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 film, 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 associ ...

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 ''The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾'' is the first book in the Adrian Mole series of comedic fiction, written by Sue Townsend. The book is written in a diary style, and focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenager who believes h ...

'' (1985) and its sequel, ''

The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole ''The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole'', is an epistolary novel by Sue Townsend. It is the second in the Adrian Mole series. It focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenage aspiring intellectual and, like its predecessor, takes the form of a d ...

'' (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) in that town. The artistic director of the Royal Theatre in Northampton, Michael Napier Brown, 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, having been suggested by Michael Napier Brown. Napier Brown also recommended another actor,

Lindsey Stagg Lindsey Anne Stagg (born 1970) is an English former child actor known for playing Pandora Braithwaite in the television dramatisations of '' The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾'' (1985) and its sequel, '' The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole'' ...

, 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' hai ...

. 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 Desmond Bernard O'Connor (12 January 1932 – 14 November 2020) was an English comedian, singer and television presenter. He was a long-time ...

'' (1985), co-presenting the first series of the children's Saturday morning show ''

Get Fresh ''Get Fresh'' is a children's television programme that originally aired from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom. Format A Saturday-morning kids' TV show, broadcast on the Children's ITV network, the show featured Gareth Jones (aka Gaz Top), ...

'' (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 u ...

'' 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 198 ...

'', and the geeky trainspotter in the ''

Press Gang ''Press Gang'' is a British children's television comedy drama consisting of 43 episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993. It was produced by Richmond Film & Television for Central, and screened on the ITV network in i ...

'' episode " Something Terrible" (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, '' Th ...

-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 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 Ho ...

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 The ''Daily Record'' is a national tabloid newspaper which is published online also based in Glasgow, Scotland. The newspaper is published Monday-Saturday while the website is updated on an hourly basis, seven days a week. The ''Records sis ...

'' 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