Frank D'Angelo

Frank D'Angelo (born April 23, 1959) is a Canadian entrepreneur best known for founding D'Angelo Brands and the now-defunct Steelback Brewery.

He is also known for his work in the entertainment industry, first as a singer and song writer who has 18 studio albums, then as the host of The Being Frank Show, a weekly paid programming late night talk show which aired in Ontario on Hamilton's CHCH-TV for 13 seasons and was available across Canada on Bell Satellite TV.

He is also a filmmaker who has released several feature-length films through his In Your Ear Productions.

D'Angelo was born in Toronto to Italian immigrants Giuseppe and Carmela D'Angelo.

His father owned Napoli Foods.

The younger D'Angelo showed an interest in business at an early age: at age 9 he outsourced his newspaper delivery of the Toronto Telegram to other children.

He had many sales positions, sometimes concurrently.

He purchased his first home at age 20.

D'Angelo started in the food industry working for his father until Napoli was sold to Saputo.

D'Angelo is founder and president of D'Angelo Brands, Inc., which produces and markets beverages and some canned food items in Canada.

It started in 1986 by selling apple juice door-to-door, and the company quickly grew to success with the financial backing of Canadian politician Al Palladini.

In September 2002, he started and was the CEO of Steelback Brewery.

Steelback commercials from 2002 to 2007 always starred Frank D'Angelo and presented him as a known celebrity (although he was relatively unknown) and the face of Steelback.

He has said that "I am the Brand".

Steelback invested around $15M per year on advertising.

The ads were often shown in high-cost slots during Hockey Night In Canada broadcasts.

Hockey related spots starred him and hockey celebrities such as Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker and Phil Esposito.

In 2006, the company purchased the naming rights to the Steelback Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, the new home of the Ontario Hockey League Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for $1.35 million over 10 years, a fee that went largely unpaid.

In early 2006 he expressed interest in reviving the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Renegades and renaming them the Ottawa Steelbacks but the league rejected him as an owner, with media speculating it was because he was "egotistical" and a "shameless publicity hound".

On December 18, 2006, D'Angelo declared an interest in buying the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL hockey team with his partner Barry Sherman.

His company filed for credit protection in late 2007.

He was replaced after the company's financial problems in late 2007.

On February 16, 2008, a numbered company owned by D'Angelo's family bought back D'Angelo Brands.

Cheetah Power Surge is an energy drink produced by D'Angelo Brands.

In one commercial, he interviewed Ben Johnson in a pretend talk show titled 'Being Frank', which would later become the title of his actual talk show.

By 2010, the Steelback Brewery was closed.

D'Angelo was criticized for his running of Steelback after reportedly racking up more than $120 million in debt, largely for advertising campaigns featuring himself with sports celebrities, before filing for bankruptcy protection from Steelback's list of more than 400 creditors, including Bernard Sherman's Apotex, Mike Cecere's advertising and marketing firms, the Toronto Argos, the Ottawa 67's, bars, small market teams and sports clubs and a few charities.

When Steelback went into receivership, D'Angelo had continued to spend $15 million per year on advertising despite only taking in revenues of $3 million per year.

He owed more than $100 million, plus another $20 million plus, to Barry Sherman's Wasanda Enterprises alone.

Canadian Business magazine described the Steelback operation as "a mistake from start to finish" not only due to mismanagement on the marketing front but poor packaging choices and the inconsistent quality of its beers.

D'Angelo owned the Forget About It Supper Club restaurant on King Street in Toronto.

He taped his talk show, The Being Frank Show with Frank D'Angelo in its basement, which he had turned into a studio, for five seasons before moving to his InYourEar Studios in Mississauga for another eight seasons.

The restaurant has since closed.

D'Angelo had owned it for 17 years.

In 2011, D'Angelo sparred with MMA fighter Francis Carmont, and a segment about the fight aired on Being Frank.

In March 2012, D'Angelo launched a sports-themed media website called Next Sport Star where he hosts a weekly show with Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Phil Esposito and former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Bill Watters.

The site was backed by the late Canadian pharmaceutical billionaire Bernard Sherman, who also backed D'Angelo in his Steelback Brewery enterprise.

After Toronto's Mayor John Tory stepped down in February, 2023, D'Angelo set up a GoFundMe page and a campaign website.

On March 22 he issued a press release announcing that he would be running in the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election.

His announced platform included six issues: improving the city's infrastructure, improving the city's transit system, improving climate change, getting homelessness to a much better place, increasing affordable housing, and improving the city's safety.