Antonio Sabato Jr. -- Bio
Antonio Sabato Jr. once overlooked Time Square from a 90-foot billboard dressed only in his Calvin Klein underwear. The iconic fashion designer hired the actor to be the company’s first celebrity model since Mark Wahlberg and it was shot by famed photographer, Herb Ritts. That combination caused a sensation when the photos appeared in every magazine and hundreds of billboards throughout the world.
His big break came, at the start of his career, when he was cast in the infamous Janet Jackson video “Love Will Never Do Without You,” shot by Herb Ritts. Everything started, however, when Antonio joined the cast of ABC’s General Hospital in the spring of 1992. The show jumped from seventh to third in the daytime Nielsen ratings. That same year, Antonio landed a coveted spot in People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” issue. Antonio reprised his famed General Hospital character, Jagger Cates on SoapNet’s Night Shift and also starred on the popular CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful playing a role created specifically for him. Growing up in Rome,
Since then, Antonio Sabato, Jr. has had a long and varied career which recently included starting in the upcoming film One Nation Under God, also guest-starring on roles on ABC’s, Castle, ABC Family’s Baby Daddy, as well as on Bones and Hot In Cleveland. He was seen in Investigation Discovery’s Heartbreakers, FX’s The League and you could tune in every weekday to see him host his own syndicated renovation show, Fix It & Finish It. The half hour program took viewers around the country to find homes, cabins, RV’s and even tree houses that needed a makeover both inside and out. Antonio and his team of contractors and designers went in and did their magic all in one day with renovation results that astounded and change lives. While shooting Fix It and Finish It, Antonio was asked to join the cast of Dancing With The Stars, an offer he couldn’t refuse, so he was demolishing houses by day and dancing with pro-partner, Cheryl Burke by night. He managed to keep up a hectic schedule and delight fans of both shows with his dancing and handy household hints.
Other credits included TNT’s, Rizzoli & Isles, CBS’s, CSI: New York and NCIS, ABC’s comedy Scrubs and Ugly Betty. He also played Heather Locklear’s abusive ex-husband in a six-episodes of Melrose Place and appeared on Charmed, Ally McBeal and The Help.
He had his own reality series, My Antonio, for VH1. He won NBC’s Celebrity Circus where he performed nearly impossible “Cirque du Soleil-esque” acts then followed that up with a win on Fox’s diving special, Stars In Danger in 2014. Antonio was seen in in Little Women, Big Cars II, director Penelope Spheeris’ comedy, Balls to the Wall, with a cameo role in the Farrelly brothers hit film, The Three Stooges.
Antonio played the lead role as serial killer Henry Lee Lucas in the indie feature Drifter: The Henry Lee Lucas Story, for which he won Best Actor at The 2009 Beverly Hills Film Festival, starring opposite Mark Wahlberg and Lou Diamond Phillips in The Big Hit.
Antonio’s first language is Italian and he didn’t learn to speak English until he moved to Los Angeles in 1984 with his mom, dad and sister. He is a fitness and auto-racing enthusiast, and actually raced at the Indianapolis Speedway in the Porche Cup. He is an accomplished author of his book No Excuses: Workout for Life and now his latest work, SABATO The Untold Truth. Antonio is a devoted father to his three children and a proud supporter of US veterans and law enforcement.