Veronica "Ronni" Jane Ancona is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for The Big Impression, which she co-wrote and starred in[1] and was, for four years, one of BBC One's top-rated comedy programmes,[2] winning numerous awards, including a BAFTA in 2003.[3] Ancona also starred in the first series of the BAFTA-winning ITV series The Sketch Show.[4][5] Ancona has appeared in the BAFTA-winning Last Tango in Halifax[6] since its creation in 2012.[7][8] She is a co-director, alongside Sally Phillips and Nick Hamson, of the production company Captain Dolly.[9]
Ancona was born in Louth, Lincolnshire in 1966, but moved to Scotland when she was a few days old[8] and was brought up in Troon. She is of Italian Jewish descent.[10] Her father was a commander in the Royal Navy and her mother was an artist who painted the sets at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr and the Theatre Royal in Glasgow.[11] Ancona is the youngest of three children, with two older brothers,[8] one of whom continued their father's tradition of serving in the Navy: Simon Ancona is a former Admiral.[12][13] In the BBC television programme Comedy Map of Britain she returned to her old school, Marr College in Troon, and talked about her earliest comedy performing experience as part of an improvisation group called Pots People.[14][15]
She attended the University of Kent at Canterbury to study film and then did a degree in theatre and TV design at Saint Martin's School of Art.[16] At the age of 19, while she was studying at St Martin's College, the BBC's Blue Peter reported on a play about Brecht at the Riverside Studios in which she was involved as a designer and performer: her appearance was later covered on the BBC show Before They Were Famous.[17] Ancona then attended the Institute of Education, University College London and qualified as a teacher in art, design & technology, and drama.[18] Whilst working as a teacher, Ancona started a comedy career on the live circuit. She won the Time Out Hackney Empire New Act of the Year in 1993.[18]
In 2016, she played the role of Mrs Fletcher, the manager of a local care home, in the seventh series of the Scottish comedy Still Game.[39] Later that year she made a guest appearance in an episode of the BBC television series Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, partnering with antiques expert James Braxton.[40]
In April 2017, Ancona appeared as a guest on ITV's The Nightly Show, presented by Jason Manford, in which they each performed impersonations of famous people which the other had to identify.[41]
She had a cameo role in the 2006 fantasy romantic comedy Penelope.[47]
In 2013, Ancona was cast as Mrs Spencer in The Devil Went Down to Islington, a horror film following two hapless Londoners who sell their souls to Satan.[48]
In 2009, A Matter of Life and Death: How to Wean a Man Off Football, by Ancona and Alistair McGowan, was published by Faber & Faber.[57]
Awards
Ancona co-wrote The Big Impression,[1] which won numerous awards including a BAFTA in 2003.[3] She was nominated for Best Comedy Newcomer in 2000[58] and Best Comedy actress in 2002,[59] as well as winning The Best TV comedy Actress in 2003.[23] Ancona and McGowan also received The Variety Club Comedy Award in 2002.[22]
Nominee - Best Comedy Newcomer - Big Impression - 2000[58]
Ancona had a seven-year relationship with Alistair McGowan which ended shortly before they started working together professionally.[citation needed] Ancona is married to Gerard Hall, a consultant rheumatologist[61] with whom she has two daughters. They live in west London.[62]
Posh & Beck's Big Impression: Behind the Scenes & Extra Bits
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