Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith Rhys Jones OBE (born 16 November 1953), often known and credited as Griff Rhys Jones, is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. Rhys Jones starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. He and Smith came to national attention in the 1980s for their work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones.
For the Welsh choral conductor, see Griffith Rhys Jones.From 2008 to 2022, Rhys Jones presented the television bloopers show It'll be Alright on the Night for ITV, having replaced Denis Norden and being succeeded in 2022 by David Walliams.
Early life and education[edit]
Rhys Jones was born on 16 November 1953 in Cardiff,[1] the son of Gwynneth Margaret (née Jones) and Elwyn Rhys Jones,[2] a medical doctor. His family moved due to his father's occupation to West Sussex when Rhys Jones was six months old.[3] Rhys Jones attended Conifers Primary School in Midhurst, West Sussex, before his family moved to Epping, Essex.[1] He attended a junior school in Epping, Essex, and the Brentwood School, also in Essex.[4][1]
After a short spell working as a petrol pump attendant, Rhys Jones gained a gap year job on the P&O ship Uganda, working for a company organising school trips. In his autobiography, Semi-Detached, 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".[5]
Rhys Jones initially read History, later changing to English,[1] at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating with a 2:1.[6][7]
Personal life[edit]
Rhys Jones met his wife, Jo, a graphic designer, while working at the BBC. He 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 Fitzrovia in the West End) and Holbrook in Suffolk.[44][45] Rhys Jones owned Undina, the 45-foot (14 m), fifty-year-old wooden sailing yacht which was used in Three Men in Another Boat; he spent £500,000 on her restoration and in 2013 stated she was for sale for £195,000, "probably less".[46]
Around 2011, he bought a 1948 57-foot (17 m) wooden yacht, Argyll, which he races at regattas, including the Fastnet Race.[46][47] He and Jo are keen gardeners, and he discussed their extensive garden in an October 2015 episode of Gardeners' World, part of which was filmed there.[48]
A former heavy drinker, Rhys Jones is a teetotaller: "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."[44] He started running as a leisure pursuit in his early forties. In 2008, he presented two programmes called Losing It which were shown on BBC Two, in which he discussed his own problems with anger management.[16]
An active conservationist, Rhys Jones is the president of Civic Voice, the national organisation representing Britain's civic societies. He also owns a small herd of alpacas.[49]
A resident of East Anglia, Rhys Jones was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia in 2002.[33]
He was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Glamorgan, the University of Essex[4] and an honorary D.Litt from Anglia Ruskin University.[50] He is also a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama,[51] the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Fellow of his alma mater, Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[52] In 2009 he was honoured by his father's former university, the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University).[7]
Rhys Jones was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to the National Civic Society Movement, charity and entertainment.[53][54]