Jan Ravens

Jan Ravens
Born	Janet Ravens (1958-05-14) 14 May 1958 Bebington, Wirral, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Steve Brown (div. 1993) Max Hole (1999-present)

Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, best known for her voices on Spitting Image and Dead Ringers.

Early life

She grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with her father a local government clerk and her mother a nurse. She attended the West Kirby Grammar School for Girls, where Radio 4 presenter Sheila McClennon (You and Yours) was two years below her. She was educated at Homerton College, Cambridge where she studied Education Studies and Drama^[1] and was the first female President of Cambridge University Footlights Club^[2] in 1979-80.

Career

After Cambridge she became a radio comedy producer. She joined the cast of Jasper Carrott's comedy Carrott's Lib in 1983. In 1986, she played the heavily pregnant Vanessa Plowright in the Tourists episode of Farrington of the F.O. (broadcast 13 March). In 1994, she spent a year with the RSC. She has done much voice-over work, being the Cadbury's Caramel bunny for several years, and as the seductive voice of a can of apple Tango. She has also appeared on Just A Minute on Radio 4, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Have I Got News for You, Alexei Sayle's Stuff^[3] and in Dictionary Corner on Channel 4's Countdown (one of the shows parodied on Dead Ringers). She was producer of the Radio 4 comedy Elephants to Catch Eels.

Repertoire

People she regularly imitates are Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, Charlotte Green of BBC Radio 4 (with many double entendres), Ellen MacArthur (who regularly bursts into tears), Nigella Lawson (with double entendres), Ann Widdecombe (narrating fanciful racy storylines in her novels), Patricia Routledge's Hyacinth Bucket, Queen Elizabeth II, chirpy Sandi Toksvig, stern-faced Gillian McKeith, Sophie Raworth (with a bemused school-girl grin) and Fiona Bruce (with barely concealed filthy invitations) of BBC News, Anne Robinson of The Weakest Link, Lesley Garrett (often referring to her generous cleavage), and the Geordie-accented wife of David Archer, Ruth, from Radio 4 soap The Archers.

Other television

Ravens appeared in a series 3 episode (entitled "Monday Morning will be Fine") of David Renwick's series One Foot in the Grave as Pat Aylesbury (one of Meldrew's neighbours who he turns to after being burgled).

From 1996 till 2001 She played Janet Grimley, the mother in The Grimleys, a nostalgic sitcom set in '70s Dudley.

In autumn 2006, Jan Ravens appeared on the popular BBC entertainment programme Strictly Come Dancing partnered with Anton du Beke. She reached the 5th week of the competition, when she was knocked out.

In spring 2007, she appeared on the BBC programme The Truth About Food, exploring different foods and how they affect behaviour. She is an ambassador for the charity Action Aid. Also in 2007, she appeared in Ronni Ancona's comedy sketch show, Ronni Ancona & Co.

She won the edition of Celebrity Mastermind on 1 January 2008, making her the first woman to win the programme. She also appeared as Effy's art teacher in E4 drama Skins.

In February 2010, she was a panellist on QI, and in 2012 appeared as Susan in the sitcom Hebburn.

Personal life

She married Steve Brown (the couple divorced in 1993) and later the vice-president of Universal Music Group, Max Hole, in July 1999 in Richmond upon Thames. She lives in Barnes. She has three sons - Alfie, Lenny and Louis. Two by her first husband, born in April 1987 and January 1991 and one by her second, born in June 1998.

She is an ambassador for the charity ActionAid and has visited Kenya with the organisation, and raised money for them on Celebrity Mastermind.^[4]

References

↑ Elisa Bray (August 14, 2014). "My student days: Six musicians, actors and comedians fondly reminisce". The Independent.
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/people/jan_ravens_person_page.shtml
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/people/jan_ravens_person_page.shtml
↑ "Jan Ravens". ActionAid UK. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

External links

News items

Audio clips

Video clips

Footlights presidents

1886–99	1886: F. W. Mortimer 1887: J. J. Withers 1890: O. Browning 1891: C. M. Rae 1892: O. Browning 1894–95: O. Browning 1896–97: H. C. Pollitt 1898: M. V. Leveaux 1899: S. W. Burgess

1900–49	1900: O. J. Goedecker 1901: R. J. White 1902: E. K. Fordham 1904–05: G. S. Heathcote 1906–07: H. Rottenburg 1908: J. S. Murray 1909: L. B. Tillard 1910–11: A. R. Inglis 1912: P. D. Ravenscroft 1913: C. A. A. Douglas Hamilton 1914: M. Cutherston 1919–20: B. D. Nicholson 1921: M. D. Lyon 1923: F. E. Powell 1924: J. A. C. Barradale 1925: H. J. Warrender 1926: J. D. Houison Craufurd 1927: H. C. Martineau 1928: H. E. R. Mitchell 1929: J. Fell Clark 1930: J. C. Byrom 1931: R. S. Hill 1932: P. E. Lyon 1933: J. A. Coates 1934: M. Killanin 1935: H. Lee 1936: P. Crane 1937: A. E. P. Robison 1938: P. B. Meyer 1939: R. C. G. St L. Ricketts 1947–48: D. C. Orders 1949: S. W. Phipps

1950–99	1950: A. Vale 1951: I. Kellie 1952: A. Davidson 1953: P. Firth 1954: L. Bricusse 1955: B. Marber 1956: T. Berington 1957: A. Mitchell 1958: P. Stroud 1959: A. C. Slade 1960: P. E. Cook 1961: P. Bellwood 1962: R. Atkins 1963: T. J. Brooke-Taylor 1964: D. G. Garden 1965: E. Idle 1966: A. Mayer 1967: C. James 1968: J. James-Moore 1969: B. Brown 1970: A. Edwards 1971: R. MacKenna 1972: S. Thorn 1973: R. Benton 1974: J. Canter 1975: C. S. Anderson 1976: C. Keightley 1977: J. T. Mulville 1978: M. Bergman 1979: R. G. Bathurst 1980: J. Ravens 1981: J. H. C. Laurie 1982: A. D. J. Slattery 1983: N. Mullarkey 1984: N. Hancock 1985: K. Crew 1986: N. Golson 1987: T. Scott 1988: P. Bradshaw 1989: R. Kenyon 1990: H. Naylor 1991: S. E. Perkins 1992: D. Gaster 1993: M. Evans 1994: R. Thorogood 1995: C. Hartill 1996: D. J. S. Mitchell 1997: S. Moule 1998: R. E. Ayoade 1999: K. Baker

2000–present	2000: M. Green 2001: J. Morris 2002: E. C. E. Weeks 2003: S. Golaszewski 2004: E. Riches 2005: R. Shirley 2006: S. A. Bird 2007: W. T. F. Sharpe 2008: S. Sword 2009: A. Roberts 2010: A. Tedder 2011: M. Fiddaman 2012: P. Wang 2013: H. Michell 2014: B. Pope 2015: T. Fraser 2016: O. Taylor 2017: D. Mapletoft

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 91180520 ISNI: 0000 0000 6603 188X

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