Annie Jones (actor)

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Annie Jones
Annie Jones.png
Jones at the Neighbours: The Celebration Tour in 2023
Born
Annika Jancso

(1967-01-13) 13 January 1967 (age 57)
Occupation(s)Actress, model
Years active1984–present
Spouse
Paul Moloney
(m. 1989)
Awards Logie Award for Most Popular Actress
Logie Award for Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Miniseries

Annie Jones (born Annika Jancso; 13 January 1967) is an Australian actress, known for her roles in soap operas and serials, most especially Sons and Daughters as Jess Campbell, in Neighbours as Jane Harris and Newlyweds as Allie Carter. She has won two Logie Awards.

Contents

Early life

Born Annika Jancso on 13 January 1967, [1] Jones' parents were Hungarian immigrants, who met when in Adelaide and married after her father found employment as an opal miner. She has three older sisters. The family spent many years in Coober Pedy. [2]

Career

Professionally taking the stage name Annie Jones, she undertook some modelling, including an appearance in the music video for the Huxton Creepers song "Pretty Flamingo" in 1987. [3] Jones began acting at aged 17 in the title role in the film drama Run Chrissie Run! She then appeared in television roles on The Henderson Kids (1985), and Sons and Daughters (1985–1986) as Jesse Campbell. [4]

Jones auditioned for the role of Charlene Mitchell (which she lost to Kylie Minogue) in the television soap opera Neighbours , at age 19. [5] She eventually landed the role of Jane Harris in 1986, and would continue in that role until 1989. Jones received the Logie Award for Most Popular Actress for the role. [6] In April 1988, Jones presented a report on the opening day of World Expo 88 for Network Ten. [7]

Post-Neighbours in 1990, Jones played Lorna Jackson, an opal miner's daughter and brief love interest for Dr David Radclife (Brett Climo), in an episode of TV series The Flying Doctors . [8] She also played Clare Mallory in the drama miniseries Jackaroo , [8] which won her a second Logie Award for Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-series in 1991. [9] She also starred as Eva Kovac in the historical mini-series Snowy (1993). [10]

Jones starred as Allie Carter in the Australian sitcom Newlyweds with Christopher Gabardi in 1993 and 1994. [11] She guest starred in The Adventures of Lano & Woodley in 1997.

Jones played mother Sue Green in children's television series Pig's Breakfast , [12] and appeared in the Mortified episode "Mother in the Nude" (2006). [13]

Jones has guest starred in many Australian series including City Homicide (2007), Stingers (2003), Blue Heelers (1994, 2002), Marshall Law (2002), Good Guys, Bad Guys (1997) and Halifax f.p. (1996). [5]

In 2010, she was cast in the television movie Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here , which tells of the biggest criminal investigation in the history of the state of Victoria. [14] Jones played parole officer Rachel Sanger in three episodes of Wentworth in 2013. [15] She also appeared in the 2014 Australian show Worst Year of My Life Again . [16]

In March 2015, she took part in a documentary special, Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite , celebrating the show's 30th anniversary. [17] [18] The following year, Jones was reunited with her Neighbours co-star Guy Pearce when she guested in his drama series Jack Irish . [19] She also filmed guest appearances in the Seven Network drama Winners & Losers , [19] and The Doctor Blake Mysteries . [16]

In April 2018, she reprised the role of Jane Harris in Neighbours. [16] In 2019, Jones starred as Colleen Cotterill in Seven Network's Secret Bridesmaids' Business , which was based on the stage play by Elizabeth Coleman. [20] On 27 June 2020, it was announced that Jones had reprised the Neighbours role as a permanent cast member and she remained in the role until the show's then final episode on 28 July 2022. The series was later picked up by streaming service Amazon Freevee and Jones was confirmed to be reprising her role in February 2023. [21]

Personal life

Jones has been married to director Paul Moloney since 1989. The couple met on the set of The Henderson Kids. [1]

After leaving Neighbours in 1989, Jones put her acting career on hold to take care of her mother, who had Alzheimer's disease. [22] Jones stated "She had the disease for many, many years and I became her carer. Anyone who has had anything to do with Alzheimer's or dementia will know what it's like. It's heart-breaking, seeing someone disappear before your eyes. Because of that, I had neither the time nor the energy to commit to a long-running series and could only do guest roles here and there." [22]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1984 Run Chrissie Run! Chrissie
1984Lands In South AustraliaPresenterShort film documentary
1985Fair DealHerselfShort film documentary
1988A Losing Battle: Adolescent Body ImagePresenterShort video documentary
1988A Losing Battle: Adolescent EatingPresenterShort video documentary
2000 The Monkey's Mask Evelyn McDonaldUncredited
2006Five Moments of InfidelityJulie / Wife (Segment 5)
2007 The Condemned KarenUncredited
2015Sneezing Baby Panda: The MovieCharacter voice

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1985 The Henderson Kids Sylvia WheelerRecurring role
1985–1986 Sons and Daughters Jess CampbellCredited as Annika Jones
1986 Countdown Herself
1986–1989, 2005, 2018– Neighbours Jane Harris Main cast
1988 World Expo '88 Herself
1988OlympathonHerself
1988 World Vision: 40 Hour Famine Presenter
1988 The Royal Variety Performance Herself
1989A Tribute to Neighbours: Celebrating 1000 EpisodesHerself / Jane HarrisTV documentary special
1989Oz BeautyPresenter
1990English at WorkHerselfEpisode: "Finding A Career"
1990 The Flying Doctors Lorna JacksonEpisode: "End of the Rainbow"
1990 Embassy ElizabethEpisode: "Foreign Affairs"
1990 Jackaroo Clare MalloryMiniseries
1990 Col'n Carpenter AlisonEpisodes: "A Kind of Loving: Part 1" and "A Kind of Loving: Part 2"
1991 Chances ParisRecurring role
1992 Bony SarahEpisode: "Surf, Sun, Sand... and Murder"
1993 Hey Hey It's Saturday HerselfTV series, 1 episode
1993 Snowy Eva KovacMain cast
1993–1994 Newlyweds Allie CarterMain cast
1995 What's Cooking? HerselfTV series, 1 episode
1995 Rainbow's End Rhonda NesbittTelevision film
1995 Sale of the Century Contestant
1996 Blue Heelers Angela HarriganEpisode: "Old Sins, Long Shadows"
1996What's Cooking?Herself
1996 Halifax f.p. Alison HartEpisode: "Without Consent"
1996Sale of the CenturyContestant
1997 Good Guys, Bad Guys Veronica FlahertyEpisode "Fatal Distraction"
1997 The Adventures of Lano & Woodley Con ArtistEpisode "The Two Men"
1999 Pig's Breakfast Sue GreenMain cast
2000 BeastMaster The GuardianEpisode: "The Guardian"
2001 The Wonderful World of Disney MotherEpisode: "Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story"
2002 Shock Jock Various rolesEpisode: "Vive la différence"
2002 The Secret Life of Us NicoleEpisode: "Signs of Life"
2002 Marshall Law SandraEpisode: "The Samovar"
2002 Blue Heelers Angela WhiteEpisodes: "Deep Water" and "Nothing Personal"
2003 Stingers Helene HarrisEpisode: "Priapus' Playground"
2003 The Saddle Club Beth ElliotEpisode: "Blind Faith"
2006 Mortified TV ReporterEpisode: "Mother in the Nude"
2006 Tripping Over WendyEpisode 1.1
2006 Temptation Contestant
2007 City Homicide Kelly PilsburyEpisodes: "Cut and Dried" and "Rostered Day Off"
2011 Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here Dorothy DebsTelevision film
2011 Dogstar Various voices
2013–2014 Wentworth Rachel SangerRecurring role
2014 Worst Year of My Life, Again! Mum
2015 Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite HerselfTV documentary
2016 Winners & Losers Karen TriggsEpisode: "iBloom"
2016 Jack Irish JudyEpisode 1.01
2017 The Doctor Blake Mysteries Billie BentleyEpisode: "Hear the Angels Sing"
2019 Secret Bridesmaids' Business Colleen CotterillMain cast

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References

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  2. "Annie Jones glad she put her mum before acting". Aged Care Crisis. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013.
  3. Huxtable Creepers - Pretty Flamingo music video
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  6. 1989 Logie Awards Archived 20 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine TV Week
  7. "Green guide – Saturday 30 April". The Age . Retrieved 11 March 2023 via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
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  9. "Vizard fast forwards to most popular personality". The Sydney Morning Herald . 16 March 1991. Retrieved 31 May 2022 via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
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  11. Lawrence, Mark (18 February 1993). "Fun and marriage". The Age . Retrieved 1 August 2020 via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  12. Conway, Andrew (6 September 1999). "A trough act". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 11 March 2023 via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  13. Annie Jones at IMDb
  14. "Nine begins production on Underbelly Files | The Spy Report". Mediaspy. 21 June 2010. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  15. Bagwell, Matt (16 March 2016). "'Neighbours' Star Annie Jones Who Played Jane 'Plain Jane Superbrain' Harris Just Popped Up In 'Wentworth' And Hasn't Changed A Bit". HuffPost . Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 "'Neighbours' favourite to return after becoming household name in 80s". Starts at 60. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
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  18. Kilkelly, Daniel (4 March 2015). "Neighbours 30th anniversary schedule confirmed by Channel 5". Digital Spy . Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  19. 1 2 Byrnes, Holly (7 February 2016). "Guy Pearce's Irish luck helps Neighbours love Annie Jones back into spotlight". news.com.au . Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  20. Knox, David (9 May 2019). "Cameras roll on Secret Bridesmaids' Business for Seven". TV Tonight . Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  21. Sarrubba, Stefania (28 February 2023). "Neighbours announces seven more returning cast for the show's revival". Digital Spy . Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  22. 1 2 Anthony, Stephanie (22 September 2020). "Annie Jones: Neighbours, caring for my mum, and my return to Ramsay Street". Yours. Retrieved 11 March 2023.