Ruth Jones

Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer, and producer.

Ruth Jones was born on 22 September 1966 in Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales.

Her father was a solicitor for British Steel Corporation, Port Talbot, and her mother was a GP.

She has two older brothers and a younger sister.

Brought up in Porthcawl, she attended Porthcawl Comprehensive School (actor and comedian Rob Brydon was also a pupil there and the two appeared in school musicals together).

She participated enthusiastically every year in musical theatre productions.

After graduating from University of Warwick with a degree in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts, she trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff.

In November 1989, Jones undertook her first professional role, with Dominic Cooke's company, Pan Optic, playing Countess Almaviva in Cooke's adaptation of The Marriage of Figaro, which toured the UK for six months.

Thereafter, she undertook some temporary clerical work.

At that point, she considered giving up acting and training to be a solicitor.

However, in 1990, the comedian and pantomime producer Stan Stennett offered her an Equity contract, shifting scenery and playing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Michelangelo) in Dick Whittington at the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, where she had performed in school musicals.

She first worked in TV and radio comedy for BBC Wales in 1991.

In 1996, she appeared in the BBC television period drama Drover’s Gold, billed as a "Welsh Western" which told the story of a cattle drive from West Wales to London.

Jones later commented, "I loved that job. I visited places like Lampeter and Llandeilo for the first time, as well as Abergavenny and Crickhowell. I fell in love with them all. There was something so unspoilt about them, and I’ve been back several times since."

Jones appeared on television as Kelly in four series of ITV's comedy Fat Friends, where she met James Corden.

Afterwards she appeared in several BBC comedies, playing Myfanwy in Little Britain, Magz in Saxondale and Linda in Nighty Night.

Theatre roles with the RSC and The National Theatre were followed by her performance in 1999 hit British film East Is East.

Jones has appeared in various television series, including Fat Friends (2000–2005), Little Britain (2003–2007), Nighty Night (2004–2005), Saxondale (2006–2007), and The Street (2009).

She co-wrote and co-starred in the award-winning BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey (2007–2010, 2019).

Jones achieved prominence in 2007 as co-writer with James Corden of the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey, and as playing a lead role in it as Nessa Jenkins.

The series became a hit and was moved to BBC One.

Jones said: "It wasn't as deliberate as us saying, 'Right, we're going to react against cynical comedy'. We just wrote what we wanted. And it just so happens that the show does generate a lot of warmth. People seem to like that, especially when things aren't terribly jolly. It's nice to have your cockles warmed."

The series won several awards, including two BAFTAs and four British Comedy Awards.

In 2008, Jones featured in two BBC One television period costume dramas, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Little Dorrit, as well as two episodes of The Street.

In 2008, Jones co-founded Tidy Productions with producer David Peet.

The company produced the series Jones presented on BBC Radio Wales in 2008-9, Ruth Jones' Sunday Brunch.

Jones and co-star Rob Brydon recorded "Islands in the Stream" (a song performed by their characters in the programme) as a single for Comic Relief in 2009; the song reached No. 1 in the chart.

In December 2009, she starred in A Child's Christmas in Wales.

In 2010, she starred in BBC Four comedy The Great Outdoors alongside Mark Heap, and, in December, presented the first of four chat shows on BBC2, Ruth Jones' Christmas Cracker.

In 2010, the company had comedy and light entertainment production credits with BBC Two and BBC Three.

It has made two 90-minute comedy dramas for S4C and light-entertainment shows for BBC Wales, and topical radio series What's the Story?

for Radio Wales, predecessor to The Leek.

In January 2011, she starred as Hattie Jacques in BBC Four drama Hattie, which recounts Jacques' affair with her young driver John Schofield while she was married to actor John Le Mesurier, later known for his role in Dad's Army.

She later co-wrote and starred in the Sky One comedy-drama Stella (2012-2017), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance and won the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter.

Jones was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to entertainment.

Jones is also an author, writing three novels: Never Greener (2018), Us Three (2020) and Love Untold (2022).

In October 2018, Jones returned to the stage after a 12-year absence in the new play "The Nightingales" by William Gaminara, produced by Jenny Topper and Theatre Royal, Bath.

Her first television job was an unbroadcast sketch show for BBC Wales, which included Rob Brydon and Steve Speirs.

Soon after, she joined an improvisational theatre group in Bath.

That group included Julia Davis, with whom Jones later appeared in Nighty Night and Gavin & Stacey.