Giancarlo "Gian" Sammarco (born 30 January 1970) is an English former child actor and nurse. He is best known for playing the title role in the television dramatisations of '' The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾'' (1985) and its sequel, '' The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole'' (1987).

Early life and education

Born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

, England, the son of Jacqueline and Pietro Salvatore Sammarco, Gian Sammarco is one of a large family of Italian descent. He attended Kingsthorpe Upper School (now

Kingsthorpe College Kingsthorpe College ''(KC)'', formerly Kingsthorpe Community College and before that Kingsthorpe Upper School, is a secondary school with academy status in Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire. In 2012 it became a member of the Collaborative Academies ...

) in that town. The artistic director of the Royal Theatre in Northampton,

Michael Napier Brown Michael Patrick Napier-Brown (17 March 1937 – 18 August 2016) was a British actor, theatre director, and playwright who was the chief executive and artistic director of the Royal Theatre in Northampton for over 20 years. Early years Born in ...

, selected Sammarco from 200 boys who auditioned to appear in his first theatre production, '' The Innocents''.

Career

He was among 100 boys auditioned by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

for the role of

Adrian Mole Adrian Albert Mole is the fictional protagonist in a series of books by English author Sue Townsend. The character first appeared (as "Nigel") as part of a comic diary featured in a short-lived arts magazine (called simply ''magazine'') publi ...

, having been suggested by

. Napier Brown also recommended another actor, Lindsey Stagg, also from Northampton, who won the role of

Pandora Braithwaite Dr Pandora Louise Elizabeth Braithwaite is a fictional character in the ''Adrian Mole'' series of books by Sue Townsend. In the books, Pandora is the love of Adrian's life. Pandora is beautiful (Adrian especially loves her 'treacle-coloured' hair ...

. In 1987 he toured the UK in the play ''Widow's Weeds'' by Anthony Shaffer. Apart from the two series of 'Adrian Mole', Sammarco's other television appearances included an interview on ''

Des O'Connor Tonight ''Des O'Connor Tonight'' is a British light entertainment variety show hosted by Des O'Connor. It was originally broadcast on BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It ...

'' (1985), co-presenting the first series of the children's Saturday morning show '' Get Fresh'' (1986), playing Whizzkid in the 1988 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' story '' The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'', and the geeky trainspotter in the '' Press Gang'' episode " Something Terrible" (1990). His last acting role was in the 1990 children's Indiana Jones-style comedy series, ''Jackson Pace: The Great Years'', alongside Keith Allen and Josie Lawrence.

Personal life

In August 1990, Sammarco married Stephanie Bates at the Northampton Register Office. Bates was a fan of the Adrian Mole series and had written to him regularly until the relationship blossomed. Sammarco and Bates had a son, Jon, who was born 19 January 1992. Sammarco then gave up acting soon after the birth of his son and trained as a nurse. He is now a psychiatric nurse at the

Berrywood Hospital Berrywood Hospital is a modern psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Duston, Northampton. It is managed by Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital, which was built in the grounds of the former St Crispin's Hos ...

in Northampton. In 1998, he subsequently married Joanne Young, a nursing colleague, and continues to live in Northampton.'The Strange Secret Life of Adrian Mole, 29 3 /4; Growing Pains: Twice Married Giancarlo Sammarco Goes From Child Star to Geriatric Nurse'
'' Scottish Daily Record'' 1999

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sammarco, Gian 1970 births Actors from Northamptonshire English male child actors English male television actors English people of Italian descent Living people People from Northampton