Comedian, talk show host, game show host, film critic, radio DJ and awards show compere, Jonathan Ross is the most successful British broadcaster of his generation. After attending the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London and gaining a Modern European History degree, he worked as a researcher on Channel Four in the 1980s, becoming a presenter for the first time in January 1987 on the channel's series _"The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross" on his talk show earlier in the year. In 2009, it was announced that Ross was leaving the BBC in 2010 and in July 2010, the same month his last BBC programme went out, it was announced he had signed a deal to begin a new talk show on ITV1 in 2011.
He is the son of Martha Ross.
He was the original choice to host "TFI Friday" , which instead went to Chris Evans.
Children: Betty Kitten, Harvey Kirby and Honey Kinney
His wife Jane Goldman is an author.
He presents his own show on BBC Radio 2 (Saturdays). The shows producer and co-host is Andy Davies.
He is the voice of The Ugly Stepsister in Shrek 2 in the UK version (Larry King does the voice in the US version). Although King is still credited in the main credit sequence, an additional screen, acknowledging Jonathans role appears at the very end of the film.
He was named the showbiz dad most fathers identified with in a poll of fathers for UK retailer Early Learning Centre.
He was voted Sexiest Male Voice in UK Radio in a poll by Trojan condoms.
He was awarded the O.B.E.(Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queens Birthday Honours List for his services to broadcasting.
His all time favorite film is Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! .
He maintained a lot of control over the playlist of his BBC Radio 2 show, playing many of his favorite artists. He is a fan of Roxy Music , David Bowie , Scott Walker , John Barry , Morrissey , The Cure , The Feeling , Arctic Monkeys , Neil Hannon , Edwyn Collins , Elvis Presley , Queen , Electric Light Orchestra , Elvis Costello , Frank Sinatra , Paul Weller and punk rock in general. All these artists were played on his show.
His top ten films of all time are: Duck Soup , Sunset Blvd. , Ikiru (1952) , Le salaire de la peur (aka The Wages of Fear), 8 , Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! , The Producers , Blade Runner , Tonari no Totoro (aka My Neighbour Totoro) and Faa yeung nin wa (aka In The Mood for Love) [Source: "Sight and Sound"].
His favorite music artist is David Bowie and he played a David Bowie song on every edition of his BBC Radio 2 show.
He is the brother of Paul Ross.
He was in the audience at Wembley Stadium for the concerts of Wham! in June 1986 and Queen in July 1986.
His favorite situation comedy ever is "Seinfeld" .
In an article published in the Radio Times in 2005, 70 industry experts from the BBC and commercial radio judged him the most powerful person in British radio.
He revealed in an interview with Christopher Eccleston on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" in 2005 that he was a fan of the original series of "Doctor Who" . He also mentioned that his favorite Doctor was Jon Pertwee.
He has named The Temptations as his favorite R&B group.
He considers David Baddiel one of his closest friends.
In 2006, he was one of several BBC star presenters whose salaries were leaked to a national newspaper by a temporary agency worker at the corporation. The same year, he signed a new contract with the BBC which some reports estimated to be worth 6 million annually, a figure the corporation refused to confirm or deny. Following this, the BBC Trust launched a review into whether the BBC was paying its stars above the market rate, which was published in 2008 and vindicated the corporation.
On Russell Brand s Radio 2 show on 18 October 2008, he and Brand left obscene messages on the answerphone of Andrew Sachs , concerning the fact that Brand had slept with Sachss grand-daughter Georgina Baillie. This programme was later broadcast, provoking widespread complaint from the public and politicians such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron. Brand later resigned from the BBC and Ross was suspended without pay for three months. The controller of Radio 2, Lesley Douglas, also resigned, as did the head of compliance David Barber. The BBC Trust called it a "deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification" and Ofcom fined the BBC 150,000, calling it "gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning".
He was winner of the Music Industry Trusts Award in 2009 for his outstanding contribution to the British music industry, joining the likes of acclaimed musicians such as John Barry , Elton John and Peter Gabriel , music industry executive Ahmet Ertegun and promoter Harvey Goldsmith.
Following his involvement in controversies in 2008 such as his interview with Gwyneth Paltrow on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" , which contained sexually explicit content which the BBC Trust called "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive", and his suspension following his performance on the Russell Brand radio show, the BBC decided in 2009 that Ross will no longer broadcast live on BBC radio in an attempt to make sure that he does not breach editorial guidelines again.
He was a regular at Sohos Blitz club during the early years of the New Romantic movement.
He paid 3,000 for four tickets to see Barbra Streisand in concert in 2007.
On December 14th 2010, Jonathan Ross joined the UKs French film channel, Cinemoi, in a multi-faceted role as presenter, producer, creative director and shareholder.
His interview with Steve Martin on "The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross" (broadcast 9 October 1987) was described by Melody Maker magazine (19th December 1987) as "the years most embarrassing TV moment, Martin savagely highlighting his hosts total lack of spontaneity".
Reviewing George Clooney s fact-based Good Night, and Good Luck. on BBC Television, he referred to the villain of the piece (seen in actual news footage in the film) as "the infamous Senator Eugene McCarthy". In fact, as the film repeatedly makes clear, it was the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy , a Republican demagogue. Eugene McCarthy was a politician of a later era, a widely-admired liberal and Democrat who tried unsuccessfully to gain a Presidential nomination in 1968.
Alexander Armstrong called him "the best broadcaster of our age".
Nothing can prepare you for quite how bad Gigli (2003) is.
One thinks making movies is glamorous, but here we are in Bethnal Green.
The Avengers (1998) got some terrible reviews but I find it,curiously satisfying.
I normally do things just for the huge amount of cash.
My love affair with comics is more important to me than my love of,films, or my work in TV, or just about anything outside my family.
I am thrilled and excited that after a short break I will be rolling up,my sleeves and creating a brand-new show for ITV1. I cannot wait to get,back on screen with a fast, funny and unpredictable new talk show. I do,have a little spare time, though, so if England needs a temporary new,manager I will consider the post seriously.
