footage of the performers and Dick Clark.