Peter Jones

Actor, playwright and game show panellist, the son of an antiques dealer. Jones was educated at Ellesmere College where he first performed in school plays. At age sixteen he made an unsuccessful stab at acting on the professional stage at the Wolverhampton Grand but was fired after just one performance. Putting in the hard yards to improve on his acting skills he subsequently worked for BBC radio and then in regional repertory theatre, prior to making his debut at London's West End Haymarket Theatre in a 1942 production of George Bernard Shaws 'The Doctor's Dilemma'. During the 1950's and 60's, Jones also contributed scripts for BBC radio, as well as writing and directing plays, though none of the latter met with more than moderate success. There were also a handful of film appearances, invariably in small parts. A tendency for understating his performances possibly limited his chances for a more substantial career in this medium. Just prior to playing a barman in Dead of Night (1945),