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Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones in 2007
Griff Rhys Jones in 2007
Born 16 November 1953 (1953-11-16) (age 54)
Cardiff, Wales
Years active 1970s–present
Notable works and roles Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982)
Alas Smith and Jones (1982–1998)

Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953 in Cardiff, Wales), better known as Griff Rhys Jones, is a Welsh comedian, writer and actor. Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cardiff ( 'kɑːdɪf) is the Capital and the largest city and county in Wales. Not the Nine O'Clock News is a Comedy Television programme shown on the BBC from 1979 to 1982 Alas Smith and Jones was a British Comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cardiff ( 'kɑːdɪf) is the Capital and the largest city and county in Wales. A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works He came to national attention in the 1980s when he starred with Mel Smith in a number of comedy sketch shows on British TV. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Mel Smith (born in Chiswick, London on 3 December, 1952) is an English Comedian, Actor, Film director Sketch comedy consists of a series of short Comedy scenes or vignettes called "sketches" commonly between one and ten minutes long British television broadcasting started in 1936 and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media through which there are up to 600 channels

Contents

Early life and education

Rhys Jones was born in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a doctor. Cardiff ( 'kɑːdɪf) is the Capital and the largest city and county in Wales. Moving with his father's work, he attended primary school in Midhurst, Sussex, junior school in Harlow, Essex and secondary school at Brentwood School, in Brentwood, Essex. Midhurst is a Market town and Civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Harlow is a New town and local government district in Essex, England. Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common Brentwood School is a public school in Brentwood Essex, England. Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, part of Essex in England. [1] While the family was resident in Essex, his father had a boat in West Mersea, which they would sail around the coast of Suffolk and into The Broads. West Mersea is a small town in the Colchester borough of Essex in the East of England. Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. The Broads is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes (known locally as broads in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. [2]

While at Brentwood School he met Charlie Bean (later Executive Director of the Bank of England) and Douglas Adams (who would later write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Charles (Charlie Richard Bean (born September 16, 1953) is Deputy Governor at the Bank of England. The Bank of England (formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England) is a state-owned institution and the Central bank of the United Kingdom Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 &ndash 11 May 2001 was an English author comic Radio dramatist The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series He was part of a group whose antics led to them being referred to as "The Clique" by the school's headmaster. After a short spell working as a petrol-pump attendant, he gained a gap-year job on the P&O ship Uganda, working for a company organising school trips. The P&O Cruises brand is not owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company In his autobiography, Semi-Detached (see below), he describes how he was charged with helping to look after 600 Canadian schoolgirls, followed by a similar number of younger Scottish schoolchildren, and refers to the experience as being like "St Trinians at sea". Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. St Trinian's is a fictional girls' Boarding school, the creation of British cartoonist Ronald Searle, that later became the subject of a popular [3] He wrote to eight of the Canadians afterwards, and lost his virginity to one of them. [4]

Rhys Jones followed Bean and Adams to Cambridge, reading history and English at Emmanuel College. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary While at university, Jones joined the prestigious Cambridge Footlights Club (of which he became Vice-President in 1976). Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge England, run by the students He was also president of the ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) during his time at Cambridge. Founded in 1855 the Amateur Dramatic Club (or ADC is the oldest University dramatic society in England - and the largest dramatic society in Cambridge At this time, his ambitions were focused on the theatre, particularly directing.

Career

After university, he worked briefly as a bodyguard to Arab visitors to London. A bodyguard (or "close protection officer" is a type of Security guard or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous wealthy or politically The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding

He then joined BBC Radio Light Entertainment as a trainee producer, with his output including the satirical show Week Ending and Brain of Britain. BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927 Light entertainment is a term used to describe a broad range of usually televisual performances Week Ending was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, usually on Friday evenings Brain of Britain is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz broadcast on BBC Radio 4. [5] An evening planned to spend watching his hero Frankie Howerd at the invitation of friends Clive Anderson and Rory McGrath who were writing the show at the time, resulted in Griff replacing the show's producer who had suffered from a stress related illness from dealing with the comedian. Frankie Howerd OBE (born Francis Alick Howard, 6 March 1917 &ndash 18 April 1992) was a distinctive English Clive Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is a former Barrister, now famous for being a successful Comedy writer as well as a Patrick Rory McGrath (born 17 March 1956 is a British comedian He later produced Rowan Atkinson's show Atkinson's People for the BBC. Rowan Atkinson (born 6 January 1955 is an English Comedian, actor and writer famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder

Rhys Jones has appeared twice on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (abbreviated to Whose Line? or WLIIA) was a short-form Improvisational comedy TV show His most memorable moment was during his second appearance. During the game Film and Theater Styles, Rhys Jones stuffed John Sessions' sock in his mouth moments before the game ended. John Sessions (born 11 January 1953) is a Scottish Actor and Comedian. He almost could not get the sock out again.

Rhys Jones filled in several minor roles in the first series of Not the Nine O'Clock News, and was brought in as a regular cast member from the second series onwards, replacing Chris Langham. Not the Nine O'Clock News is a Comedy Television programme shown on the BBC from 1979 to 1982 Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is a BAFTA award-winning British Writer, Actor and Comedian. Rhys Jones says that the reason he got the part was not due to his appearance in the initial shows, or his talent, but because producer John Lloyd was dating his sister at the time. John Lloyd may refer to John Lloyd (tennis, British tennis player John Lloyd (rugby coach, former head coach to Wales national Rhys Jones became a regular from the commissioned second series, alongside Atkinson, Mel Smith and Pamela Stephenson. Mel Smith (born in Chiswick, London on 3 December, 1952) is an English Comedian, Actor, Film director Pamela Stephenson also known as Pamela Stephenson Connolly,

Partnership with Mel Smith

After Not the Nine O'Clock News, Smith and Rhys Jones thought they would be unemployed. They decided to take action in two areas: firstly by creating and writing more material together, and secondly by starting a management company to produce their own shows as well as those of other performers.

In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions, a company which has produced many of the most significant British comedy shows of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show, I'm Alan Partridge and Big Train. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Talkback Productions was formed in 1981 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. Smack the Pony was a British Sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. Da Ali G Show is the name of two related satirical TV series starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and featuring the character I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC Situation comedy. Two series of six episodes were produced the first in 1997 and the second in 2002 Big Train is a surreal British Television Comedy Sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan From 1984, Smith and Rhys Jones appeared in the comedy sketch series Alas Smith and Jones (the show's title being a pun on the American TV series Alias Smith and Jones). Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Alas Smith and Jones was a British Comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. Alias Smith and Jones is a Western Television series on ABC from 1971 to 1973 After the first series of Alas Smith and Jones, the pair appeared on the big screen in Mike Hodges' sci-fi comedy movie Morons from Outer Space, and then in 1989 the LWT production Wilt. Mike Hodges (born 29 July 1932 in Bristol England) is an English screenwriter and film director who began his career as a current affairs producer Morons from Outer Space is a 1985 comedy/science-fiction film directed by Mike Hodges. Wilt is a movie adaptation by LWT of the Tom Sharpe novel of the same name, released in 1989 They also developed TalkBack to manage other acts, they sold the company to Pearson for £62 million.

Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their previous TV series in The Alas Smith and Jones Sketchbook. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The BBC was criticised for using it to repeat a series of programmes without resorting to unpopular repeats. Smith joked: "Obviously, Griff's got more money than me so he came to work in a Rolls-Royce and I came on a bicycle. But it was great fun to do and we are firmly committed to doing something new together, because you don't chuck that sort of chemistry away. Of course, I'll have to pretend I like Restoration. Restoration is a set of BBC television series where viewers decided on which Listed building that was in immediate need of remedial works was to win a grant "[6]

Recent work

Rhys Jones was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1984 (1983 season) for Best Comedy Performance in Charley's Aunt and in 1994 (1993 season) for Best Comedy Performance for his performance in An Absolute Turkey. Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron Charley's Aunt is a Farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. He also played Toad in The Wind in the Willows at the National Theatre in 1990, as well as a number of other theatre roles. The Wind in the Willows is a classic of Children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908.

During 1999 and 2000, he featured in TV adverts for the Vauxhall range of cars as a "boffin". Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced Vauxhall Motors is a British automobile company It is a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation (GM and is part of GM Europe. In the Slang of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, boffins are scientists, Engineers

Rhys Jones has developed a career as a TV presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief shows. Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work often to relieve tension He presented Bookworm from 1994 to 2000, and is the presenter of the BBC's Restoration programme (he began filming its third series at Lincoln Cathedral on 3 June 2006), and has done a considerable amount of fundraising work for the Hackney Empire theatre conservation project. Lincoln Cathedral (in full The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, or sometimes St Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a Music hall. In 2004 he led a demonstration at the Senate House in Cambridge University for the purpose of saving architecture as a degree in Cambridge. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the

He provided the voices on the series of short cartoons Funnybones, for which he also sang the theme tune. Funnybones ( Welsh Y Sgerbydion) was a Welsh children's television series that was first aired in Welsh on S4C and in English on the BBC Other notable television work includes two BBC documentaries re-creating the British comic novel Three Men in a Boat, in which he rowed up the Thames from London to Oxford with fellow comedians Dara Ó Briain and Rory McGrath. Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog, published in 1889 is a humorous account by Jerome K Dara Ó Briain, (born 4 February 1972) (pronounced /d̪ãrə o bʲɾʲriənʲ/ Anglicised /dæræ o briən/ is an Irish Comedian and Patrick Rory McGrath (born 17 March 1956 is a British comedian The team were reunited for a sequel, Three Men in Another Boat, in which they attempted to sail from Tower Bridge to Cowes in Rhys Jones' own restored racing yacht, Undina. Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and Suspension bridge in London, England over the River Thames. Cowes is an English Seaport town on the Isle of Wight, an island south of Southampton. The two-part documentary was broadcast 1–2 January 2008 on BBC Two. [7] Rhys Jones has also created and presented programmes about Arthur Ransome, John Betjeman and Rudyard Kipling.

Rhys Jones has continued his acting career, having roles in Casualty and Marple as well as starring in Russell T. Davies' drama series Mine All Mine on ITV1. Casualty is the longest running emergency medical Drama series in the world and the second-longest-running medical drama in the world behind America's General Marple is a British Television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. Russell T Davies, OBE (born Stephen Russell Davies, 27 April, 1963) is a critically acclaimed British Television producer Mine All Mine is a British television series produced by Red Production Company for ITV. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent His documentary series Mountain, for which he climbed fifteen British peaks during 2006,[8] was broadcast on BBC One 29 July–26 August 2007. Mountain is a British television series written and presented by Griff Rhys Jones that was originally broadcast 29 July – 26 August Events 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

A resident of East Anglia, in 2002 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The University of East Anglia is a campus-based University located in Norwich, England, and founded in 1963 [9] He also has honorary degrees from the University of Glamorgan and APU, and is a Fellow of the Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Royal Society of Arts and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Rhys Jones also returned to his mother's roots in the village of Ferndale, Wales for the purposes of an episode of the BBC One series Who Do You Think You Are?, which was broadcast 20 September 2007. Ferndale ( Welsh: Glynrhedynog, or Trerhondda) is a small town located in the Rhondda Valley in the County borough of Rhondda Who Do You Think You Are? is a British Genealogy documentary series that has aired on the BBC since 2004 Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In the episode, he detailed early memories and stories of his grandparents' fruit and vegetable shop on the high street, and his mother's childhood concert performances at Trerhondda Chapel.

He presented a seasonal documentary, Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, which was broadcast on 23 December 2007 on BBC One. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city [7]

Writing

Rhys Jones has written or co-written many of the TV programmes he has appeared in, and a number of spin-off books. In 2002, he started writing a book called To the Baltic with Bob, describing his adventures on the high seas with his sailing friend Bob, as they make their way to St Petersburg, port by port. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River [9] Rhys Jones released the book in 2003, saying of the experience: "As a child you go out and play and you lose all track of time and space. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. It's harder and harder to attain that blissful state of absorption as you get older. I did a six-month sailing trip to St Petersburg with some mates just to get it back. "[4]

His early life has been captured in his autobiography, Semi-Detached, published in 2006 by Penguin Books. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Penguin Books is a British Publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. His book to accompany the BBC1 series Mountain was published in July 2007.

Personal life

Rhys Jones met his wife, Jo, a graphic designer, while working at the BBC. He has described their first meeting by saying "The day we met, I was semi-naked and she was throwing water over me. " The couple have two children, and live between homes in London (previously in Islington, now in a Grade I listed former office block in London’s West End) and Holbrook, Suffolk. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Islington is the central district of the London Borough of Islington. The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions businesses headquarters and the commercial Holbrook is a rural village situated close to the northern shore of the Stour estuary in Suffolk, England. Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. [10] The family have a chocolate coloured Labrador called "Cadbury". Modern Labrador Just like its island neighbour Newfoundland early settlement in Labrador was tied to the sea as demonstrated by the Montagnais, Innu and [11] Rhys Jones owns a 45-feet-long, 50-year-old blue wooden sailing yacht named Undina.

Rhys Jones started running as a leisure pursuit in his early forties, and is a teetotaler: "I don't drink so going to a party can become very tedious. See also Prohibition, Temperance movement Teetotalism (or T-total is the practice and promotion of complete Abstinence from Alcoholic beverages By about 11 o'clock everybody goes to another planet and you're not there with them, so I tend to avoid that sort of thing. "[10]

References

  1. ^ The actor and director thinks back to his school days, Headliners, 1996. Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  2. ^ Suffolk: Estuary English, Mail on Sunday, 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  3. ^ Semi-Detached, Griff Rhys Jones' autobiography, Penguin, 2006
  4. ^ a b This much I know: Griff Rhys Jones by Michael Odell The Guardian, November 5, 2006. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  5. ^ Bio at Screen Online
  6. ^ Interview with Mel Smith, Metro. co. uk. Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  7. ^ a b Radio Times: 22 Dec 2007–4 Jan 2008
  8. ^ Rhys Jones, Griff (2007). Mountain: Exploring Britain's High Places, 1st, Michael Joseph Ltd. ISBN 0718149890.  
  9. ^ a b My Cardiff at the Internet Archive. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  10. ^ a b Clowning around with Mr Jones at BBC Entertainment, May 14, 1999. Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  11. ^ Restoration interview (96 KB pdf), BBC, 29 April 2004. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Retrieved 3 March 2007. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

External links


Preceded by
Simon Levene		 Footlights Vice President
1975–1976		 Succeeded by
Nicholas Hytner
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge England, run by the students Nicholas Hytner (born 7 May 1956) is an English producer and director
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