Adamo Angelo Ruggiero (born June 9, 1986) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

actor best known for his role as Marco Del Rossi in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''.

Career

Ruggiero has been acting since the age of seven or eight. He has starred in many plays including ''

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on C ...

'' and ''

Bye Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The play's book was influenced by El ...

''. After initially auditioning for the role of Craig Manning, a role played by Jake Epstein, he joined the ''Degrassi'' cast in 2002 with the role of Marco Del Rossi, a gay teenager who struggles to come to terms with his sexuality. Ruggiero hosted '' The Next Star'' from 2008 until 2012. In November 2008, it was announced that Ruggiero would star in the gay-themed

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

film '' Make the Yuletide Gay''. Principal filming started December 3, 2008. In 2012, Ruggiero starred in the Young People's Theatre's production of ''

The Neverending Story ''The Neverending Story'' () is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. It was later adapted into a film series and a television series. Plot T ...

''. In 2013, Ruggiero participated in

Salvatore Antonio Salvatore Antonio is a Canadian actor and playwright. Early life He was born Salvatore Antonio Alessandro Migliore in Toronto, Ontario. He attended an enriched Arts programme at Unionville High School, and upon graduating he was one of 10 stu ...

's ''Truth/Dare: A Satire (With Dance)'', an interactive

audience participation An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

show which featured staged reenactments of scenes from

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

's 1991 film ''

Truth or Dare Truth or dare? is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a "dare". The game is particularly popular among adolescents and children, and is so ...

'', at Buddies in Bad Times during Toronto's Pride Week."Truth/Dare takes on the Material Girl"
''

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'', June 20, 2013. The show's cast also included Keith Cole and

Gavin Crawford Gavin Crawford (born 2 April 1971) is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for ''The Gavin Crawford Show'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He currently hosts the panel show, ''Because News'', on CBC Radio One. Early life Crawford was bo ...

Personal life

Ruggiero's father, Tony, was born in Coreno Ausonio,

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, Italy. Ruggiero's mother's name is Amalia. He has an older brother named Adriano, and he is from an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family. Ruggiero attended the Roman Catholic St. Dunstan Elementary School and graduated from Cawthra Park Secondary School, both in

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

. Ruggiero is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

, having

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in January 2008 saying "I come from a traditional Italian family but they aren't so traditional that me being gay was a deal breaker." He was also on the cover of the January 23 – February 5, 2008 issue of ''

fab Fab or FAB may refer to: Commerce * Fab (brand), a frozen confectionery * Fab (website), an e-commerce design web site * Fab, a digital asset marketplace by Epic Games * The FAB Awards, a food and beverage award * FAB Link, a European electricity ...

magazine''.''fab'', #338, January 23 – February 5, 2008, "High school confidential", Nelson Branc

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggiero, Adamo 1986 births Living people 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian gay actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian television personalities Canadian television variety show hosts LGBTQ Roman Catholics Male actors from Mississauga