Rodolfo Mancuso (born 1992) is an American

Internet personality An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

, musician, writer, filmmaker, and actor. He is known for making comedy skits with his friends on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

as well as for being behind many voices in the YouTube channel ''Awkward Puppets''. He made his filmmaking debut in 2024 with ''

Música Musica (Latin), or La Musica (Italian) or Música (Portuguese and Spanish) may refer to: Music Albums * ''Musica è'', a mini album by Italian funk singer Eros Ramazzotti 1988 * ''Musica'', an album by Ghaleb 2005 * ), a German album by Giova ...

''.

Early life

Rodolfo Mancuso grew up in

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,802, an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2010 United St ...

, the son of an Italian-American father and a Brazilian mother, along with a sister, Marianna. Rudy attended

Glen Ridge High School Glen Ridge High School (GRHS) is a comprehensive six-year public middle school / high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades from Glen Ridge, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondar ...

and

Rutgers University Newark Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. He lived in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

for a while and speaks Portuguese fluently. He started playing the piano at the age of five.

Career

Mancuso started his

channel in 2013. He was often known for his Hispanic characters as well as his IRL videos. Mancuso's partnered with Shots Studios to create videos and launched his

channel in 2016. He has been featured on Comedy Central's ''

Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's executive p ...

'' and HBO's ''Outpost''. He also starred in YouTube Red's ''Keys of Christmas'' along with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

. ''Awkward Puppets'', a puppet series on the YouTube platform, is owned by Mancuso and Shots Studios. He was the opener for

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

Purpose World Tour The Purpose World Tour was the third concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, in support of his fourth studio album ''Purpose (Justin Bieber album), Purpose'' (2015). The tour started on March 9, 2016, in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, and ...

in Brazil's section of his Latin America shows in 2017.

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...

invited Mancuso to walk in their Milan Men's

Fashion Week A fashion week is a week-long fashion industry event where fashion designers, brands, or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media which influences upcoming fashion trends for the current and appro ...

Spring/Summer 2018 show on June 17, 2017. He performed and presented an award at the 2017 MTV Millennial Awards in Mexico. In July 2017, Mancuso performed at Villa Mix, in

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

for two consecutive days. On October 6, 2017, he released his first single, "Black & White," in collaboration with songwriter/producer

Poo Bear Jason Paul Douglas Boyd, known professionally as Poo Bear, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his songwriting work for Canadian singer Justin Bieber, having been credited on each of his albums since hi ...

. On October 7, 2017, Mancuso performed at the Villa Mix festival in São Paulo. Mancuso's next single, "Mama", was his first video single without a featured artist. The video, which he directed, featured Chantel Jeffries and according to ''Billboard'' evoked "odd nostalgia". He also released an original song coloration with

Alesso Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad (born 7 July 1991), better known by his stage name Alesso (), is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He has worked with numerous artists, including Tove Lo, Theo Hutchcraft, Ryan Tedder, Hailee Steinfeld, Ca ...

on the latter's channel. In 2018, Mancuso directed the music video for Lele

Pons The pons (from Latin , "bridge") is part of the brainstem that in humans and other mammals, lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla oblongata and anterior to the cerebellum. The pons is also called the pons Varolii ("bridge of ...

' debut solo single " Celoso" and the music video for

's single "REMEDY." Mancuso also directed the music video for O.A.R.'s single "Miss You All The Time" which was released in October 2018. Mancuso collaborated with fellow comedian and musician

Simon Rex Simon Rex Cutright (born July 20, 1974), known professionally as Simon Rex and his stage name Dirt Nasty, is an American actor and rapper. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for '' What I Like About You'', starring i ...

for the video "Storytelling" which was released on his channel July 2018. In September 2018, Mancuso joined O.A.R. at Red Rocks Amphitheater in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

for a performance. He and fellow Shots Studios artist Lele Pons hosted the 2018 Hispanic Heritage Foundation Awards show. The two performed Pons' "Celoso," with Mancuso playing the instrumental on the piano. In September 2018, Mancuso released his fourth single, "Lento." In October 2018, he released "Superhero Therapy" with

Lele Pons Eleonora "Lele" Pons Maronese ( ; born 25 June 1996) is an American and Venezuelan YouTuber, actress and singer. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform was shut down in 2016 where she was the most followed woman and the third most ...

Anwar Jibawi Anwar Jibawi (; born August 9, 1991) is an American internet personality notable for his videos on YouTube, and previously on the Vine (service), Vine app. Jibawi mostly creates comedic content and has over 10 million subscribers on YouTube and ...

, and

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), better known by his stage name King Bach ( ), is a Canadian-American Internet comedian and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, on which he was the most-followed user w ...

. The video is the most recent installment of his super hero series, which has over 68 million views total. In November 2018, Mancuso both performed and received an award at the 2018 ALMAs. The award was presented by fellow

Shots Studios Shots Podcast Network is a podcasting company founded by brothers John Shahidi and Sam Shahidi. The company was originally founded as a software development company named Rock Software in 2009, creating mobile games along with YouTube channels ...

star

. He also performed a cover of Queen's You're My Best Friend in support of Netflix's

Bohemian Rhapsody (film) ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' is a 2018 Biographical film, biographical musical film, musical drama (film and television), drama film that focuses on the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen (band), Queen, from the for ...

and the Mercury Phoenix Trust which was released to his YouTube channel. He also hosted the 'Concert for Tommy's Field', a charity event held at the Orpheum Theater in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Performances included

Bryce Vine Bryce Christopher Ross-Johnson"Tracey Ross Gives ...

, and others. Mancuso has produced sponsored videos working with companies such as

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

and

Clif bar Clif Bar & Company is an American producer of energy foods and drinks. The company's flagship product, Clif Bar, was created by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas. The company is based in Emeryville, California, and was privately held until 2022 when ...

which blend music and comedy. He also appeared in a video with basketball star

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

for Brita water filters.

Personal life

From 2015 to early 2022, Mancuso was in a relationship with Australian actress

Maia Mitchell Maia McCall Mitchell (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian actress and singer. Known for her work in film and television, she has received various accolades, including nominations for eight Teen Choice Awards. Born and raised in Lismore, ...

. As of 2020, Mancuso lives in

Studio City, Los Angeles Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in ...

. Since July 2022, Mancuso has been dating actress

Camila Mendes Camila Carraro Mendes (; ; born June 29, 1994) is an American actress. She made her acting debut portraying Veronica Lodge on The CW teen drama series '' Riverdale'' (2017–2023), for which she won a Teen Choice Award in 2017. Mendes transition ...

. The two first met on the set of ''

''.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Music videos

Film

Series

Television

References

External links

* * *
Rudy Mancuso
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Rudy Mancuso
on

Kinopoisk Kinopoisk (, a portmanteau of "cinema" and "search") is a Russian online database of information related to films, TV shows including cast, production team, biographies, plot summaries, ratings, and reviews. Since 2018 (as КиноПоиск HD) a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancuso, Rudy 1991 births Living people Actors from Glen Ridge, New Jersey American people of Italian descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Brazilian descent Glen Ridge High School alumni Male actors of Brazilian descent American emigrants to Brazil American Vine (service) celebrities Brazilian male comedians American male comedians Comedians from Essex County, New Jersey Male actors from New Jersey Comedians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Male actors from Rio de Janeiro (city)