Joel Fabiani (born September 28, 1936, in Watsonville, California) is an American film, television and theater actor. Known for his leading role in the British TV series Department S, Fabiani has guest starred in The FBI, Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, Banacek, Cannon, The Rockford Files and Starsky and Hutch. His film appearances include Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Reuben, Reuben (1983) and Tune In Tomorrow (1990), and he has also had recurring roles in soap operas such as Dallas, Dynasty, As the World Turns, and All My Children. Background Fabiani was born in Watsonville, California, as the youngest of three children to parents whose backgrounds were a mix of Italian, Austrian, Irish and Native American roots. The family moved a lot, so young Joel attended a total of no less than 17 different schools. After graduating from high school, he joined the Army, then went to college, where he earned a degree in English and became interested in acting. After graduation, he studied at the Actors Workshop in San Francisco for two years. Early years in theater At the San Francisco Actors Workshop, he learned acting, as well as stagecraft, and appeared in plays such as The Alchemist (1960, as Kastril), Saint's Day and Twinkling of an Eye, as well as classics such as King Lear. After two years at the Workshop, he moved to New York, where he started out playing in summer stock and Off-Broadway productions. He appeared in One Way Pendulum (1961), was an understudy for Robert Shaw and Alan Bates in a Broadway production of The Caretaker (1961), had his Broadway debut in "The Affair" (1962), and played in A Thousand Clowns, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and others, plus more Shakespeare, such as Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and Henry IV, Part 1, as well as the U.S. tour of Beyond The Fringe (1965). Television He became the star of a series of commercials for a cigarette, in which he played what Fabiani himself described as a "watered-down James Bond character", usually wearing a tuxedo and being surrounded by beautiful girls while smoking that particular brand of cigarette. His first small roles on television shows were in Love of Life, The Doctors, Look Up and Live, Dark Shadows, and Ironside Department S Fabiani and his wife moved to the United Kingdom, where he co-starred in Department S,