Jerry Russo

Jerome Pepe "Jerry" Russo was born on June 24, 1970, is Theresa's husband, and father to Alex, Max, and Justin. 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. 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.
Jerry Russo is the average 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 lives on Waverly Place, a street in downtown Manhattan with his mortal wife Theresa Russo and his children: Alex, Justin, and Max. In a few episodes, he has been known to call his wife, 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. Jerry also has three nephews born to his younger brother Kelbo, Trevor who is 17, Graeme who is 14, and Kim who is 12.
In the episode, "Alex in the Middle", it was revealed that Jerry was actually the one who won the competition for family wizard. Theresa explained that he beat Kelbo, but since wizards can't marry non-wizards, he gave his powers to Kelbo so he could marry Theresa. Their sister 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 live 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.
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 gets into trouble as well.
Jerry's parents were also mentioned in the episode "Hugh's Not Normous" as Rose and Hank Russo.
==Trivia==
*He is Italian, as revealed in "Quinceañera".
*Justin is very much like Jerry, as shown in the episode Retest.
*His full name was revealed as Jerome Pepe "Jerry" Russo.
*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 Ignatius Russo wrote the very first joke book about Giants.
*He gave Kelbo the power of winning the wizard competition to marry Theresa.
*Both he and Theresa openly admit they are terrible parents.
*Both he and Theresa possess things they love that the other hates and are constantly trying to get rid of.
Category:Wizards of Waverly Place characters