MovieChat Forums > The Idolmaker (1980) Discussion > Did Fabian sue the Idolmaker?

Did Fabian sue the Idolmaker?

posted 18 years ago by Msowen7
5 replies | jump to latest

I recently bought the DVD of The Idolmaker. I saw the film with my Dad in 1980 and remember they handed out programs. I recall someone in the audience (reading the program before the film started) said that "Marcia Brady" was in the film (after seeing Maureen McCormack in the cast list). I loved the film when I first saw it in 1980 at age 15 and still love it today at age 40. I thought it was strange that I could still remember the songs 25 years later (because I only saw it once and never owned the soundtrack).

I thought I read somewhere shortly after I saw the Idolmaker that Fabian sued the film because it was based on his life story. Does anyone know what happened with the lawsuit or if it ever went to court?

I heard some samples of Fabian's songs on Amazon.com and I can't believe how terrible they were. Now I know why people consider him the worst singer ever to hit the top 40! I have no interest in buying any of his CDs (there are few and there is little interest in his music today). His career in music basically ended with the payola scandal of the 1960s, and it was revealed that his records were doctored significantly to improve his voice. Esquire once wrote back in the late 1950s or early 1960s that teenagers saw in Fabian a "mirror image of their own mediocrity". I wonder what reflections of themselves teenagers of today see in contemporary pop singers or shows like "American Idol"?

Actually, I just bought an import Frankie Avalon CD last night at Tower Records because it had a really cool image of Frankie standing in front of a red 1957 Ford Fairlane. My mother told me she liked Frankie back in the 50s when she was just 13 and in the eighth grade (she bought his 45 rpm singles "Venus", "Boy Without A Girl", "Bobby Sox to Stockings", etc). I also learned in the CD's liner notes that Frankie's real last name is "Avallone" which he changed the spelling slightly to "Avalon" (I always thought his name was made up to sound like a knight in shining armor or evoke images of King Arthur and Camelot!).

[–] TheBoz 10 years ago

From WIKI

"The real-life Fabian Forte launched a $64 million lawsuit at the time of the picture's release, claiming the film made him look like "a totally manufactured singer, a mere pretty face without any singing ability of acting talent."[31] The filmmakers insisted that the movie presented only fictional characters (even though Marcucci was a paid consultant on the film).

Forte claimed they settled out of court, where he and his wife received apologies and Marcucci's 7.5% ownership of the film passed to Forte.[14"]

[–] HowYaLikeDemApplesWill 8 years ago

So since this movie, although a cult classic today, was a bust at the box office, he got 7.5% of zero?

Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

[–] FourHbcaps 8 years ago

Don't know anything about the results of a lawsuit. But I do know that Fabian had about a three or four-note vocal range, and one of the greatest songwriting teams from the Brill Building in the 1950s and 1960s (Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman) wrote songs for him and this limited range, which did become hits (Turn Me Loose, Tiger, Hound Dog Man, etc.). Back then (after Elvis went into the army in 1958) looks WERE more important than talent. But that's no different from any other era of pop music.

[–] robert4770 8 years ago

Don't forget Fabian had a pretty successful movie career also, he was a pretty good actor.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

Define “pretty good,”

He was in The Longest Day, along with 1/3 of all Hollywood.

Bobby V and Bonny Rydell and Freddy Cannon kicked his ass.