Pivaro was born in Manchester, England. After studying acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Pivaro made his acting debut in Short of Mutiny at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Stratford, London in February 1983. In August 1983, Pivaro was cast in the British soap operaCoronation Street as Terry Duckworth, the wayward son of the characters Jack and Vera. Pivaro left the soap as a regular character in 1987 but returned to the show on a recurring basis in the 1990s and early 2000s. He returned for a few episodes in January 2008 when his character attended the funeral of his mother Vera. The character returned in early 2012 to participate in a major storyline involving his estranged son Tommy and his girlfriend Tina MaCintyre in which Terry left her to die in a burning railway arch. These episodes were broadcast from March to May 2012. This was his last appearance to date. Apart from Coronation Street Pivaro made guest appearances in the television seriesHetty Wainthropp Investigates as PC Pearce and Expert Witness as killer Colin Wardle. He also appeared in The Sunny Side of the Street for Channel Four and made a cameo appearance in the film 24 Hour Party People. Pivaro has acted in many theatre productions, including Wuthering Heights, What the Butler Saw, A Taste of Honey, The Tempest, Greek, An Evening with Gary Lineker co-starring Paul Ritter, Funny Peculiar, A View from the Bridge and Up and Under, including a 2003 appearance with John Altman in the John Godber play Bouncers. In 1987, he won the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 1st in the playNo Further Cause for Concern. He has appeared in over 15 pantomimes. In 2006, after completing a NTCJPost Graduate course, Pivaro became a journalist, working for the Manchester Evening News and then the Tameside Reporter in Stalybridge. He is now a freelance journalist, and has been published regularly in the Daily Star, Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror and Catholic Herald newspapers. Recently, following time spent in the Don-bass region of Ukraine, he has added Die Zeit Online and Jane's Defence Review to the list of titles in which he is published. He has also written and presented documentary films for the BBC Inside Out series, including "Regeneration Game" which challenged the Government backed Housing Market Renewal programme and criticised its treatment of residents who were forced out of their neighbourhoods to make way for more affluent people. This was short listed for a Royal Television Society award in the best Current Affairs programme category. In 2009, Pivaro wrote and presented "The Battle for St. Michael's" for BBC's Inside Out. In January 2010 Pivaro appeared alongside Salford Star editor Stephen Kingston on BBC Newsnight in a film about the effects of regeneration in Salford. Pivaro is a regular contributor to the Salford Star magazine. In 2008 along with Salford Star editor and founder Stephen Kingston, Pivaro received the "How Do" award for best investigative journalism. In 2009 the pair received an award "for clear and accessible language in journalism", from the Plain English Campaign. In 2010, Pivaro presented a lecture at the University of Wolverhampton on his experiences while reporting on regeneration and participated in a special Radio 4Today programme with Evan Davis where he criticised the Media City development at Salford Quays, calling it a "Cathedral of Corporatism" with few opportunities for locals and small business.
Personal life
Following nearly 20 years as a jobbing actor Pivaro returned to his first love history and politics entering Salford University as a mature student in 1999. He graduated in 2003 from there with a 2:1 Honours degree in Contemporary Military and International History. In 2006, he graduated from the University of Wales in Aberystwyth with an MSc in Social Science and Economics, specialising in terrorism and international relations. In November 2012, Pivaro did a reading at Bill Tarmey's funeral. Pivaro is a map enthusiast and frequently refuses to use GPS despite driving thousands of miles to assignment destinations. He is also a champion of the canal system and frequently calls for freight to be transferred from roads and back onto a modernised canal system.
