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Jerry Russo

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Jerry Russo

Jerry Lair Return

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Character Statistics
Gender: Male
Age Group: 42-43 (Season 1)
43 (Season 2)
44-45 (Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie and Season 3)
45-46 (Season 4)
60-61 (WBWP Season 1)
61 (WBWP Season 2)
Birthday: c. 1965[1]
Height: 6'0"
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Talents: Magic (formerly), Spellcasting (formerly), Teaching Magic, Excellent Business Skills
Dislikes: His kids using magic irresponsibly
Spending money
Lives In: 57 Waverly Place, New York City
Species: Human (currently)
Full Wizard (formerly)
Wizard (formerly)
Guinea Pig (temporarily, in Report Card)
Wizard Bug (temporarily, in Dad's Buggin' Out)
Turtle (temporarily, in When You Wish Upon a Squonk)
Occupation: Spellp Hot-Line volunteer (currently)
Owner of Waverly Sub Station (formerly; retired)
Magic Teacher (formerly)
Russo Family Wizard (formerly)
Coach (formerly)
Relationships
Family:

Hank Russo (father)
Rose Russo (mother)
Megan Russo (younger sister)
Kelbo Russo (younger brother)
Theresa Russo (wife)
Justin Russo (eldest son)
Alex Russo (daughter)
Max Russo (youngest son)
Giada Russo (daughter-in-law)
Damian Pennwolf (son-in-law)
Roman Russo (grandson)
Milo Russo (grandson)
Billie Russo (granddaughter)
Magdalena (mother-in-law)
Unnamed Father-in-law
Ernesto (brother-in-law)
Carmela (paternal cousin)
Francesca (paternal first cousin once removed)
Bianca (paternal first cousin once removed)
Gino (paternal first cousin once removed)
Ignatius Russo † (paternal great-great-grandfather)

Friends: Harper Finkle
Zeke Beakerman
Professor Crumbs
Mason Greybeck
Juliet
Production Info
Portrayed by: David DeLuise
Season(s): WOWP 1, 2, 3, 4
WBWP 1
First Appearance: WOWP Crazy 10-Minute Sale
WBWP We're Gonna Need a Bigger Float
Last Appearance: WOWP Who Will Be The Family Wizard
The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex
WBWP When You Wish Upon a Squonk

Gerald "Jerry" Russo is one of the main characters in Wizards of Waverly Place and a special guest on Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. He is the eldest child and first-born son of Hank Russo and Rose Russo. Jerry is the husband of Theresa Russo and the father of Justin, Alex, and Max Russo. He is also the older brother of Megan and Kelbo Russo, the paternal grandfather of Roman and Milo Russo, and the maternal grandfather of Billie Russo. Additionally, he is the father-in-law of Giada Russo and Damian Pennwolf. He was born a wizard and having possessed magic powers as a child, he won the family wizard competition, but gave them to his brother, Kelbo Russo in order to marry Theresa, a mortal. Jerry instructs his children in the proper practices to be used when conducting magic. He owns the Waverly Sub Station and runs the restaurant with his wife. He is portrayed by David DeLuise.

Background[]

Personality[]

Jerry Russo is an overprotective father. He is stern, protective, and is constantly annoyed by his children. Although he does not have powers, his children inherited their powers from him. It is known that he wanted to be a bull rider for his backup plan. Jerry is smart, caring, goofy, silly, funny, sensitive, obsessive, and lazy. Jerry and his family live on Waverly Place, a street in downtown Manhattan, above their restaurant. In a few episodes, he has been known to call Theresa old.

Jerry is proud of his magical ancestry and teaches his children about new spells and the proper uses of magic in "Wizards Training Class" on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, his children often disobey his magic rules, and he has to punish them.

In the episode Alex in the Middle, it was revealed that Jerry was actually the one who won the competition for the family wizard. He defeated both Kelbo and their sister Megan, but since wizards can't marry non-wizards, he gave his powers to Kelbo so he could marry Theresa.

Megan is mad at him for giving his powers to Kelbo and not her, but he explains that it's because Kelbo needed them more than her; he added that while they would be fine without magic, Kelbo could not survive without powers. Jerry had also said that he had once used magic to try to impress a girl, such as in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, but it "didn't end up well", for he wound up marrying her.

Jerry as a bug

In First Kiss, Jerry had stated that the spell, McReary Time Reary was a life-saver for him when he was young, probably hinting that he often got into trouble as well.

Jerry's parents were mentioned in the Episode Hugh's Not Normous as Rose and Duke Russo. In Rock Around the Clock, his father's name was changed to Hank.

Biography[]

Jerry Russo was born in 1965, the firstborn child of Rose and Hank Russo. He grew up in a wizarding Italian-American household alongside his younger siblings, Kelbo and Megan Russo. As a child, Jerry possessed magical abilities and ultimately won the family wizard competition, becoming a full wizard.

In the late 1980s, shortly after she graduated from college, Jerry met Theresa while vacationing in the Caribbean. Their relationship quickly became serious, and when Jerry chose to marry Theresa, a mortal, he made the difficult decision to give up his powers, transferring them to his brother Kelbo Russo. Jerry and Theresa subsequently settled in Manhattan, where they raised their three children: Justin, Alex, and Max Russo.

The family lived above their business, the Waverly Sub Station, a sandwich shop originally owned by Jerry's father, Hank Russo, in the 1950s. Jerry and Theresa managed the restaurant for many years before eventually retiring and passing ownership of the business to their youngest son, Max.

The couple later became grandparents to two grandsons, Roman and Milo Russo, born to their eldest son Justin and his wife, Giada, as well as one granddaughter, Billie, born to their daughter Alex and her husband, Damian Pennwolf. All three grandchildren live with Justin's family in Staten Island.

Relationships[]

Family[]

Friends[]

Love Interest(s)[]

See Also: Jerry and Theresa

Appearances[]

Wizards of Waverly Place[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Season 3[]

Season 4[]

Films[]

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Quotes[]

TBA

Trivia[]

Alex and Jerry
JerryBugsOut
  • As his cousin, Carmela calls him "Geraldo" it implies his first name is actually "Gerald.".
  • He is Italian, as revealed in Quinceañera. His actor David DeLuise is also of Italian descent.
  • Justin is very much like Jerry, as shown in the episode Retest.
  • Jerry is also very much like his grandson Roman Russo.
  • Jerry and Alex also share many similarities with each other, both tend to be very lazy, love food, and love eating.
  • Jerry and his brother Kelbo Russo are similar to each other as well, both are goofy guys, but Kelbo more so than Jerry.
  • His old wand from his childhood, which he calls "Ole Black Licorice," greatly resembles a typical magician's wand. It is a straight, black shaft with a white tip on one end. He lets Max borrow it in Crazy Ten Minute Sale, but he accidentally sits on it and breaks it.
  • Jerry's great-great-grandfather Ignacius Russo wrote the very first joke book about giants, to which Jerry denies any knowledge of.
  • Both he and Theresa possess things they love that the other hates and are constantly trying to get rid of.
  • Jerry and Theresa met on a holiday. In The Movie it was revealed that it happened in the summer right after Theresa finished college, making her around 22 or 23 when they met.
  • It was revealed in Rock Around the Clock, that his father gave him his first-time machine, as part of his wizard training.
  • In the series finale, Who Will Be The Family Wizard, he stated the family business would be passed down to Max since Justin and Alex kept their powers, but Max didn't.
  • His high school classmates are all named after the '70s & '80s movie character: Ponyboy (The Outsiders, 1983), John Bender (The Breakfast Club, 1985), and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980).
  • Jerry Russo is very similar to Bob Duncan from Good Luck Charlie.
  • Jerry Russo is similar to Vic Madden from the Disney channel original series Villains of Valley View. Both Jerry and Vic gave up their powers in order to be with the person they loved, as Jerry was a wizard who gave up his powers and became a mortal to marry Theresa, a mortal woman because wizards can’t marry non-magical beings, while Vic was a superhero who had his powers taken away by his family after choosing to be with the supervillain Surge, who had fallen in love with and became a supervillain, and both have three kids with powers.

References[]

  1. ↑ Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie: Jerry first met Theresa on vacation at a resort the summer after she graduated from college. Assuming they were around the same age, he would have been about 22–23 at the time, around 24 when they married, and 25 when Justin was born.
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