Eugenio Ghiozzi (born 1 March 1955), best known by his stage name Gene Gnocchi, is an Italian television presenter, comedian and former footballer. Gnocchi was born in Fidenza into a working-class family. He was an aspiring vocalist in a rock band when he was younger, and also has a degree as a lawyer; however, both these different roads produced quite unsuccessful results. He took advice from the general public and took the road of a comedian. He started to appear on the then unknown stage of Milan's Zelig in the 1980s, as well as an emerging comedian on the Maurizio Costanzo Show.