Anne (or Agnes) Gascoigne (circa 1474, at Gawthorpe, Yorkshire, England - 1504, at Walton, Yorkshire, England ), was the daughter of Sir William Gascoigne (son of another Sir William Gascoigne) and Lady Margaret Percy.^[1] Through her mother, she is descended from Edward III. Anne Gascoigne and her husband, Sir Thomas Fairfax, are the common ancestors of both The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.^[2][3]

Ancestry[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ thepeerage.com: Anne Gascoigne
2. ^ Reitwiesner, William Addams (2011). Child, Christopher Challender. ed. The Ancestry of Catherine Middleton. Scott Campbell Steward. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society. pp. 118–9. ISBN 978-0-88082-252-7. 
3. ^ The Ancestry of Catherine Middleton prepared by William Addams Reitwiesner (chart) - April 2011

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2011)

Stacey Solomon
Background information
Birth name	Stacey Solomon
Born	(1989-10-04) 4 October 1989 (age 22)
Origin	Dagenham, Essex, England
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupations	Singer, presenter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2009—present
Labels	Conehead Records (2011-Present)
Associated acts	The X Factor 2009 finalists
Website	staceysolomon.com

Stacey Solomon (born 4 October 1989^[1]) is an English singer, television presenter and reality TV star. She rose to fame during her time on the sixth series of The X Factor, coming third overall on the show. She gained a number one single on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart when her fellow The X Factor finalists released a cover of "You Are Not Alone".

Solomon won the tenth series of reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.^[2] and was named "Queen of the Jungle". Solomon's debut single, a cover of "Driving Home for Christmas", was released on 19 December 2011.^[3][4]

Personal life[link]

Solomon was born in Essex to a Jewish family. Solomon attended King Solomon High School. At the age of 17, Solomon became pregnant by her boyfriend of the time (Dean Cox). The young couple split sometime before the birth of their son Zachary on 21 March 2008. Since 2009, Solomon had been dating boyfriend Aaron Barham who she met on holiday in Greece. The couple became engaged on 4 December 2011 - shortly after it was announced that they were due to have a baby in the Spring. Solomon gave birth to her second son, named Leighton, on 5 May 2012.^[5]

Music career[link]

[edit] 2009: The X Factor

Solomon auditioned for the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, performing "What a Wonderful World". Solomon was among the top 12 contestants and advanced to the live shows and was mentored by Dannii Minogue. During the first week of the live shows she performed Coldplay's "The Scientist", which gained positive reviews from the judges. During week two, she performed "At Last", receiving the most public votes. She sang "When You Wish Upon a Star" during the third week. On the fourth week, all contestants had to sing rock songs; Minogue selected "Somewhere Only We Know", and Solomon's performance resulted in positive reviews. On the fifth week, she sang "Son of a Preacher Man". The sixth week into the competition, Solomon sang Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever" for which she received a standing ovation by the four judges.^{[citation needed]} During the sixth week, she also released a cover of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", which topped the charts on the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart^[6] On the seventh week, she performed "I Can't Make You Love Me" and again received positive reviews from the judges and the audience. In the eighth week of the competition Solomon performed "Rule the World" by Take That and "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John. In the semi-final she performed another Michael Jackson song, "The Way You Make Me Feel", and the song "Somewhere" for which she received a standing ovation again by the judges.^{[citation needed]} During the final week, Solomon performed a duet "Feeling Good" with Michael Bublé. She also performed "What a Wonderful World" and "Who Wants to Live Forever". Solomon was awarded third place in the competition, behind Joe McElderry and Olly Murs.^[7]

Solomon went on tour with the her fellow X Factor Finalists. She returned to the show in December 2010, where she presented the show from Essex for winner, Matt Cardle.^[8]

2010-present: Record deal and debut album[link]

Solomon performed a duet with Ryder at the 16th National Television Awards - "Feeling Good" and "Step On" by Happy Mondays.^[9] In October 2010, she won the Living TV show Party Wars.^[10] In June 2011 Solomon was signed to Conehead Records, she then began recording her debut album, due to be released in early 2012. Her first single from the album was originally to be released in February, but was delayed. She will present Sky Living HD's dating show The Love Machine with Chris Moyles later in the spring.^[11] On 5 November 2011, Solomon performed to thousands as the headline act at Paisley's Christmas Lights Switch On event.^[12] Solomon released a cover of Chris Rea's Driving Home for Christmas as her Christmas single, which was released 18 December 2011. The single was used for the Iceland Christmas commercial and reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart.^[3] In December 2011, Solomon appeared on an edition of the BBC quiz show Celebrity Mastermind. She achieved a score of 10 points - the lowest in the competition, with the other contestants scoring between 22 and 23 points. Solomon chose the TV series The Inbetweeners as her chosen specialist subject.^[13]

TV career[link]

[edit] 2010: I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here

Solomon took part in the tenth series of the celebrity reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!^[14] She beat Shaun Ryder in the final and was crowned "Queen of the Jungle".^[15][16] She gained 80.07% of the public votes.^[17]

[edit] 2011: Sing If You Can

In April 2011, she presented Sing If You Can on ITV alongside Keith Lemon which raised money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.^{[citation needed]} She performed the British national anthem at the 2011 FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Stoke City at Wembley Stadium.^[18] In 2011, she became the face of supermarket Iceland, taking over from Coleen Nolan.^[18]

2012-present: The Love Machine[link]

On 11 March 2012, Sky Living HD's new dating show The Love Machine premiered, with presenters Stacey and fellow co-presenter Chris Moyles. Solomon's position on the show is to note down reasons why people ditch a date, and to accompany people from the Love Machine. Stacey also starred in an episode of Mad Mad World on ITV in Spring 2012 alongside Eamonn Holmes and Stephen K Amos.

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stacey Solomon at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Website

Jeremy Paxman
Paxman in September 2009
Born	Jeremy Dickson Paxman (1950-05-11) 11 May 1950 (age 62) Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Residence	Stonor, Oxfordshire
Nationality	British
Education	MA (St Catharine's College, Cambridge)
Alma mater	Malvern College, St. Catharine's College
Occupation	Journalist, news presenter
Employer	BBC
Salary	£1,040,000 (2006) per annum[1]
Television	Newsnight University Challenge
Spouse	Elizabeth Ann Clough (?-present)
Children	2 daughters, 1 son
Parents	Keith and Joan Paxman
Relatives	Giles Paxman (brother)

Jeremy Dickson Paxman^[2][3] (born 11 May 1950) is an English journalist, author and broadcaster. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme have been criticised as aggressive, intimidating and condescending, and also applauded as tough and incisive.^[4] He is also the question master of University Challenge, succeeding Bamber Gascoigne when the programme was revived in 1994.

Early life[link]

Paxman was born in Leeds. His mother, Joan, born 1920, was a housewife.^[5] Paxman is the eldest of four children and has two brothers, one of whom, Giles, is the British Ambassador to Spain (having previously been ambassador to Mexico), and a sister, Jenny, a producer at BBC Radio.

He was brought up in Yorkshire and Peopleton, near Pershore, Worcestershire. In 1964, he went to Malvern College^[2][6] and read English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge,^[7] where he edited the undergraduate newspaper Varsity.^[3][8][9] While at Cambridge, Paxman was briefly a member of the Labour Club.

Paxman was the subject in January 2006 of an episode of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.^[5] The documentary concluded him to be descended from one Roger Packsman, a 14th century politician from Suffolk who had changed his name to Paxman (man of peace, "Pax" translates from Latin as peace) to impress "the electorate." His maternal grandmother was born in Glasgow, Scotland. The programme generated much publicity prior to its transmission by displaying the usually pitiless Paxman teary-eyed on camera when informed that his impoverished great-grandmother Mary Mackay's poor relief had been revoked because she'd had a child out of wedlock.^[5][10]

Career[link]

Journalism[link]

Paxman joined the BBC's graduate trainee programme in 1972. He started in local radio, at BBC Radio Brighton. He moved to Belfast, where he reported the Troubles. He moved to London in 1977. Two years later he transferred from the Tonight programme to Panorama. After five years reporting from places such as Beirut, Uganda and Central America, he read the Six O'Clock News for two years, before moving to BBC1's Breakfast Time programme.

Newsnight[link]

Paxman became a presenter of Newsnight in 1989.

On 13 May 1997 he spoke with Michael Howard in what became the programme's most notorious interview. Howard, who had been Home Secretary until thirteen days earlier, had held a meeting with Derek Lewis, head of the Prison Service, about the possible dismissal of the governor of Parkhurst Prison, John Marriott. Howard, having given evasive answers, was asked by Paxman the same question – "Did you threaten to overrule him [Lewis]?"  – a total of twelve times in succession (14 if the first two inquiries worded somewhat differently and some time before the succession of 12 are included). Howard did not give a direct answer, instead repeatedly saying that he "did not overrule him", and ignoring the "threaten" part of the question.^[11] Later, during a 20th anniversary edition of Newsnight, Paxman told Howard that he had simply been trying to prolong the interview since the next item in the running order wasn't ready.^[12] In 2004 Paxman raised the subject again with Howard, by then leader of the Conservative Party. This time, Howard laughed it off, saying that he had not threatened to overrule the head of the Prison Service.^{[citation needed]} Secret Home Office papers^[13] released in 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act failed to corroborate this.

In 1998, Denis Halliday, a United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, resigned his post in Iraq, describing the effects of his own organisation's sanctions as genocide.^[14] Paxman asked Halliday in a Newsnight interview, "Aren't you just an apologist for Saddam Hussein?"

Later that year Paxman won a Royal Television Society award.

In 2003, Prime Minister Tony Blair opted to make the case for the invasion of Iraq via questions from a TV studio audience, mediated by Paxman. The programme is chiefly remembered for the fact that Paxman asked Blair if he and U.S. President Bush prayed together. Blair replied, "No, Jeremy. We don't pray together."^[15]

During the 2005 General Election some viewers complained to the BBC that Paxman's robust questioning of party leaders had been rude and aggressive.^[16] There was criticism of his five-in-the-morning results interview with George Galloway. Referring to Oona King, whom Galloway had just defeated, Paxman asked more than once whether he was proud of having got rid of "one of the very few black women in Parliament."^[17] An exasperated Galloway cut the interview short. Paxman later made a taped guest appearance on the Celebrity Big Brother reality TV show challenging Galloway to a follow-up session "with or without your leotard" (Galloway, a Big Brother contestant at the time, had in an earlier much-publicised stunt during the show dressed up in a leotard).^[18]

Paxman's brusque manner is not restricted to political interviews. When Newsnight's editor decided to broadcast brief weather forecasts instead of financial reports he openly ridiculed the decision: "And for tonight's weather – it's April, what do you expect?".^[19] The financial reports were re-introduced after a few weeks. In a Radio Times poll of 3,000 people in 2006, he was voted the fourth "scariest" TV celebrity.^[20]

Other TV work[link]

Paxman has presented the weekly TV programme review Did You See?, You Decide and, most notably, since 1994, University Challenge, bringing him the distinction of "longest-serving current quizmaster on British TV."^[21] He presented on BBC America and BBC World a weekly compilation of highlights from the domestic edition of Newsnight from February 2008 until shortly after the 2008 U.S. election, when the American programme was cancelled. The programme is still aired on BBC World.^[15][22][23]

In April 2006 The Sun claimed that Paxman earned £800,000 for his Newsnight job and £240,000 for presenting University Challenge, bringing his TV earnings to a yearly total of £1,040,000. This was one of a series of BBC salary leaks in the tabloid press that prompted an internal BBC investigation.^[24]

Beginning on 15 February 2009, his four part documentary The Victorians aired on BBC One. The series explores Victorian art and culture.^[25] From 27 February 2012, the BBC is broadcasting Paxman's series Empire, examining the history and legacy of the British Empire. This programme had its fifth and final episode broadcast on March 26 2012 on BBC One.

Books[link]

Paxman's first book, A Higher Form of Killing (1982), written with then BBC colleague and friend Robert Harris, arose out of an edition of the Panorama programme they had made together on biological and chemical warfare. In a revised 2002 version they asserted that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons. In 1985 Paxman published Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey, an eyewitness account of people, places and politics. Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain? (1991) was the result of numerous detailed interviews with the powerful or highly influential, what used to be called The Establishment. Paxman's The English: A Portrait of a People (1999) was not the first of his books to be greeted with wide critical acclaim. The Political Animal: An Anatomy (2003), again based on extensive interviews, examines the motivations and methods of those who constitute the author's professional prey: Westminster politicians. The otherwise-republican Paxman's On Royalty, which entailed the cooperation of Britain's royal family, became by the time it was published in 2006, to his own surprise and somewhat to the surprise of others, a defence of the country's constitutional monarchy. His recent books have been big sellers. His book, The Victorians: Britain through the Paintings of the Age, published in 2009, was accompanied by a BBC documentary series. In his introduction, Paxman acknowledged that the Irish writer Neil Hegarty had played a significant role in editing the book and bringing it to completion. Paxman was praised by academics and figures in the publishing industry for acknowledging Hegarty's substantial contribution. Paxman stated that since all television is a "collaborative exercise", it was "rather silly for this book - which accompanies a television series - to appear with only one name on the cover."^[26] Paxman's most recent book is a study of the British Empire, Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British.^[27][28]

Radio[link]

Paxman presented the flagship BBC Radio 4 show Start the Week from 1998 to 2002.

Paxman and the BBC[link]

While John Birt was Director General of the BBC, the British press from time to time reported Paxman's criticism of his boss. The former, suspected at first to be an outsider brought in by a hostile government to supervise the BBC's break-up and ultimate sell-off, in turn publicly questioned the confrontational approach, as he saw it, of certain TV and radio interviewers. This was seen at the time as coded criticism of Paxman himself and of his BBC colleague John Humphrys.^[29][30]

On 24 August 2007 Paxman delivered the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.^[31] In it he was critical of much of contemporary TV in Britain. He expressed concern that as a consequence of recent production scandals the medium was rapidly losing public trust. Speaking of prime minister Tony Blair's criticism of the mass media at the time he left office, Paxman asserted that often press and broadcasting may be "oppositional" in relation to the government of the day this could only benefit democracy. Those Reithian goals, to "inform, educate and entertain," still remained valid. Paxman took the opportunity to dismiss as "inaccurate" the attribution to himself, which was, in fact, Louis Heren^[32], of the oft-quoted "Why is this lying bastard lying to me?" as the supposed dominant thought in his mind when interviewing senior politicians. He called on the television industry to rediscover a sense of purpose.

Awards and honours[link]

In 1996 Paxman received BAFTA's Richard Dimbleby Award for "outstanding presenter in the factual arena." Two years later he won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his somewhat notorious Newsnight interview (see above) with Michael Howard, as well as the Broadcasting Press Guild's award for best "non-acting" performer. He got another Richard Dimbleby Award in 2000 and was nominated for the award in 2001 and 2002. He won the Royal Television Society TV journalism presenter of the year award in 2002 and 2007.

Paxman was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Leeds in the summer of 1999 and in December that year received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford.^[33] In 2006 he received an honorary doctorate from the Open University. Among those at the ceremony were three members of the Open University's 1999 University Challenge team. Paxman is a Fellow by special election of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and an Honorary Fellow of his alma mater, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge.

Personal life[link]

Paxman in 2007

Paxman lives with his partner Elizabeth Ann Clough in Stonor, southeast Oxfordshire. They have three children: Jessica, and twins Victoria and Jack. He supports Leeds United and his favourite players are Billy Paynter and Robbie Rogers, he also enjoys fly fishing in his leisure time.^[34] He is vice-chairman of the Wild Trout Trust conservation charity. He is also a patron of the charity Sustrans.

When, in his twenties, Paxman unsuccessfully applied for the vacant editorship of the venerable Labour-supporting weekly The New Statesman, he said he considered himself a socialist.^[35][36] He had previously stood as a Communist candidate in school elections.^[36] More recently, he has been described as "the archetypal floating voter", and Jon Snow once said that Paxman's greatest strength was being "not very political".^[36] Paxman himself has stated:

I do understand we have to have a government, and I do firmly believe in democracy. So it's not true to say I'm not a political person. I am a political person. But I'm not a party political person. I don't believe there is a monopoly of wisdom in any one party. I suppose as one gets older - I would have described it at the age of 21 as the process of selling out, but another way of looking at it is to say, actually, the world is not a very simple place, and that as you get older simple-minded solutions seem less attractive.^[36]

He has periodically suffered from depression.^[37] It has recently been wrongly asserted that he attended Charterhouse School.^[38] Paxman has denied these claims.^[39]

Criticism[link]

Paxman has been publicly criticised over his and his partner's home help arrangements.^[40] Having advertised on a Romanian website, they hired two people at below minimum wage without a written contract. While this is not illegal in the UK if employees live in, Paxman, known for grilling interviewees on workers' rights issues, was criticised when his employees went public, claiming to have been paid "the bare minimum".^[41]

Paxman's controversial remarks about the Scots have provoked anger at parliamentary level. Twenty Scottish Members of Parliament signed a House of Commons motion in March 2005 condemning him for comparing supposed Scottish dominance at Westminster to British rule in India: a "Scottish Raj" was running the UK, said Paxman. The row came right after a Cabinet minister had complained that the Newsnight host had been offensive about his Glasgow accent. Paxman's response served further to fan the flames.^[42] In an introduction to a new edition of Chambers Dictionary in August 2008 Paxman labelled the work of Scotland's national poet Robert Burns as "sentimental doggerel."^[43] Paxman himself is quarter-Scottish through his maternal grandmother, a fact which he stated has led to many of his comments being misunderstood as he regards the Scots "with affection".^[5]

Paxman has been widely condemned as disrespectful when commented in an absurd way the possible exit of Greece from the Eurozone ('like bad kebab vomiting") on the 31st of May 2012 edition of Newsnight. He received many angry messages from the audience on twitter and other media accusing him for racist and inappropriate stereotypical analogies ^{[44] [45]}. Paxman has come under fire from critics of US foreign policy, including fellow journalist John Pilger, for his involvement with the British-American Project about which, according to The Guardian, "even its supporters joke that it's funded by the CIA."^[46]

Paxman in popular culture[link]

Paxman became a focus of media attention in his own right in October 2000 when the stolen Enigma machine, which had been taken from Bletchley Park Museum, was inexplicably sent to him in the post. He had it returned to its rightful location.^[47]

Charlie Brooker once opined in his Screen Burn columns that one of his new policies for the BBC were he put in charge would be to "let Paxman actually hit people", describing this as "self-explanatory".^[48] Similarly, Graeme Garden suggested on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in 1994 that one way to increase Newsnight's ratings would be to "arm Jeremy Paxman".^[49]

Paxman and his presenting style were also frequently parodied by comedian Chris Morris in the satirical TV series The Day Today and Brass Eye. Harry Enfield also parodied Paxman in his short-lived Sky series, Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show.

Bibliography[link]

• Harris, Robert; Jeremy Paxman (1982). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret Story of Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang. ISBN 0-8090-5471-X.  New edition published as Harris, Robert; Jeremy Paxman (2002). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Gas and Germ Warfare. London: Arrow. ISBN 0-09-944159-4. .
• Paxman, Jeremy (1985). Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey. London: Paladin. ISBN 0-586-08572-6. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (1991). Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain?. London; New York, N.Y.: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-015600-3. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (1999). The English: A Portrait of a People. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-026723-9. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2003). The Political Animal: An Anatomy. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-028847-3. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2006). On Royalty. London; New York, N.Y.: Viking. ISBN 0-670-91662-5. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2009). The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84607-744-9. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2011). Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-91957-4. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeremy Paxman

• Biography of Jeremy Paxman, member of the BBC's Press Office, at the official website of the BBC.
• Profile of Jeremy Paxman at Speaker's Associates
• BBC 'Newsnight' biography of Jeremy Paxman
• Official website of BBC's Newsnight programme
• Paxman questioned by fellow-journalists at London's Frontline Club, February 2008
• Paxman interviewed at length on the US Charlie Rose Show, June 2007

Vinnie Jones

Jones at Comic-Con promoting The Midnight Meat Train on 2 July 2007
Personal information
Full name	Vincent Peter Jones
Date of birth	(1965-01-05) 5 January 1965 (age 47)
Place of birth	Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Height	6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1986	Wealdstone
1986	Holmsund
1986–1989	Wimbledon	77	(9)
1989–1990	Leeds United	46	(5)
1990–1991	Sheffield United	35	(2)
1991–1992	Chelsea	42	(4)
1992–1998	Wimbledon	177	(14)
1998–1999	Queens Park Rangers	9	(1)
Total		386	(33)
National team
1994–1997	Wales	9	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones (born 5 January 1965) is an English actor and retired footballer.

Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. As a member of the "Crazy Gang", Jones won the 1988 FA Cup Final with Wimbledon, a club for which he played well over 200 games during two spells between 1986 and 1998. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. Jones appeared in Celebrity Big Brother 2010, where he finished in third place behind Dane Bowers and Alex Reid.

He has capitalised on his tough man image as a footballer and is known as an actor for his aggressive style and intimidating demeanour, often being typecast into roles as coaches, hooligans and violent criminals.

Early life[link]

Jones was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, to Peter Jones (a gamekeeper) and Glenda Harris Jones.^[1]

Club career[link]

Jones started his football career in 1984 at Alliance Premier League side Wealdstone, during which time he combined playing football with being a hod carrier.^[2] He played one season with second-level Swedish club IFK Holmsund in 1986 and helped them win the league.^[3]

In the autumn of 1986, Jones moved to Wimbledon for £10,000. He was part of the 'Crazy Gang' team that won the 1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool, the dominant English side of that era.

He was transferred to Leeds United in the summer of 1989, where he was part of a young side under the management of Howard Wilkinson. During his time there, he won promotion to the old Division One from the Second division. After helping them win promotion to the top-flight as Champions of the Second Division, Jones proved that he could thrive without the illegal side of his game, and under the stewardship of Wilkinson, he received only three yellow cards in the whole season.

Jones left Leeds early in the 1990-91 season after losing his first-team place to youngsters David Batty and Gary Speed, as well as new signing Gary McAllister - much to the disappointment of the Leeds fans - in order to seek regular first-team football. To this day, he remains a hugely popular figure with the Leeds fans; Jones has a Leeds United badge tattooed on his leg (after having helped them to the 1989/90 second division championship).^[4] Jones also showed his passion for the club when he returned to Leeds for Lucas Radebe's testimonial in 2006.

His former Wimbledon manager Dave Bassett signed him for Sheffield United on his exit from Elland Road, before selling him to Chelsea a year later. After just one year at Stamford Bridge, he was on his way back to Wimbledon, where he stayed until becoming player/coach of QPR in 1998, scoring on his debut against Huddersfield Town.^[5] Jones was once rumoured to take the vacant managers post at QPR but that failed.

International career[link]

Jones was so desperate to play international football he looked to distant relations and was photographed wearing a Republic of Ireland jersey, before being chosen by Wales.^{[citation needed]} Though Jones is a common surname in Wales, the qualifying relationship was his maternal grandfather, who came from Ruthin, north Wales.

He made his debut for Wales on 14 December 1994, three weeks before his 30th birthday, in a 3-0 home defeat to Bulgaria in the Euro 96 qualifiers. The last of his nine caps came on 29 March 1997 in a 2-1 defeat to Belgium in a World Cup qualifier, also at Cardiff Arms Park.^[6]

Jones's international call-up was however greeted with consternation and even ridiculed by Jimmy Greaves, who said, "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!".^[7]

Playing events[link]

During his playing days, Jones was renowned for his "hard man" image, an aspect of his play that was frequently the target of criticism.^[8] He was sent off 12 times in his career, as well as holding the record for the quickest ever booking in a football match, being booked after just three seconds for a foul on the opposition player Dane Whitehouse in a Premier League tie between Chelsea and Sheffield United in 1992.^[9] In his autobiography, he recalls fondly: "I must have been too high, too wild, too strong or too early, because, after three seconds, I could hardly have been too bloody late!".

In one notorious incident in 1987, Jones was photographed grabbing Paul Gascoigne by his testicles in order to faze him.^[10][11][12] In November 1986, in a match between Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon, he was responsible for a dangerous challenge on defender Gary Stevens, an injury that Stevens never fully recovered from and eventually caused him to retire in 1992.^[13]

Controversy[link]

He also was the presenter of the infamous Soccer's Hard Men video released in 1992, which featured archived footage of himself and many other "hard men" of the game, and included advice for budding "hard men". After the release of the video, Jones was fined £20,000, banned for six months, and suspended for three years from The FA for "bringing the game into disrepute." Wimbledon chairman Sam Hammam branded Jones a "mosquito brain". Jones continued to find trouble. After exceeding 40 disciplinary points he was once again summoned to Lancaster Gate, but failed to appear. The FA banned Jones indefinitely. Jones explained that he had "mixed up" the date of the hearing; the FA imposed a four-match ban and told Jones to "grow up".^[14] Jones commented later: "The FA have given me a pat on the back. I've taken violence off the terracing and onto the pitch."^[15]

Many of Jones' fellow professionals were quick to condemn both the video and Jones himself. One of his most vocal critics was David Ginola, who said, "Jones does not deserve to be considered a footballer. Getting kicked is part of the job in France as well as England, but the real scandal is that someone like Jones gets to be a star, to make videos and become an example for kids."

Other football activities[link]

Jones has stated that he would eventually like to return to football, possibly to Leeds. Jones told Yorkshire Radio "I will come back without a doubt, Leeds fans gave me so much and it's a club very close to my heart."^[16]

Jones made an appearance in Ireland for Carlisle United, coming on as a second-half substitute in 2001 against Shelbourne, teaming up with friend Roddy Collins who was manager at the time.

Despite being considered just a midfield enforcer, he did show a different side to his game. In 1995, he stood in for Wimbledon as an emergency Goalkeeper against Newcastle United, due to Paul Heald being sent off, and other keeper Neil Sullivan was injured with a broken leg. Despite the Dons Losing 6–1, Jones pulled off a string of world class saves, and only conceded 3 goals in 60 minutes, as opposed to Heald's 3 in 30. Pundits^[who?] joked he would be a good replacement for Neville Southall, should the keeper be unfit for Wales duty.^{[citation needed]}

After participating in a charity football match alongside fellow British Hollywood film actor Jason Statham, Jones was approached by a Los Angeles Galaxy scout and asked whether he would go for a trial at the club. Jones laughed off the offer by saying "You're 15 years too late".^[17]

In June 2010, Jones released a press statement stating that he was donating his 1988 FA Cup winners medal to the fans of A.F.C. Wimbledon, wishing their fans the best for the future. The medal will be displayed in the club's Kingsmeadow Stadium.^[18]

Film career[link]

Vinnie Jones
Vinnie Jones, Leslie Bibb, and Bradley Cooper at San Diego Comic-Con International promoting the film The Midnight Meat Train in July 2007
Born	Vincent Peter Jones (1965-01-05) 5 January 1965 (age 47) Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Other names	Vinnie Jones
Occupation	footballer, actor, film producer, composer, singer
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Tanya Jones (1994–present)
Website
http://www.vinniejones.co.uk/

Jones made his 1998 feature film debut in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He later starred in Guy Ritchie's next blockbuster Snatch as Bullet-Tooth Tony.

He became known to American audiences in the 2000 movie remake of Gone in 60 Seconds where he played "the Sphinx." Although Jones had a major role as well as significant on-screen time, he only had one line in the entire film but was portrayed as a silent tough brawler.

Jones went back to his football days to play Danny Meehan in Mean Machine, a 2001 British take of the Burt Reynolds' film The Longest Yard (a.k.a. Mean Machine for its UK release). He plays a former Captain of the English National Football Team, who is sent to prison and subsequently takes control of a team of inmates who play the guards.

His next big piece was in the 2006 movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, as the mutant, Juggernaut. Jones said that he would like to play Juggernaut in a spin-off. His line in the movie, "I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch!", was based on a pre-existing Internet parody.

Jones played a role of a professional killer in a Kazakhstani movie called Ликвидатор ("Eliminator"), 2011. Jones' character is an elite assassin invited from abroad in order to eliminate the main character. Producers of the film have dealt with the language barrier rather interestingly – Jones' character is mute and does not say a single word throughout the movie.

He also played a role in the Hungarian film The Magic Boys. The film was never completed and there is no known release date. The film's producer, Gabor Koltai, was arrested on major tax fraud charges in December 2010 and is remanded to the Budapest Prison waiting trial. He could get up to 8 years in federal prison. The film co starred Michael Madsen and was directed by his father Robert Koltai.^[19][20]

Jones is said to have been cast as The Kurgan in the remake of the 1986 cult classic Highlander.^{[citation needed]}

He played a major role in the 2004 Japanese film Survive Style 5+, where he plays a thuggish hit-man from Britain who kills several people and, with the help of his translator, tries to discover what everyone's function in life is.

Jones also played a part in the movie Kill the Irishman, where he played the character Keith Ritson, an ex-Hells Angels who works as an enforcer. He also played Mahogany in Midnight Meat Train. He also played the role of a sadistic former SAS agent in 'The Condemned'.

Music[link]

In November 2002, Jones released an album of blues and soul songs on Telstar called Respect in the UK, as his musical debut under the tuition of Phil Edwards.

Vinnie performed a cover version of the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" on the popular British television show, TOTP2 in December 2002.

The opening track of Joss Stone 2007 album Introducing Joss Stone features a short speech by Jones.

In May 2002, Jones played a character in the music video for Westlife's single 'Bop Bop Baby'.

Television[link]

Jones also appeared in the US series Chuck – in episode 2 of the third series he plays an arms dealer (the main villain). In 2010 he was added to the cast of the NBC superhero/crime drama series The Cape.

Jones narrated the TV series Vinnie Jones’ Toughest Cops. The series commenced airing in 2008 on ITV4 in the UK. Each episode to date has examined the work of a police force in a different country in the world, concentrating on dangerous aspects of the work. The first show concerned police in Colombia.

Jones was the first ever guest host for The Friday Night Project when it first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005. In the same year he also had a minor role in the film She's the Man as coach Dinklage. He also appeared in an episode of Extras playing an exaggerated version of himself.

Jones appeared on the first episode of the second season of Top Gear in their Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment. He managed to make it around the track in 1 minute 53 seconds.

On 6 December 1998, Jones appeared at the World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view Capital Carnage, where he played up his 'hard man' image, acting as a special guest enforcer for the main event. Before the match he had a (staged) fight with fellow enforcer The Big Bossman and was "red carded" and kicked out. He came back at the end of the show to drink beer with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and referee Earl Hebner. Jones returned to the promotion, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment, on 18 February 2007 at No Way Out, where he claimed he had "kicked Stone Cold's arse" on the set of The Condemned.

Brian Michael Bendis announced via Twitter on 28 July 2011 that Vinnie will be playing Johnny Royale in Powers.

Jones is also joined Eric Wynalda and Coby Jones as studio analyst for Fox Soccer Sunday broadcast of the Premier League.

[edit] Celebrity Big Brother

Jones was a housemate on the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother 2010,^[21] and celebrated his 45th birthday while he participated. He took part in the show to change the public's perception of him as a 'hard man'.^[22] Jones received loud cheers as he entered the house and was the favourite to win going into the house, however he did not maintain popularity with the public, the crowd chanted 'Get Vinnie Out' on the final night and booed him as he left the house after he finished in third place. Speaking of his experience on the show, he said: "It was like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in there – and I was Jack Nicholson."^[23]

During the 29 January 2010 broadcast of Celebrity Big Brother, Jones accused Davina McCall of 'walking like a retard', McCall responded by laughing and Jones then mimed what he meant. Despite immediate protests by disability charities, individual disabled people and a Facebook campaign;^[24][25] it was not until 12 February that Channel 4 removed the incident from its on-demand service 4oD and issued an apology, blaming the failure on the 'tiredness' of production staff. Jones and McCall issued apologies via their respective publicists at around the same time.

Advertisements[link]

Since September 2006, Jones' image and voice have been used in a campaign by UK bookmakers Ladbrokes to promote greyhound racing, a sport Jones has been connected with in the past, as a racing dog owner and an enthusiast. Jones also appeared in a series of advertisements for Bacardi.

Jones has appeared as himself in an RAC commercial also featuring his wife, Tanya. In 2000, Jones caused controversy when he appeared in an ad for a drink called "Red Devil". In the ad, Jones is pruning flowers in his garden when he sees a robin crying because its bird feeder is empty. Jones fills the feeder, and places it on the windowsill of his kitchen. Seeing the feeder, the robin flies at it, collides with the kitchen window, and slides down the pane while Jones bursts out laughing. Many parents said the ad (which drew about 390 complaints) was tasteless, and upsetting for children. Later, the ad was shown only after the nine o'clock watershed. The ad was eventually axed.

During the early months of 2012, he starred in a British Heart Foundation television advert promoting Hands-only CPR to the rhythm of the famous Bee Gees single "Stayin' Alive".^[26] His character was an obvious reflection of his roles as Big Chris and Bullet-Tooth Tony from the Guy Ritchie films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch respectively; being accentuated by the presence fellow actor Andy Beckwith who played the thug Errol in "Snatch". Jones also starred in comedy panel show Mad Mad World on ITV1

Books[link]

In 1998 Jones published his autobiography, Vinnie: The Autobiography,^[27] which was later revised and reprinted a year later to include information on his first film appearance in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Jones is soon^[when?] to be the star of a new comic book, Noble, written and drawn by Howard Chaykin.^[28]

Personal life[link]

During his football career Jones resided in Dronfield, near Sheffield. Jones married Tanya Terry (b. 1966) in 1994 in Watford. She has a daughter, Kaley Jay Terry (born 1987, Watford), by her first husband, footballer Steve Terry. She had a heart transplant straight after the birth and is a cervical cancer survivor.^[29] Jones has a son, Aaron Elliston Jones (born 1991, Sheffield),^[30] by Mylene Elliston. His son joined the British Army, completing his training in August 2008, and serves in the Life Guards.^[31] Jones, his wife and her daughter live in Los Angeles.^[32]