Griff Rhys Jones
Encyclopedia
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC
television comedy sketch
shows Not the Nine O'Clock News
and Alas Smith and Jones
along with his comedy partner Mel Smith
. With Smith, he founded television production company Talkback Productions
, now part of RTL Group
. He went on to develop a career as a television presenter and writer, as well as continuing with acting work.
, the son of Gwyneth Margaret (née Jones) and Elwyn, a doctor. Moving with his father's work, he attended Conifers Primary School in Midhurst
, West Sussex
, junior school in Epping
, Essex and Brentwood School, also in Essex. While the family was resident in Essex, his father had a boat in West Mersea
on Mersea Island
, which they would sail around the coast of Suffolk
and into The Broads
.
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
). In 1967, he appeared in Macbeth
as the First Witch, alongside Douglas Adams who played Young Siward and "A Sargeant". The producer, Wiliam Barron, remarked in the programme concerning the roles of the witches
: "To deprive young boy actors of any opportunity of expressing devilish glee would be to take away half the fun of playing such parts: yet it is agreed that they must not be allowed to "'hee-hee, ho-ho' at each new temptation and crime." He was part of a group whose antics led to them 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. 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". He wrote to eight of the Canadians afterwards.
Rhys Jones followed Bean and Adams to Cambridge
, reading history
and English
at Emmanuel College
. While at university, Jones joined Cambridge Footlights
Club (of which he became Vice-President in 1976). He was also president of the ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) during his time at Cambridge. At this time, his ambitions were focused on the theatre, particularly directing.
Light Entertainment
as a trainee producer, with his output including the satirical show Week Ending
and Brain of Britain
. 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 Rhys Jones replacing the show's producer, who had suffered from a stress-related illness from dealing with the comedian. He later produced Rowan Atkinson
's show The Atkinson People
for the BBC
and has appeared twice on Whose Line Is It Anyway?
.
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
. 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 going out with his sister at the time. Rhys Jones became a regular from the commissioned second series, alongside Atkinson, Mel Smith
and Pamela Stephenson
.
In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions
, a company which has produced many of the most popular British comedy series of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony
, Da Ali G Show
, I'm Alan Partridge
and Big Train
. 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
). After the first series, 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
. They also developed TalkBack to manage other acts, and eventually sold the company to Pearson
for £62 million.
Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their previous television series in The Smith and Jones Sketchbook.
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. 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.
During 1999 and 2000, he featured in TV adverts for the Vauxhall
range of cars as a "boffin
".
Rhys Jones has developed a career as a television presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief programmes. 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. In 2004, he led a demonstration at the Senate House in Cambridge University for the purpose of saving architecture as a degree in Cambridge.
He provided the voices on the series of short cartoons Funnybones
, for which he also sang the theme tune. Since 2006 Jones has starred in the BBC's Three Men in a Boat
series, alongside Dara Ó Briain
and Rory McGrath
. The series has included the trio rowing the River Thames
, as in the 1889 novel, sailing from London
to the Isle of Wight
for a sail boat race, borrowing numerous vessels to make their way from Plymouth
to the Isles of Scilly
. In more recent adventure the three took to the Irish Canals and Rivers on a trip from Dublin to Limerick
(Dara's Greyhound Snip Nua
also tagged along for the trip), went to Scotland, and sailed along the Balkan
coast ending up in Venice
for a gondola race.
Rhys Jones has also created and presented programmes about Arthur Ransome, Thomas Hardy, 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
. His documentary series Mountain
, for which he climbed fifteen British peaks during 2006, was broadcast on BBC One
29 July–26 August 2007.
A resident of East Anglia, in 2002, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia
. He also has honorary degrees from the University of Glamorgan and Anglia Ruskin University, and is a Fellow of the Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Royal Society of Arts and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. In July 2010, he gained an honorary degree from The University of Essex
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. 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 provided the voice over for Brentwood School's 450th DVD in 2007, reading a script written by fellow Old Brentwood Jonathan Ruffle.
He presented a seasonal documentary, Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, which was broadcast on 23 December 2007 on BBC One.
Since 2007, Rhys Jones has been a Vice President of the River Stour Trust
, a registered charity that led by volunteers who are dedicated to the restoration and conservation of the River Stour Navigation for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. Rhys Jones says, "I am a strong supporter of the River Stour Trust and everything to do with it. The riverway is so beautiful and unspoilt, especially with the wildlife and water-lilies and bullrushes, it is just terrific. It is a great example of why rivers should be open to people...I salute the River Stour Trust for opening the locks...it is supposed to be a river that traffic travels on.”
It was announced in June 2008 that Rhys Jones was to become the President of The Civic Trust, the nationwide charity that campaigns for better places in the built and green environment.
It'll be Alright on the Night
returned with Rhys Jones as the new presenter, taking over from Denis Norden
. The first programme was recorded at The London Studios
on 5 September 2008. It is broadcast in one-off episodes on Saturday nights throughout the year, on ITV1
.
In Greatest Cities of the World, Rhys Jones visited a different city each week. The first series, featuring London
, New York
and Paris
, aired on primetime ITV1
in October 2008. A second series featuring Rome
, Sydney
and Hong Kong
, was broadcast in April and May 2010.
During the summer of 2009, Rhys Jones presented the BBC programme Rivers.
He starred as Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh
's acclaimed production of Oliver!
in London's West End from 14 December 2009 until 8 January 2011.
, port by port. 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. 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."
His early life has been captured in his autobiography, Semi-Detached, published in 2006 by Penguin Books
. His book to accompany the BBC1 series Mountain was published in July 2007.
. 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 house in London's West End
) and Holbrook
, Suffolk
; the house is situated on land just below the playing fields of The Royal Hospital School. The family have a chocolate-coloured Labrador
called Cadbury. Rhys Jones owns a 45-foot-long, 50-year-old blue wooden sailing yacht named Undina.
A former heavy drinker, Rhys Jones is a teetotaler
: "I don't drink so going to a party can become very tedious. 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.". He started running as a leisure pursuit in his early forties. In 2008, he presented two programmes called Losing It which were shown on BBC2, in which he discussed his own problems with anger management
.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television comedy sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
shows Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
and Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones is a British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1984 to 1998...
along with his comedy partner Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
. With Smith, he founded television production company Talkback Productions
Talkback Productions
Talkback Productions was formed in 1981 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. The company is one of the UK’s leading production companies and part of the RTL Group, a major European broadcast and content company....
, now part of RTL Group
RTL Group
RTL Group is Europe's largest TV, radio and production company, and is majority-owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. It has 45 television and 32 radio stations in 11 countries...
. He went on to develop a career as a television presenter and writer, as well as continuing with acting work.
Early life and education
Rhys Jones was born in CardiffCardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, the son of Gwyneth Margaret (née Jones) and Elwyn, a doctor. Moving with his father's work, he attended Conifers Primary School in Midhurst
Midhurst
Midhurst is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, with a population of 4,889 in 2001. The town is situated on the River Rother and is home to the ruin of the Tudor Cowdray House and the stately Victorian Cowdray Park...
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, junior school in Epping
Epping
Epping is a small market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. It is located north-east of Loughton, south of Harlow and north-west of Brentwood....
, Essex and Brentwood School, also in Essex. While the family was resident in Essex, his father had a boat in West Mersea
West Mersea
West Mersea is a small town in the Colchester borough of Essex, England. It is the larger of two settlements on Mersea Island, located south east of Colchester. The smaller settlement on the island is the village of East Mersea....
on Mersea Island
Mersea Island
Mersea Island is the most easterly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, located marginally off the coast of Essex, England, to the southeast of Colchester. It is situated in the estuary area of the Blackwater and Colne rivers and has an area of around...
, which they would sail around the coast of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and into The Broads
The Broads
The Broads are a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Broads, and some surrounding land were constituted as a special area with a level of protection similar to a UK National Park by The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act of 1988...
.
While at Brentwood School he met Charlie Bean
Charlie Bean
Charles Richard "Charlie" Bean is Deputy Governor at the Bank of England.Bean attended Brentwood School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was a contemporary of the comedian Griff Rhys Jones at both and the writer Douglas Adams at Brentwood School. He worked at Her Majesty's Treasury. He gained...
(later Executive Director of the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
) and Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
(who would later write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
). In 1967, he appeared in Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
as the First Witch, alongside Douglas Adams who played Young Siward and "A Sargeant". The producer, Wiliam Barron, remarked in the programme concerning the roles of the witches
Three Witches
The Three Witches or Weird Sisters are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth . Their origin lies in Holinshed's Chronicles , a history of England, Scotland and Ireland...
: "To deprive young boy actors of any opportunity of expressing devilish glee would be to take away half the fun of playing such parts: yet it is agreed that they must not be allowed to "'hee-hee, ho-ho' at each new temptation and crime." He was part of a group whose antics led to them 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
Gap year
An expression or phrase that is associated with taking time out to travel in between life stages. It is also known as sabbatical, time off and time out that refers to a period of time in which students disengage from curricular education and undertake non curricular activities, such as travel or...
job on the P&O
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
ship Uganda, working for a company organising school trips. 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". He wrote to eight of the Canadians afterwards.
Rhys Jones followed Bean and Adams to Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, reading history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
at Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
. While at university, Jones joined Cambridge Footlights
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University....
Club (of which he became Vice-President in 1976). He was also president of the ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) during his time at Cambridge. At this time, his ambitions were focused on the theatre, particularly directing.
Career
He then joined BBC RadioBBC Radio
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. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
Light Entertainment
Light entertainment
Light entertainment is a term used to describe a broad range of usually televisual performances. These include comedies, variety shows, quiz/game shows, sketch shows and people/surprise shows.-Light entertainment in Britain:...
as a trainee producer, with his output including the satirical show Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending... was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, usually on Friday evenings. It was devised by writer/producers Simon Brett and David Hatch, and was originally hosted by Nationwide presenter Michael Barratt.The show's title was always announced as...
and Brain of Britain
Brain of Britain
Brain of Britain is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.-History:It began as a slot in What Do You Know? in 1953 before becoming a programme in its own right in 1967. It was chaired by Franklin Engelmann until his death in 1972.-Format:The format of the quiz is simple...
. An evening planned to spend watching his hero Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
at the invitation of friends Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...
and Rory McGrath
Rory McGrath
Patrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
, who were writing the show at the time, resulted in Rhys Jones replacing the show's producer, who had suffered from a stress-related illness from dealing with the comedian. He later produced Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
's show The Atkinson People
The Atkinson People
The Atkinson People is a 1979 BBC radio comedy series. The series, which was first broadcast sporadically in 1979 by the BBC's arts radio station Radio 3, features a satirical profile of a fictional famous person each week....
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and has appeared twice on Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4, for a 10 series run...
.
Rhys Jones filled in several minor roles in the first series of Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
, and was brought in as a regular cast member from the second series onwards, replacing Chris Langham
Chris Langham
Christopher "Chris" Langham is an English writer, actor and comedian. He is most famous for playing MP Hugh Abbot in BBC Four sitcom The Thick of It and as presenter Roy Mallard in People Like Us, first on BBC Radio 4 and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two, where Mallard is almost...
. 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
John Lloyd (writer)
John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:...
was going out with his sister at the time. Rhys Jones became a regular from the commissioned second series, alongside Atkinson, Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
and Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly is a New Zealand-born Australian clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s...
.
Partnership with Mel Smith
After Not the Nine O'Clock News, Smith and Rhys Jones decided to create and write more material together, and to start a management company.In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions
Talkback Productions
Talkback Productions was formed in 1981 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. The company is one of the UK’s leading production companies and part of the RTL Group, a major European broadcast and content company....
, a company which has produced many of the most popular British comedy series of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. Its title was intended to sound like a euphemism for female masturbation; the working title was Spot the Pony. The main performers and writers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips...
, Da Ali G Show
Da Ali G Show
Da Ali G Show is the name of two related satirical TV series created by and starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and featuring the character Ali G....
, I'm Alan Partridge
I'm Alan Partridge
I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC situation comedy starring Steve Coogan, of which two series of six episodes each were produced — the first in 1997 and the second in 2002...
and Big Train
Big Train
Big Train is a surreal British television comedy sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, writers of the successful sitcom Father Ted...
. From 1984, Smith and Rhys Jones appeared in the comedy sketch series Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones is a British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1984 to 1998...
(the show's title being a pun on the American TV series Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform...
). After the first series, the pair appeared on the big screen in Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges is an English screenwriter, film director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include Get Carter, Pulp, The Terminal Man and Black Rainbow; as director his films include Flash Gordon, Croupier and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead...
' sci-fi comedy movie Morons from Outer Space
Morons from Outer Space
Morons from Outer Space is a 1985 comedy/science-fiction film directed by Mike Hodges.-Plot:The story begins on a small spaceship docking with a refueling station. On board are a group of four aliens, Bernard, Sandra, Desmond, and Julian...
and then in 1989, the LWT production Wilt
Wilt (film)
Wilt is a 1989 movie adaptation by LWT of the Tom Sharpe novel of the same name. The story follows the comic misadventures of the eponymous Henry Wilt as he is accused of the murder of his wife when she suddenly goes missing after a party at a friend's house where they have a very public...
. They also developed TalkBack to manage other acts, and eventually sold the company to Pearson
Pearson PLC
Pearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
for £62 million.
Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their previous television series in The Smith and Jones Sketchbook.
Recent work
Rhys Jones was awarded the Laurence OlivierLaurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
Theatre Award in 1984 (1983 season) for Best Comedy Performance in Charley's Aunt
Charley's Aunt
Charley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances....
and in 1994 (1993 season) for Best Comedy Performance for his performance in An Absolute Turkey. He also played Toad in The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
at the National Theatre in 1990, as well as a number of other theatre roles.
During 1999 and 2000, he featured in TV adverts for the Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...
range of cars as a "boffin
Boffin
In the slang of the United Kingdom, boffins are scientists, medical doctors, engineers, and other people engaged in technical or scientific research.-Origin:...
".
Rhys Jones has developed a career as a television presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief programmes. He presented Bookworm
Bookworm
Bookworm may refer to:* Bibliophile or bookworm, an avid reader and lover of books* Bookworm , a popular generalization for any insect which supposedly bores through books...
from 1994 to 2000 and is the presenter of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Restoration
Restoration (TV series)
Restoration, 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 from Heritage Lottery Fund...
programme (he began filming its third series at Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
on 3 June 2006), and has done a considerable amount of fundraising work for the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire
The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
theatre conservation project. In 2004, he led a demonstration at the Senate House in Cambridge University for the purpose of saving architecture as a degree in Cambridge.
He provided the voices on the series of short cartoons Funnybones
Funnybones
Funnybones was a Welsh children's television series that was first aired in Welsh on S4C and in English on the BBC in 1992. It was based on the eponymous series of books by Janet and Allan Ahlberg which were illustrated by Andre Amstutz and focused on the adventures of a gang of skeletons...
, for which he also sang the theme tune. Since 2006 Jones has starred in the BBC's Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat (TV Series)
Three Men in a Boat is a television comedy/documentary series produced by Liberty Bell Productions for BBC Two starring Dara Ó Briain, Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones, first shown in January 2006...
series, alongside Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel and Mock the Week....
and Rory McGrath
Rory McGrath
Patrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
. The series has included the trio rowing the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, as in the 1889 novel, sailing from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
for a sail boat race, borrowing numerous vessels to make their way from Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
to the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
. In more recent adventure the three took to the Irish Canals and Rivers on a trip from Dublin to Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
(Dara's Greyhound Snip Nua
Snip Nua
Snip Nua was a racing greyhound who featured in the BBC television show Three Men go to Ireland.-Biography:Born in the spring of 2008, Snip Nua was a racing greyhound who became famous because she featured in the BBC television show Three men go to Ireland, which was broadcast over the Christmas...
also tagged along for the trip), went to Scotland, and sailed along the Balkan
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
coast ending up in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
for a gondola race.
Rhys Jones has also created and presented programmes about Arthur Ransome, Thomas Hardy, John Betjeman and Rudyard Kipling.
Rhys Jones has continued his acting career, having roles in Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
and Marple
Marple (TV series)
Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...
as well as starring in Russell T Davies' drama series Mine All Mine
Mine All Mine
Mine All Mine is a British television series produced by Red Production Company for ITV. It was written by Russell T Davies and starred Griff Rhys Jones...
on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
. His documentary series Mountain
Mountain (TV series)
Mountain is a British television series written and presented by Griff Rhys Jones that was originally broadcast 29 July–26 August 2007 on BBC One....
, for which he climbed fifteen British peaks during 2006, was broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
29 July–26 August 2007.
A resident of East Anglia, in 2002, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
. He also has honorary degrees from the University of Glamorgan and Anglia Ruskin University, and is a Fellow of the Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Royal Society of Arts and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. In July 2010, he gained an honorary degree from The University of Essex
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. 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 provided the voice over for Brentwood School's 450th DVD in 2007, reading a script written by fellow Old Brentwood Jonathan Ruffle.
He presented a seasonal documentary, Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, which was broadcast on 23 December 2007 on BBC One.
Since 2007, Rhys Jones has been a Vice President of the River Stour Trust
River Stour Trust
The River Stour Trust is a registered charity and waterway restoration group. It was founded in 1968 to protect and enhance the right of the public to navigate the River Stour, Suffolk, England...
, a registered charity that led by volunteers who are dedicated to the restoration and conservation of the River Stour Navigation for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. Rhys Jones says, "I am a strong supporter of the River Stour Trust and everything to do with it. The riverway is so beautiful and unspoilt, especially with the wildlife and water-lilies and bullrushes, it is just terrific. It is a great example of why rivers should be open to people...I salute the River Stour Trust for opening the locks...it is supposed to be a river that traffic travels on.”
It was announced in June 2008 that Rhys Jones was to become the President of The Civic Trust, the nationwide charity that campaigns for better places in the built and green environment.
It'll be Alright on the Night
It'll be Alright on the Night
It'll be Alright on the Night is a British television bloopers show screened on ITV and produced by London Weekend Television. It was one of the first shows created with the specific purpose of showing behind the scenes bloopers from film and TV and it has been running since 18 September 1977...
returned with Rhys Jones as the new presenter, taking over from Denis Norden
Denis Norden
Denis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
. The first programme was recorded at The London Studios
The London Studios
The London Studios is a television studio complex which is owned by London Weekend Television and has been home to the London Weekend ITV provider since 1972...
on 5 September 2008. It is broadcast in one-off episodes on Saturday nights throughout the year, on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
.
In Greatest Cities of the World, Rhys Jones visited a different city each week. The first series, featuring London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, aired on primetime ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
in October 2008. A second series featuring Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, was broadcast in April and May 2010.
During the summer of 2009, Rhys Jones presented the BBC programme Rivers.
He starred as Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
's acclaimed production of Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
in London's West End from 14 December 2009 until 8 January 2011.
Writing
Rhys Jones has written or co-written many of the 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 Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, port by port. 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. 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."
His early life has been captured in his autobiography, Semi-Detached, published in 2006 by Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
. 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 BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. 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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(previously in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, now in a Grade I listed house in London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
) and Holbrook
Holbrook, Suffolk
Holbrook is a village situated close to the northern shore of the Stour estuary in Suffolk, England. It is located on the Shotley peninsula in Babergh district, around 8⅓ km south of Ipswich....
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
; the house is situated on land just below the playing fields of The Royal Hospital School. The family have a chocolate-coloured Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
called Cadbury. Rhys Jones owns a 45-foot-long, 50-year-old blue wooden sailing yacht named Undina.
A former heavy drinker, Rhys Jones is a teetotaler
Teetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
: "I don't drink so going to a party can become very tedious. 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.". He started running as a leisure pursuit in his early forties. In 2008, he presented two programmes called Losing It which were shown on BBC2, in which he discussed his own problems with anger management
Anger management
The term anger management commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger & aggression can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered emotional state...
.