Jonathan Ross (television presenter)

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Jonathan Ross
Born	November 17, 1960 (age 46) Leytonstone, London, England
Occupation	Television presenter, radio presenter, film critic
Spouse	Jane Goldman (1988 - present)

Jonathan Stephen Ross OBE (born November 17, 1960) is an English television and radio presenter, and film critic. In 2005 he was named "Most Powerful man on the Radio" by Radio Times magazine.

[edit] Biography

Ross was born in Leytonstone, London, England. His older brother is Paul Ross, also a television and LBC radio presenter, while two other brothers, Miles and Simon, are both TV producers. His younger brother Adam and younger sister Lisa both work in the media^[1], while his mother, Martha, was an extra in BBC soap opera EastEnders (as a market stallholder) since the show began in 1985, until November 2006.

He studied history at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (now merged with University College London). He also went to the Southampton Institute (now Southampton Solent University)^{[citation needed]}.

Ross married author and journalist Jane Goldman in 1988, when Goldman was in her late teens. They have since had three children: Betty Kitten, Harvey Kirby (named after Jack Kirby and Harvey Kurtzman, two comic book creators whom Ross especially admires) and Honey Kinney

Ross is also known for owning exotic pets, and is a big fan of David Bowie, English punk rock, Star Trek, Doctor Who, anime and comic books. Ross has even co-owned a comic shop in London with Paul Gambaccini. He was also the visual inspiration for the main character in the comic book Saviour.

[edit] Image

An example of Ross' unusual dress sense.

Ross speaks with a rhotacism, causing him to pronounce the consonant 'r' like a 'w', which has led to the British tabloid press dubbing him "Wossy". However, it has also been asserted by Dr. David Hornsby ^[2]that Ross is simply manifesting a common dialectual variant of English common in the UK called the labiodental approximate. This pronunciation has increased in usage over the past 30 years and is mainly associated with speakers in the South West of England.

He is also known for his flamboyant dress sense and regularly wins awards for being the best and worst-dressed celebrity (when he appeared on the series Room 101, his own dress sense was one of the things he wished to banish). Ross was even blamed for a textile workers' strike in 1988 — David Cope, a sales director for a dyeing operation, made the claim: "Ever since that trendy Jonathan Ross started wearing his big, baggy suits on television, he set a fashion that has been extremely lucrative for the British cotton industry [...] the textile workers now want a share of those profits." ^[3] Ross is also well known for his distinctive long hairstyle.

Whilst appearing on They Think It's All Over, his dress sense was frequently mocked by the other panellists.

[edit] Broadcast career

Ross began his career as a researcher on the Channel 4 show Loose Talk. After leaving this, he worked on various other shows before beginning another research job on Solid Soul. On that programmme, he met fellow researcher Alan Marke, and the two devised what would prove to be a breakthrough hit for Ross in 1987, The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross.

The pair based their concept on the successful American show Late Night with David Letterman, and formed a new production company called Channel X, to produce a pilot. Ross was not originally slated as the show's host, but with little time to find one Jonathan Ross stepped in and made his television debut at the show in January 1987^[4]

While the series eventually became a co-production with Colin Callender, ownership remained with Marke and Ross, meaning that the latter retained a great deal of control as well as being presenter ^[3]. The show proved popular for both Ross and for Channel 4, making him one of the major personalities on the channel.

A year later, his documentary series The Incredibly Strange Film Show introduced many to the works of cult film-makers like Sam Raimi and Jackie Chan.

In 1989 he co-presented the biennial BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, the same year he launched One Hour with Jonathan Ross a short lived chat show on Channel 4, most notable for the game show segment Knock down ginger which introduced comedians such as Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson to television.

In 1991, he presented the annual British Comedy Awards on ITV. He has presented the event each year since, and still does to this day. In 1992 he presented an interview with Madonna about her "Erotica" album and "Sex Book" Promotion.

Ross presented and appeared in numerous television entertainment programmes on several channels throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He was a regular panellist on the sports quiz They Think It's All Over, and hosted the panel game It's Only TV...But I Like It. Other projects were the BBC joke-quiz Gagtag; the Channel 4 variety show Saturday Zoo; new acts showcase The Big Big Talent Show; and the ITV programme Fantastic Facts.

In 1995 he left Channel X, despite its profitable nature. He was quoted in a 1998 article as stating:

He took over presenting of The Film programme in 1999, the BBC's long-running cinema review programme, after Barry Norman left the show. Ross himself has made a number of cameo appearances in films, playing himself in the Spice Girls' film Spiceworld (1997) and voicing the character of Doris in the UK version of Shrek 2 (2004) and Shrek the Third (2007). He also played himself in Only Fools And Horses, presenting a fictional television quiz on which the main character, Delboy, was a contestant.

He began presenting a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 in 1999, and he continues to do so. On radio, he has also presented shows for BBC Radio 1 and Virgin Radio (having previously worked on Richard Branson's earlier venture, Radio Radio), as well as the now-defunct commercial radio network service The Super Station, where his producer was Chris Evans.

On November 2, 2001, Ross began presenting his chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. The show is still running and is now on its eleventh series. It continues to be one of the most popular shows on the BBC.

In 2005, Ross anchored the BBC television coverage of the Live 8 concerts. Later that year he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. He celebrated the news by playing "God Save the Queen" by The Sex Pistols (which was banned by the BBC when released in 1977) on his Radio 2 Saturday morning show. On June 21, 2006 Ross was made a Fellow of UCL, his alma mater.

On December 9, 2005, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, he claimed that in January he would be playing a Cyberman in the 2006 series of Doctor Who. However, this claim has not been corroborated by any other sources.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2006 Ross announced that after eight years he was quitting his regular panellist seat on the sport/comedy quiz show They Think It's All Over, stating:

In January 2006 he presented Jonathan Ross' Asian Invasion, broadcast on BBC Four. The three-part documentary followed Ross as he explored the film industry in Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, interviewing directors and showcasing clips. His interest in Asian culture also lead him to making two series of BBC Three show Japanorama, as well as producing another series for the same channel called Adam and Joe Go Tokyo, starring Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish. He produced the latter programme through his own production company Hot Sauce.

Ross was the subject of controversy in June 2006 when Conservative party leader David Cameron appeared on the show. Ross began a line of questioning relating to ex-Conservative Prime-minister Margaret Thatcher culminating in the question did you or did you not have a wank thinking of Margaret Thatcher? Ross was defended by the BBC publicly, though privately it has been acknowledged it was bordering on indecent. The interview has been banned from being shown again. ^[6]

On June 25, 2006, he performed at the Childrens Party At The Palace for Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday.

On March 16, 2007, Ross hosted Comic Relief 2007 alongside Fearne Cotton and Lenny Henry.

[edit] BBC contract

In April 2006, Ross, along with other BBC personalities, had details of his fees leaked to the tabloid press. ^[7] It was claimed at the time by a then unidentified BBC mole, that Ross earned £530,000 (equivalent to £10,000 per show) per year for hosting his Radio 2 show. ^[8] This was a controversial revelation. For some, the BBC was abusing its dominant position over commercial rivals in paying popular personalities such high fees, and for others debasing its public service remit. While refusing to comment specifically on the leak in line with the BBC policy on the matter, Ross did hint during his radio show that the figure was exaggerated; in addition to this, any pay highlighted as being 'his' would actually be split between himself and his producer/co-presenter on the show, Andy Davies.

The following June, Ross became the highest paid television personality in Britain, when a new BBC contract secured his services until 2010, for a reported £18 million (£4.5 million/year).^[9]

[edit] Trivia

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• In 1991 Nirvana were guests on his 'then' talk show, Tonight with Jonathan Ross. They were scheduled to perform Lithium but instead performed Territorial Pissings. After the performance Kurt, Chris and Dave trashed his television set. Representatives of the band and the record label apologised and paid damages, leaving no hard feelings between Ross and themselves.
• In an episode of Film 2006, broadcast in the UK on 30th October 2006, he claimed that he had appeared as an extra in the 1981 movie 'The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin', as an Israeli soldier raiding Entebbe airport.
• He shares his birthday with one of his heroes, the late comedian Peter Cook, with whom Ross worked for many years.
• Was the original choice to host TFI Friday, which later went to Chris Evans.
• Voted Sexiest Male Voice in Radio in a poll by Trojan condoms, supplied by Harry S Cooper Inc, (www.the_rubber_man.com)
• Bought Ricky Gervais a kitten after Gervais's previous cat, Colin, had died. The cat's name is Ollie and was presented to him on an episode of Ross's talk show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
• He is a fan of the band They Might Be Giants, and appeared on stage with them during their most recent UK tour.
• Ross was one of the special celebrity guests in the final episode of Ricky Gervais's second season of Extras, in which Gervais's character, Andy Millman, and Ross were shown to be the best of friends after a fictional appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
• Ross provided the voiceover for the Official FIA Formula One Season Review of 1993
• Ross was enlisted to ask the first question since the transition from beta for the Yahoo Answers in UK and Ireland. You can see the answer here.
• He was described as "one of the funniest men in the country" by his close friend, the comedian David Baddiel.
• In 2005 & 2006 he reported the arrival of Santa Claus in the UK for NORAD Tracks Santa.
• Reportedly went to school with frontman of the Gothic Rock band The Sisters of Mercy, Andrew Eldritch.
• He sends his kids to the "progressive" King Alfred School in London.
• He is an expert on the Sociologist Max Weber

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• IMDB profile
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross at TV.com
• Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2
• Jonathan Ross is Taking Over The World