Giancarlo "Gian" Sammarco (born 30 January 1970) is an English former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

and nurse. He is best known for playing the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

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 Academie ...

) 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 Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

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

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy ''The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'' is the fourth and final serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 14 December 1988 to 4 January 19 ...

'', and the geeky trainspotter in the '' Press Gang'' episode "

Something Terrible This is a list of television episodes from the British television show '' Press Gang''. ''Press Gang'' was produced by Richmond Film & Television for Central, and screened on the ITV network in its regular weekday afternoon children's strand, '' C ...

" (1990). His last acting role was in the 1990 children's

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' The ...

-style comedy series, ''Jackson Pace: The Great Years'', alongside Keith Allen and

Josie Lawrence Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence; 6 June 1959) is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and as Manda Best in ...

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 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