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In the late 1950s, songwriter and talent manager Vinny Vacari (Ray Sharkey) takes on Tomaso [=DeLorusso=] (Paul Land), a talented and charismatic saxophonist whom he persuades to become a singer instead. Vinny transforms him into the hugely popular TeenIdol Tommy Dee. When Tommy's ego starts to get out of control, Vinny recruits Guido (Creator/PeterGallagher), a sixteen-year-old busboy, and works to manufacture him into the singer Caesare despite his lack of talent. Meanwhile, Vinny begins a relationship with Brenda Roberts (Creator/TovahFeldshuh), the editor of the magazine ''Teen Scene''.

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In the late 1950s, songwriter and talent manager Vinny Vacari (Ray Sharkey) (Creator/RaySharkey) takes on Tomaso [=DeLorusso=] (Paul Land), (Creator/PaulLand), a talented and charismatic saxophonist whom he persuades to become a singer instead. Vinny transforms him into the hugely popular TeenIdol Tommy Dee. When Tommy's ego starts to get out of control, Vinny recruits Guido (Creator/PeterGallagher), a sixteen-year-old busboy, and works to manufacture him into the singer Caesare despite his lack of talent. Meanwhile, Vinny begins a relationship with Brenda Roberts (Creator/TovahFeldshuh), the editor of the magazine ''Teen Scene''.
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''The Idolmaker'' is a 1980 film written by Edward di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor Hackford with music by Jeff Barry, based on the life of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marcucci Bob Marcucci]].

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''The Idolmaker'' is a 1980 film written by Edward di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor Hackford Creator/TaylorHackford with music by Jeff Barry, based on the life of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marcucci Bob Marcucci]].
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In addition to Vinny being based on Bob Marcucci, Tommy Dee is based on Frankie Avalon, while Caesare is based on Music/{{Fabian}}.
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* SawItInAMovieOnce: Vinny introduces himself to Brenda by giving her yellow roses in order to get into her good graces. He explains, "I can't take all the credit. I stole it from Creator/ClarkGable. It was in an old movie with Creator/ClaudetteColbert. She was a magazine editor. And old Clark Gable needed a favor."
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* FlowersOfRomance: Guido brings wine and roses to Ellen's apartment.
* GroupieBrigade: Caesare's first proper show suffers from inadequate security, allowing girls to climb onstage and swarm him a few lines into the first song. Once Caesare is taken backstage, the girls are cleared off, and the security is beefed up, Vinny sends him back onstage wearing the same ripped shirt, which he [[ClothingDamage rips even more]] while he sings.


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* HollywoodHypeMachine: Vinny hangs up hundreds of posters of Guido's face with the caption "Caesare is here!" before he's even had a proper concert. This drums up enough publicity to draw a large crowd for his show.
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* ContractualPurity: In-universe example. Tommy and Guido aren't allowed to be seen smoking or drinking, and when Guido has an image-threatening affair with reporter Ellen (Maureen [=McCormick=]), Vinny gets her fired. Tommy grumbles that he's lucky he's allowed to jerk off.


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* PerformanceAnxiety: Guido gets so nervous before his first show that he sings terribly, causing the audience to laugh at him. About a minute into the song, he runs offstage and into the parking lot for a StressVomit.
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[[quoteright:254:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/idolmaker_2.jpg]]
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''The Idolmaker'' is a 1980 film written by Edward di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor Hackford with music by Jeff Barry, based on the life of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marcucci Bob Marcucci]].

In the late 1950s, songwriter and talent manager Vinny Vacari (Ray Sharkey) takes on Tomaso [=DeLorusso=] (Paul Land), a talented and charismatic saxophonist whom he persuades to become a singer instead. Vinny transforms him into the hugely popular TeenIdol Tommy Dee. When Tommy's ego starts to get out of control, Vinny recruits Guido (Creator/PeterGallagher), a sixteen-year-old busboy, and works to manufacture him into the singer Caesare despite his lack of talent. Meanwhile, Vinny begins a relationship with Brenda Roberts (Creator/TovahFeldshuh), the editor of the magazine ''Teen Scene''.
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!!''The Idolmaker'' contains examples of:
* AttemptedRape: Tommy invites a fourteen-year-old girl into his car, allegedly so he can give her a free record. Once they're in there, he starts aggressively kissing her, unbuttoning her sweater, and groping her thigh while she pushes him away and says, "Don't!" Vinny pulls them apart, buys the girl's silence with a stack of free records, and bawls Tommy out for endangering his image.
* HighSchoolDance: Tommy Dee's first show is at a junior high dance, where he follows a routine Vinny taught him in order to come across as nonthreatening. The girls love it. Their boyfriends are less pleased.
* WavingSignsAround: A girl holds a sign that says "I love Tommy Dee!"
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