Janet Ellis
Janet Ellis Jigsaw presenter | |
---|---|
Spouses | |
Children | Three, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor |
Janet Ellis,
Early life
Ellis was born in Chatham, Kent on September 16, 1955. Her father was a soldier who was stationed during her childhood at various places in Britain and Germany. Accordingly, she attended seven schools in the two countries, including Russell House School in Otford, Kent between the ages of five and seven, St Hilary's in Sevenoaks, Kent between the ages of 11 and 13, and from the ages of 13 to 17, her last school was Richmond County School for Girls in Richmond, Surrey (now in London).
Having expressed an interest in acting since the age of five, she applied to and was accepted by the
She has a sister, Sharon, who is two years younger than her.
Television career
1978–1987
Ellis's first television appearance in 1978 was a small role in the BBC's children's programme Jackanory Playhouse, followed by a bit part credited as Marge's Friend in The Sweeney episode Hard Men.
Her big break came in 1979, when she landed the job of regular presenter of the
1988–1999
After leaving Blue Peter Ellis scaled back her presenting commitments in order to spend time bringing up her family. During this period she presented the BBC's Open Air programme, wrote a book entitled How to Get Married Without Divorcing Your Family with her friend and ex Blue Peter co-host Caron Keating in 1994, and provided voiceovers for numerous advertisements. She also presented the Daz Challenge in the television advertisements for three years and occasionally appeared as a co-presenter on Danny Baker's BBC Radio 1 show.
2000–2013
Ellis returned to the TV screen in 2000. She played a TV reporter in an episode of the first full series of
In January 2007, Ellis appeared on the BBC reality singing show Just the Two of Us partnered with Alexander O'Neal. Despite being 'saved' by Stewart Copeland on the first night, on 3 January 2007 she was the second celebrity to be eliminated, after judge CeCe Sammy described her as having the vocal characteristics of "a cat on speed". Ellis managed to show good humour in the face of the defeat, stating that she had had "fun, a lot of fun".[9]
In May 2008, she appeared naked in a magazine in support of
In December 2009, Ellis narrated The Man Behind the Masquerade, a BBC documentary about Kit Williams. She was the voice of numerous Mexican gerbils in El Nombre, and has appeared on BBC's Antiques Road Trip with daughter Sophie; Bargain Hunt and Cash in the Attic.
In December 2010, Janet and her daughter Sophie appeared on Channel 4's
In January 2012 Ellis returned to her first love of acting by starring in a production of Alan Bennett's comedy play Green Forms for a week at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick in order to raise money for Maggie's Centres.[11]
2014 – present
Following a long-held ambition to write fiction, Ellis attended a writing course in early 2014 run by the
In 2018 Ellis wrote an opinion piece in The Guardian newspaper in which she characterised Blue Peter as offering "...a view of a world worth growing up in".[15]
She appeared in a play "Once Seen on Blue Peter" at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival. Her second novel, "How It Was", was published in August 2019.
Personal life
Ellis met her first husband, TV director
Ellis was appointed
References
- ^ "Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Janet Ellis: 'Having a famous mum was high value currency when I was little'". The Guardian. 25 September 2021.
- ^ a b "BBC - I Love Blue Peter - Janet Ellis presenter biography". Bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Janet Ellis: 'I am an unashamed spender'". The Daily Telegraph. 11 November 2012.
- ^ "The Horns of Nimon". Radiotimes.com.
- ^ "BBC – I Love Blue Peter – Janet Ellis presenter biography". Bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "BP Confidential". BP Confidential. 10 October 1998. BBC Television. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ a b Bailey, Kerry. "Talking with Janet Ellis". OneUp e-zine. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ "Blue Peter star Janet TV return". Daily Mirror. 26 September 2003.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ News of the World Fabulous magazine, issue 14, 4 May 2008
- Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ Brook, Richard (23 August 2015). "One she wrote earlier: deal for Blue Peter's Ellis". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ Beckerman, Hannah; Bromwich, Kathryn; Cross, Stephanie; Elan, Priya; Hoggard, Liz; Jones, Corinne; Kellaway, Kate; Sethi, Anita (10 January 2016). "Meet the new faces of fiction for 2016". The Guardian.
- ^ "Blue Peter's Janet Ellis nominated for Bad Sex in Fiction Award". BBC News. BBC. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ^ Ellis, Janet (10 January 2018). "Blue Peter's genius is that it offers a view of a world worth growing up in". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Maxted, Anna (30 December 2023). "'It is exhausting. You can't prepare': Janet Ellis on living with grief after the death of her husband". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B17.