Winter Jones, previously Tony Yalda, sometimes credited as Anthony Yalda (born March 25, 1981) is a non-binary

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

actor.

Biography

Jones was born to

parents in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. Their family fled Lebanon after facing persecution during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. Like most Assyrian refugees, their family arrived in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, seeking asylum. Four years later, the family finally arrived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. Jones studied theatre at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

and

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a Private school, private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois, Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Frankli ...

's Theatre Conservatory. In 2004, they dropped out of school and arrived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

to pursue a career in acting. Pretending to be a messenger service, dropping off pictures and resumes, they made the rounds of casting offices until in 2005 they landed a role in '' The Comeback'' starring

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...

. They booked their next role in ''

American Dreamz ''American Dreamz'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Paul Weitz. It satirizes both popular entertainment and American politics during the second Bush administration, called a "cultural satire" by Weitz. Reviews were mixed and the ...

'' a month later, which landed him with former talent agency, GVA Talent. Their former band The Hollabacks won a national competition for

7 Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. ...

in 2010, making the band the face of

Slurpee Slurpee is the brand name for carbonated slushies sold by 7-Eleven and its subsidiaries A-Plus and Speedway. The brand first originated in 1966 when 7-Eleven made a licensing deal with The Icee Company to sell slushies in 7-Eleven stores. ...

for a 6-month campaign. The Hollabacks music was featured in ''

Cyrus Cyrus ( Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus ...

''. The band was also archived in Wolfgang’s Vault. Jones moved to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

in 2011 to pursue their solo career with producer/songwriter

Michael Bland Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for seven years. From 1995 to 1997, B ...

who is the former drummer for the late

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

. Jones wrote two albums with Bland, '' O My God'' and ''

Sex Appeal Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

'' under the alias Ladyboi. The two albums are now featured as

Winter Jones, Volume I Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different culture ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. Jones dropped the name Ladyboi in 2014 adopting the name Winter Jones, and legally changing their name in 2015. Jones currently resides in Chicago, IL and is writing/recording and performing in the Windy City.

Career

Film

*''

Fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, of ...

'' (2003) as MAX *''My Porn Star'' (2004) as Anthony *''A Moment of Grace'' (2004) as Nidhal *''Mush'' (2005) as Mush *''

'' (2006) as Iqbal Riza *''

Americanizing Shelley ''Americanizing Shelley'' is a 2007 Hollywood romantic comedy film directed by Lorraine Senna and starring Beau Bridges, Namrata Singh Gujral, Shaheen Khan, Wil Wheaton, Noureen DeWulf, Tony Yalda, and Ajay Mehta. The film was the closing fil ...

'' (2007) as Happy Singh *''

Meet the Spartans ''Meet the Spartans'' is a 2008 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. The film is mainly a parody of the 2006 film ''300'', although it also references many other films, TV shows, people and pop cultura ...

'' (2008) as Sanjaya Malakar *'' House Broken'' (2009) as Gilroy *''The Last Stop'' (2009) as

Wedding Planner A wedding planner is a professional who assists with the design, planning and management of a client's wedding. Weddings are significant events in people's lives and as such, couples are often willing to spend considerable amount of money to e ...

*''

The Taqwacores ''The Taqwacores'' is the debut novel by Michael Muhammad Knight, depicting a fictitious Islamic punk rock scene. The title is a portmanteau of taqwa, an Islamic concept of love and fear for Allah, and Hardcore, the punk rock subgenre. Some ...

'' (2010) as Muzzamil *''

'' (2010/11) as Tom

TV

*'' The Comeback'' as Raoul (2005) in the episode "Valerie Relaxes in Palm Springs" *'' Girlfriends'' (2006) as Lem in two episodes: "Party Over Here" and "The It Girl" *'' Help Me Help You'' (2006) as Nadeem in the episode "The Sheriff" *''

The Middleman ''The Middleman'' is a comic book series written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach with art by Les McClaine and published by Viper Comics. The series was initially intended to be a television pilot that went on to be published as a comic, before bei ...

'' (2008) as Underworld Desk Clerk in the episode "The Accidental Occidental Conception" *'' Roommates'' (2009) as Winston in the episode "The Uninvited Thorn", "The Break-In", "The Lie" and "The Roommate"

Video

* ''Para matar a un asesino'' aka ''To Kill a Killer'' (2004) as Security Guard

Soundtracks

* ''

'' (2006) - performer: "

Super Freak "Super Freak" is a 1981 single produced and performed by American singer Rick James. The song, co-written by James and Alonzo Miller, was first released on James' fifth album, '' Street Songs'' (1981) and became one of James' signature songs. "F ...

" *''

'' (2008) - performer: "

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, '' Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song, it is a popular ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Winter 1981 births Assyrian actors Lebanese emigrants to the United States Living people DePaul University alumni Roosevelt University alumni American non-binary actors American non-binary musicians