Griff Rhys Jones

Griff Rhys Jones is a presenter, broadcaster, actor, screenwriter, author, sought-after events host, and popular after-dinner entertainer. He is best known for his comedy sketch work on the BBC, most notably Not the Nine O’clock News and Alas Smith and Jones.

Alongside comedian Mel Smith, Griff founded the television production company Talkback Productions, now part of RTL group, and then in 2005 he started the production company Modern Television.

Griff is a passionate advocate for charities and heritage preservation. He is President of Civic Voice, Vice President of the Victorian Society, Ambassador for the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, and Patron of the Stour and Orwell Trust.

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Type Of Speaker

After Dinner Celebrity Host Comedians Diversity Entertainment Event Hosts History Presenters Speaker

More About Griff Rhys Jones

When Cardiff-born Griff Rhys Jones was at Cambridge University, he joined the Footlights Club, whose alumni includes John Cleese, Eric Idle, Bill Oddie, Clive Anderson, Sandi Toksvig, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Olivia Colman, David Mitchell, Phil Wang, Sue Perkins, and Mel Giedroyc.

After a stint of jobs post-graduation, he joined the BBC as a trainee radio producer, as well as a cameo actor in Not the Nine O’clock News. Before long he was brought in as a regular member of the cast alongside Mel Smith, Rowan Atkinson, and Pamela Stephenson. He continued to work as a TV actor, starring in Mine All Mine, Riot at the Rite, Marple, Casualty, Funnybones, and Jonathan Creek.

Alongside his television acting credits, Grill is also a prominent stage actor, having won Olivier awards for Charley’s Aunt (1984) and An Absolute Turkey (1994). He has also appeared at the National Theatre in Wind in the Willows; A View of Harry Clarke alongside Elaine Paige; and as Fagin in Oliver! In the West End.

Griff Rhys Jones History presenter comedian Event Awards Host book at official agent Great British Speakers

He is also a popular documentary host, having fronted documentaries on John Betjeman, Arthur Ransome, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Kenneth Grahame.

His presenting credits include Bookworm, Restoration, Three Men in a Boat, Mountain, River Journeys with Griff Rhys Jones, Who Do You Think You Are, and I’ll Be Alright on the Night.

He has also presented a range of documentaries, including Slow Train Through Africa, Griff’s Great Britain, A Pembrokeshire Farm, Return to a Pembrokeshire Farm, Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, Greatest Cities of the World, The Prince’s Welsh Village, Hidden Treasures of Art, Burma: My Father and the Forgotten Army, A Great Welsh Adventure, Great Australian Adventure, and Griff’s Canadian Adventure.

Griff Rhys Jones Three men in a boat

He has written a number of books, including To the Baltic With Bob (2003), Semi-Detached (2006), Mountain (2007), and Rivers (2009).

Griff holds a number of honorary degrees from the Universities of Essex, East Anglia, APU, and Glamorgan, and is a Fellow of Welsh College of Music and Drama, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the Royal Society of Arts.

He has become a prominent charity campaigner, and has supported the likes of Comic Relief, the Lucie Blackman Trust, River Stour Trust, and the Civic Trust.