Jan Anderson (born Janina Anderson; 17 June 1974 in Porthcawl, Bridgend, Wales) is a Welsh actress.
Her late mother was a Welsh horse riding teacher; her late father, an Italian lumberjack. She had an older sister, Ruth, who died in 1998. Anderson joined Pyle-based children's Vagabond Theatre at age seven, with the teacher Trevor Harris. Another influence in her life was drama teacher Roger Burnell at Porthcawl comprehensive school performing with them at The Grand Pavilion until age 13 in productions including starring as Annie in Annie, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest , and Lily in Under Milk Wood . She also played in Oklahoma, Damn Yankees and in the role of Baby Jane in Gypsy.
After leaving school at the age of 15, she joined the Welsh National Opera, where she toured with the production of Carmen and studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. She was the lead presenter on the HTV Wales programme The Gen.
Her other television credits include Is Harry on the Boat , The Bill , Doctors and London's Burning . She had a role in the 1999 British film Human Traffic , but Jan is mostly known for her role of Chloe Hill in BBC's Casualty from 1998 to 2002.
In the early 2000s, she studied acting in Hollywood, and broke into the US film and TV arena. There, she worked on films including Sony Pictures' Detention, Portal, Three Days Blind, Float, Big Top and Halloween Night. She played Marie in the Torchwood episode "Reset", and had a small role on Prison Break.
In July 2011, Anderson featured in the second episode of the eighth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing the role of Richard Lewis' new girlfriend, Stella. In 2012, she relocated back to the UK, and has since worked on Sky's comedy Trollied .
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips, known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress. Her early career consisted primarily of stage roles, including the title roles in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. In the 1960s, she started taking on more roles in television and film. She is particularly known for her performance as Livia in the 1976 BBC television series I, Claudius, for which she was awarded a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society award. She was nominated for a Tony Award and Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Marlene Dietrich in Marlene.
Olivia Hussey is a British-Argentine actress. Her awards include a Golden Globe Award and a David di Donatello Award. The daughter of Argentine opera singer Andrés Osuna, Hussey was born in Buenos Aires but spent most of her early life in her mother's native England. She aspired to become an actress at a young age and studied drama for five years at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
Janice Miner was an American actress best known as the character Madge the manicurist in Palmolive dish-washing detergent television commercials from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Juliet Maryon Mills is a British-American actress.
Embeth Jean Davidtz is an American-South African actress and director. She's appeared in movies such as Army of Darkness, Schindler's List, Matilda, Fallen,Mansfield Park, Bicentennial Man, Bridget Jones's Diary,Junebug,Fracture,The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The Amazing Spider-Man,The Amazing Spider-Man 2,Old, and Not Okay, and in the television series In Treatment, Californication, Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy, Ray Donovan, and The Morning Show.
Joely Kim Richardson is an English actress. She is notable for her roles as Julia McNamara in the FX drama series Nip/Tuck (2003–2010) and Katherine Parr in the Showtime series The Tudors (2010). Her credits include 101 Dalmatians (1996), Event Horizon (1997), The Patriot (2000), Return to Me (2000), Anonymous (2011), the Hollywood film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Endless Love (2014), Red Sparrow (2018), The Turning (2020), The Sandman (2022), Little Bone Lodge (2023) and The Gentlemen (2024).
Michelle Danielle Collins is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Cindy Beale in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, and has also appeared as Stella Price in ITV's Coronation Street. Her other notable TV roles include the BBC dramas Real Women (1998–1999), Sunburn (1999–2000) and Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001–2003).
Sara Sugarman is a Welsh actress and filmmaker whose work includes Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) and Very Annie Mary (2001). She has also appeared in films including Dealers (1989) and Those Glory Glory Days (1983).
Tamzin Maria Outhwaite is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, including army series Red Cap and crime drama New Tricks.
Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the award-winning BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. 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.
Angharad Mary Rees, The Hon. Mrs David McAlpine, CBE was a British actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume drama Poldark.
Jason Hughes is a Welsh actor best known for playing Sergeant Ben Jones in the ITV series Midsomer Murders (2005–2013) and for the BBC drama This Life (1996–1997) in which he played lawyer Warren Jones. Hughes has also worked extensively in theatre, including the 1999 re-enactment of Our Country's Good as the Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark.
Sara Lloyd-Gregory, also billed as Sara Gregory, is a Welsh actress. She is known for her leading role in the S4C drama series Alys and appearing in the Sky1 series Thorne: Sleepyhead.
Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola is a British actress known for her work in theatre and television and radio. In 2023 Rakie Ayola was the 18th recipient of the prestigious BAFTA CymruSiân Phillips Award. At the same ceremony she also won the Bafta CymruBest Actress Award for her performance in BBC1 series The Pact Season 2 on which she was an Executive Producer. In 2021 Rakie Ayola won BAFTABest Supporting Actress for BBC1 film Anthony by Jimmy McGovern. Ayola has appeared in television shows including Kaos, The Pact Season 1, Grace, Shetland, No Offence, Midsomer Murders, Black Mirror, Noughts + Crosses, Doctor Who, Silent Witness and EastEnders, a number of Shakespearean theatrical performances and feature films such as Been So Long, Now Is Good, Great Moments in Aviation, The i Inside, Dredd, and Sahara. She appeared as Kyla Tyson in the BBC medical drama Holby City from its eighth to eleventh series.
Joanna Marion Scanlan is a British actress and writer. On television, she is known for her roles in The Thick of It (2005–2012), Big School (2013–2014), Puppy Love (2014), No Offence (2015–2018), Requiem (2018), and The Larkins (2021). She was nominated for three BAFTA TV Awards for Getting On (2009–2012), including two for Best Writing.
Nia Roberts is a Welsh actress. She is married to director Marc Evans.
Sharon Morgan is a Welsh actress of stage and screen, currently based in Cardiff. She was brought up in the village of Llandyfaelog. She is best known for her work within the Welsh film and television industries and has been the recipient of three BAFTA Cymru awards.
Catrin Stewart is a Welsh actress, known for playing Jenny Flint in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2011–2014), Emma Morris in the Sky One comedy drama Stella (2012–2017) and PC Gina Jenkins in the S4C crime drama Bang (2017–2020). She also portrayed Lily in Misfits (2010–2011).
Ann Juliet Ace is a dramatist and screenwriter who contributed to EastEnders and The District Nurse. She also supplied many original scripts and dramatisations to BBC Radio drama, including The Archers. She wrote the screenplay for Cameleon, which won the Golden Spire Award for Best Dramatic Television Feature at the 1998 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Elen Roger Jones was a Welsh actress and teacher.