Gemma Jones Biography

Jennifer Gemma Jones; 4 December 1942) is an English character actress on both stage and screen. Her film appearances include Sense and Sensibility (1995), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010). For her role in the BBC TV film Marvellous (2014), she won the 2015 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Early life

Jones was born in Marylebone, the daughter of Irene (ne Isaac) (1911-1985) and Griffith Jones, an actor (1909-2007). Her brother, Nicholas Jones, is also an actor. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Artwhere she won the Gold Medal.

Personal Life

Jones had a relationship with the actor and director Sebastian Graham-Jones with whom she had a son Luke G-Jones who is a film Producer.

Career

Gemma Jones appeared at Nottingham Playhouse in 1965, as Anya, in The Cherry Orchard. Jones became known to television viewers after starring in the BBC serial Kenilworth (1967) as Queen Elizabeth I and in BBC2's 1970 dramatisation of The Spoils of Poynton.

She was first recognised outside the UK in 1974, after playing the Empress Frederick in the BBC television drama series Fall of Eagles and Louisa Trotter in another BBC drama, The Duchess of Duke Street. In 1980, she played the role of Portia in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of The Merchant of Venice, opposite Warren Mitchell's Shylock. In 1966, she played the great soprano Giuseppina Strepponi in After Aida at the Old Vic Theatre. Jones played Mrs. Dashwood alongside Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson in the Academy Award-winning period drama Sense and Sensibility (1995).

Other notable roles include Mrs. Fairfax in Jane Eyre (1997) Lady Queensbury in Wilde (1997), Grace Winslow in The Winslow Boy (1999), Bridget's mother Pam Jones in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Poppy Pomfrey in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), reprising her role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011). From 2007 to 2008 she played Connie James in the BBC1 drama Spooks. In 2010, she appeared in the Woody Allen film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. In 2011 she appeared in the BBC1 series Merlin, as the Cailleach, the gatekeeper to the spirit world. Also in 2011 she appeared in the Bridge Project's version of Richard III as Queen Margaret, alongside Kevin Spacey as Richard III and directed by Sam Mendes, at the Old Vic and subsequently on an international tour.

She received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Neil Baldwin's mother, Mary, in the 2014 television film Marvellous.

In 2015, Jones played the part of Petunia Howe in the three-part BBCs series Capital based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name.

Filmography

Film

• The Devils (1971)
• Paperhouse (1988)
• Sense and Sensibility (1995)
• Feast of July (1995)
• Wilde (1997)
• Jane Eyre (1997)
• The Theory of Flight (1998)
• O.K. Garage (1998)
• The Winslow Boy (1999)
• Cotton Mary (1999)
• Don't Tempt Me (2001)
• Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
• Shanghai Knights (2003)
• Kiss of Life (2003)
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
• Fragile (2005)
• The Contractor (2007)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)
• Hysteria (2011)
• Bridget Jones's Baby (2016)

Television

• The Spoils of Poynton (1971) as Fleda Vetch
• Fall of Eagles (1974) as Princess Vicky
• The Duchess of Duke Street (1976-1977) as Louisa Trotter
• The Merchant of Venice (BBC Television Shakespeare, 1980) as Portia
• Inspector Morse (episode: The Dead of Jericho) (1987)
• Chelworth (1988-1989)
• Devices and Desires "? Adam Dalgliesh by P.D. James (1991) as Alice Mair
• The Phoenix and the Carpet (1997)
• Midsomer Murders (episode: Ring Out Your Dead) (2002)
• Bootleg (2002)
• Agatha Christie's Poirot (episode: Five Little Pigs) as Miss Cecilia Williams (2003)
• All About George (2005) as Kate Kinsey
• Spooks (2007-2008) - Connie James
• Ballet Shoes (2007), alongside Harry Potter co-star Emma Watson
• The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (2010) as Aunt Lister
• Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010) as Alice Parkin
• Merlin (series 4 episodes 1 and 2) (2011) as The Cailleach
• The Lady Vanishes (2012) as Rose Flood-Porter
• Death in Paradise (2013) as Sister Anne (series 2, episode 2)
• Last Tango in Halifax (2013)
• Marvellous (2014)
• Teacup Travels (2015)
• Doc Martin (2015)
• Unforgotten (2015)
• Capital (2015)

Other projects, contributions

• When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) - Shakespeare's "Sonnet 50" ("How heavy do I journey on the way")