After graduating from the University of Dayton, Novello worked as an advertising copywriter in New York, then joined a San Francisco comedy troupe ("The Chicken Little Comedy Hour") in 1972. He worked as a writer and actor for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (CBS, 1975) and "Van Dyke and Company" (NBC, 1976), before joining "Saturday Night Live" in 1978, playing his first Father Guido Sarducci sketch on crutches (he'd broken his hip rehearsing a hockey sketch). Besides acting, Novello wrote many of the show's gentler sketches, including the running Greek restaurant and Scotch Tape boutique set pieces.
Leaving "SNL" in 1980 with Gilda Radner, he co-wrote (and co-starred in) her Broadway show "Gilda Live" (1979) and its subsequent film version. He continued working in TV, as one of the producers of "SCTV Network" (NBC, for its 1982 season), and writing specials, including "Blondes vs. Brunettes" (ABC, 1984), "Our Planet Tonight" (NBC, 1987) and "Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer" (Cinemax, 1987). He appeared in a number of specials as Sarducci: "Not Necessarily the News of the World" (HBO, 1988); "La Pastorela" (PBS, 1991); and "Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City'" (PBS, 1994). He also popped up in several series: "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (Fox, 1988); "Blossom" (NBC, 1993); and "Married . . . With Children" (Fox, 1995). Dropping his alter ego, he played in "Room for Romance" (a CBS pilot of 1990) and "Midnight Caller" (1991).
Novello has also made nearly a dozen big screen appearances, both as Sarducci ("Gilda Live" 1980 and "Casper" 1995), and in small character roles. His non-Sarducci films have veered from three big-budgeted collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola ("Tucker: The Man and His Dream" 1988, the Coppola segment of "New York Stories" 1989 and "The Godfather, Part III" 1990), to such forgettable efforts as "Head Office" (1986), "The Spirit of '76" (1990), "Teenage Bonnie and Klepto Clyde" (1993) and the shelf-warmer "One Night Stand" (released 1995).