Ruth Jones

For the TV character called Ruth Jones, see Rising Damp.

Ruth Jones
Born	September 22, 1966 (1966-09-22) Bridgend, Wales
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress, writer, producer
Years active	1991–present

Ruth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh TV actress and writer. She starred in and co-wrote the multi-award winning TV comedy Gavin & Stacey and has appeared in many other successful comedies over recent years. She is also known for dramatic roles in other high profile TV dramas such as Jimmy McGovern's The Street with Timothy Spall, and most recently starring as Hattie Jacques in Hattie for BBC4. Ruth Jones is the co-founder of Tidy Productions, which she created and runs with TV producer David Peet.

Biography

Jones went to school in her home town of Porthcawl and graduated from Warwick University with a drama degree before spending a year at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. She first worked in TV and radio comedy for BBC Wales from 1991. Theatre with the RSC and The National Theatre was followed by her performance in the hit British movie East Is East. After this Jones appeared as Kelly in four series of ITV's comedy Fat Friends, as Myfanwy in BBC's Little Britain and as Linda in the BBC cult black comedy Nighty Night. In 2008 she featured in the two BBC One period costume dramas Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Little Dorrit, the Gavin and Stacey series she co-wrote with James Corden and in The Street with Timothy Spall.

In 2008, Jones co-founded Tidy Productions with producer David Peet. Tidy is an independent TV production company based in Cardiff and London specialising in comedy, comedy drama and entertainment. In 2010 the company has comedy and light entertainment production credits with BBC2 and BBC 3. It has made two 90-minute comedy dramas for the S4C and light entertainment shows for BBC Wales. Currently Ruth Jones's company is in pre-production of her ten-hour comedy drama 'Stella' for Sky TV and also two light entertainment shows for BBC 2.

She currently lives in Cardiff with husband David, and step-children.

Recognition and awards

Winner of Best Female Comedy Newcomer at the 2007 British Comedy Awards, Jones was also nominated for Best Television Comedy Actress.

Winner of "Ultimate Funny Woman" at the annual Cosmopolitan 'Ultimate Women Of The Year Awards' November 2009.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Character	Production	Notes
2002	Heartlands'	Mandy	Miramax
1999	East is East	Peggy	Film4
1998	The Theory of Flight	Becky	Fine Line Features
1996	Emma	Bates’ Maid	Miramax Films

TV

Year	Title	Character	Production	Notes
2012	Stella	Stella	Sky 1	10 episodes
2011	Ruth Jones' Christmas Cracker	Chatshow	BBC Two	Special
2011	Hattie	Hattie Jacques	BBC Four	1 episode
2010	The Great Outdoors	Christine	BBC Four	3 episodes
2010	Marple	Miss Blenkinsopp	ITV	The Secret of Chimneys
2009	A Child's Christmases in Wales	Mum	BBC Four	TV Movie
2009	The Street		BBC One	Series 3, Episodes 5 and 6
2009	Ar Y Tracs	Ingrid Crenski	S4C
2008	Little Dorrit	Flora Finching	BBC One
2008	Tess of the d'Urbervilles	Joan Durbeyfield	BBC One
2008	Torchwood	Nikki Bevan	BBC Three	episode "Adrift"
2007–2010	Gavin and Stacey	Nessa	BBC
2006–2007	Saxondale	Magz	BBC Two	Series 1 and 2
2006	Mayo	Cal Andrews	BBC One
2005–2006	I'm With Stupid	Jean	BBC Three
2005	Born and Bred	Ruby Moss	BBC One	Episode - The Element Of Surprise
2004–2005	Nighty Night	Linda	BBC
2004	The Baby Juice Express	Gladys
2004	Midsomer Murders	Rachael Rose	ITV	Episode - Bad Tidings
2003–2006	Little Britain	Myfanwy	BBC
2003	Roger Roger	Angelica	BBC One	Episode "Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose"
2003	EastEnders	Jenny Morgan	BBC One	Dot's Story
2002	Heartlands	Mandy
2001	Tales from Pleasure Beach	Mandy	BBC Two
2001	Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years	Sharon Bott	BBC
2000–2005	Fat Friends	Kelly Chadwick	ITV
2000	Human Remains	Elaine	BBC	Episode "All Over My Glasses"
2000	A Likeness in Stone	Joan Poole
1998	Picking Up The Pieces	Marie
1998	As Time Goes By	Gilly	BBC One	Episode "Pardon?"
1997	Drovers' Gold	Mary
1996	Wales Playhouse	Belinda		Episode "Every Cloud"

Guest appearances

Year	Title	Appearance	Series
2012	Chris Moyles' Quiz Night'	Herself	Series 5, Episode 7
2011	The Big Fat Quiz of the Year	Herself
2010	Chris Moyles' Quiz Night'	Herself	Series 3, Episode 4
2010	Would I Lie to You?	Panelist	Series 4, Episode 2
2010	A League of Their Own	Panelist	Series 1 Episode 2
2009	Have I Got News for You	Guest Presenter	Series 37 Episode 7
2009	Comic Relief	Nessa	‘’(Barry) Islands In The Stream’’ video

Writing work

Year	Title	Episodes	Notes
2013	Hillary: The Diary Of Her Life		Co-Written with Micheal Stevens
2012	Stella	10	60 Minute Episodes
2007–2009	Gavin & Stacey	3 series	co-written with James Corden
2009	Ar Y Tracs	TV movie
2006	The Chase	1 episode
2005	Fat Friends	1 episode	Series 4 Episode 3 "Angels Delight"

Production work

• Gavin & Stacey (Series 1, 6 episodes: BBC3 and BBC2 2007)
• Gavin & Stacey (Series 2, 7 episodes: BBC3 2008)
• Gavin & Stacey (Christmas Special: December 2008)
• Gavin & Stacey (Series 3, 6 episodes: BBC1 2009,2010)
• Ar Y Tracs Exec. Producer Tidy Productions S4C 2009)

Music work

• Islands in the Stream (cover version for Comic Relief)

Charity work

In 2010, Jones took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

External links

• Ruth Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• Ruth Jones at David Higham