- Took acting lessons from Leonard Nimoy.
- Posed nude for "Playgirl" magazine in 1973, but regretted the attempt for renewed publicity, claiming he looked "fat and stupid."
- Rock-and-roll folklore has it that he was sitting on his front porch stairs in acute despair over his family's extreme poverty and health problems when he was approached by two music promoters, Robert P. Marcucci and Peter De Angelis, and asked if he wanted to be a pop star.
- His initial records didn't click, but appearances on Dick Clark's Bandstand (1952) made him a huge overnight success.
- Older brother of Florida Marlins' TV broadcaster Frank Forte.
- Occasionally tours with Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell. He and Avalon were discovered by Robert P. Marcucci, the owner of Chancellor Records. Their formative years with Marcucci was the basis for The Idolmaker (1980).
- In 2006 he was performing at the brand-new Dick Clark Theater in Branson, MO, and touring throughout the country.
- Awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 7065 Hollywood Blvd.
- As of 2006, was living in southwestern Pennsylvania with his wife, Andrea.
- On foreign language publicity for his films, he is sometimes credited by his birth name: Fabiano Forte.
- Inducted into the Philadelphia Hall of Fame on November 17, 2000.
- Mentioned in "The Jack Benny Program" (1950) {Jack Casting for TV Special (#11.11)}.
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