Jan Anderson (born Janina Anderson; 17 June 1974 in

Porthcawl Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the S ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) is a Welsh

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. Her late mother was a Welsh horse riding teacher; her late father, an Italian lumberjack. She had an older sister, Ruth, who died in 1998. Anderson joined Pyle-based children's Vagabond Theatre at age seven, with the teacher Trevor Harris. Another influence in her life was drama teacher Roger Burnell at Porthcawl comprehensive school performing with them at The Grand Pavilion until age 13 in productions including starring as Annie in '' Annie,'' Juliet in '' Romeo and Juliet,'' Cecily in ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'', and Lily in ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...

''. She also played in ''Oklahoma'', ''Damn Yankees'' and in the role of Baby Jane in ''Gypsy''. After leaving school at the age of 15, she joined the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

, where she toured with the production of ''Carmen'' and studied at the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

. She was the lead presenter on the HTV Wales programme ''The Gen''. Her other television credits include '' Is Harry on the Boat'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...

'', '' Doctors'' and '' London's Burning''. She had a role in the 1999 British film ''

Human Traffic ''Human Traffic'' is a 1999 British-Irish-Welsh independent coming of age comedy drama film written and directed by Justin Kerrigan. It is a cult film of the Cool Cymru era of arts in Wales. The film explores themes of coming of age, drug and ...

'', but Jan is mostly known for her role of Chloe Hill in BBC's ''Casualty'' from 1998 to 2002. In the early 2000s, she studied acting in Hollywood, and broke into the US film and TV arena. There, she worked on films including Sony Pictures' ''Detention'', ''Portal'', ''Three Days Blind'', ''Float'', ''Big Top'' and ''Halloween Night''. She played Marie in the ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'' episode " Reset", and had a small role on ''Prison Break''. In July 2011, Anderson featured in the second episode of the eighth series of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', playing the role of

Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner * Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer * Rich ...

' new girlfriend, Stella. In 2012, she relocated back to the UK, and has since worked on Sky's comedy ''

Trollied ''Trollied'' is a British sitcom about employees in a fictional supermarket named "Valco", which debuted on Sky One on 4 August 2011 and ended on 23 December 2018. The series was filmed in a purpose-built replica supermarket in the Bottle Yard ...

''.

References

External links

*
Jan Anderson @ Holby.tv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Jan 1974 births Living people People from Porthcawl Welsh people of Italian descent Welsh Buddhists Welsh child actresses Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Welsh television actresses Welsh soap opera actresses