Tara Bethan Williams (born 8 December 1983) is a Welsh actress, singer and presenter.

Biography

Daughter of professional footballer and wrestler

Orig Williams Orig Williams (20 March 1931 – 12 November 2009) was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the pseudonym "El Bandito", and after retiring as a fighte ...

, Bethan was brought up in

Llansannan Llansannan is a rural village and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the bank of the River Aled and is about 8 miles to the south of Abergele and to the west of Denbigh. The population was 1,291 in 2001, with ...

and

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

. From a young age, Bethan sang and danced and performed in the ''

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

''. She was educated at Aled Primary School in Llansannan and

Ysgol Glan Clwyd Ysgol Glan Clwyd (or Ysgol Uwchradd Glan Clwyd) is a Welsh-language, Welsh Medium of instruction, medium secondary school, and was the first of its kind. It opened in 1956, initially at Rhyl on the coast before moving inland to St Asaph in 1969. ...

. She later graduated with honours from Ivor Novello - Redroofs Theatre School, where she won "Most Promising Performer of the Year". She won the National Eisteddfod's Gwobr Goffa Wilbert Lloyd Roberts when it was held in

Llanbedrgoch Llanbedrgoch () is a hamlet and post town, a mile south of the town of Benllech and west of Red Wharf Bay, on the island of Anglesey ( cy, Ynys Môn), north Wales. The parish church is St Peter's Church, Llanbedrgoch, a Grade II* listed buildi ...

in 1999. She became the youngest member ever of the Gorsedd of Bards at Newport Eisteddfod at the age of 20. Bethan began appearing on stage in north Wales from a young age, appearing in plays such as ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', ''

Jack And The Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...

'' and ''Peter Karrie Unmasked'' at the Pavilion Theatre in

, ''

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

'' at the Empire Theatre in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'' at the Royal Ascot Pavilion and ''

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' at the City of Varieties Theatre in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. In 2004, she appeared as Laura in the series ''Emyn Roc a Rol'' and had a role as temptress Kelly in ''

Footballer's Wives ''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives, broadcast on ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focuses on three very different couples, bu ...

'' in a 90-minute special. Her debut album ''Does Neb yn fy Nabod i'' features her own, and eight compositions by Gwenno Dafydd and Heulwen Thomas, released on the Sain Records label. In 2006, she was presenter of the S4C children's fun show, ''Mama Mia''. She appeared in '' I'd Do Anything'' in 2008 and was voted out by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

after she performed " Somewhere Over the Rainbow" She also had a role as a cowgirl in ''Cymru Fach'' and appeared in ''

Rownd a Rownd ''Rownd a Rownd'' ( en, "Round and Round") is a Welsh soap opera created by Rondo Media (formally Ffilmiau’r Nant) and shown on S4C since 11 September 1995. It was claimed to be the first Celtic-related language soap specifically directed at ...

''. Bethan did a UK tour of ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

''. in 2013. Bethan appeared in ''

Bugsy Malone ''Bugsy Malone'' is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker (in his feature film directorial debut). A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, featuring only child actors ...

'' at the Queen's Theatre in London with the

National Youth Music Theatre The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a private limited company (orig ...

. She then appeared in the Welsh language soap opera ''

Pobol Y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...

'' from 2011 to 2016 and then again from 2018 to 2019. From 2018, Bethan has been one of three main Welsh judges (alongside

Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest, '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp ...

and Stifyn Parri (series 1) /

Lloyd Macey ''The X Factor'' is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fourteenth series began airing on ITV on 2 September 2017, presented by Dermot O'Leary. For the first time in seven years, the judging panel remained th ...

(series 2) ) on the panel of '' Junior Eurovision: Chwilio am Seren'' (English: Search for a Star), a singing competition organised by Rondo Media and broadcast on S4C, to select an entrant aged 9 to 14 to participate in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the sixteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place in the Belaru ...

, representing .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethan, Tara Welsh stage actresses Welsh-language television presenters Welsh television actresses 21st-century Welsh women singers Living people 1983 births Welsh folk singers People from Llansannan People educated at Ysgol Glan Clwyd Welsh-speaking actors Welsh television presenters Welsh women television presenters