Mark Lewis Jones
Oration for: Mark Lewis Jones
Delivered by: Dylan Rhys-Jones
I have the very great pleasure of presenting Mark Lewis Jones for the award of Honorary Fellow of Wrexham University.
Mark was born in 1964 in Rhosllannerchrugog, Wrexham, where his family currently resides. He is a fluent Welsh speaker and attended Ysgol y Rhos and Ysgol Morgan Llwyd, Wrexham.
He caught the acting bug as a teenager when he acted with the Clwyd Youth Theatre. He went on to train at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, from which he graduated in 1986.
His illustrious career has spanned stage acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Globe Theatre in London as well as roles on TV and in huge, blockbuster movies.
His extensive television work includes appearances on Waking the Dead, Jason and the Argonauts, Chernobyl, The Good Liar and The Passing, for which he received the best actor award at the Welsh BAFTAs in 2016. He played Welsh tutor Dr Edward Millward, in the episode of the Crown detailing Prince Charles’ time in Aberystwyth and in 2018 he starred in Netflix’s Apostle opposite Michael Sheen.
His acting skills have been flexed in a large number of home-grown dramas, notably Stella, in which he played the character of Rob Morgan, the ex of Stella, played by Ruth Jones. You may also have seen him in Game of Thrones, Hidden, Hinterland, Baker Boys, Merlin, Y Pris, Byw Celwydd and Torchwood and more recently in the hit Netflix show ‘Baby Reindeer’ where he played the father of the main character to wide critical acclaim.
His two most renowned appearances in large budget Hollywood movies were as Hogg the Whaler in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World alongside Russell Crowe, and in Phantom of the Opera with Mark Rylance. He also of course has a credit for acting in Star Wars, in the role of Captain Canady in Star Wars: Episode VIII.
As if his prolific acting career didn’t keep him busy enough, Mark is also a keen runner, regularly fundraising for charity. He participated in the Marathon des Sables and he completed his first Ironman in 2023 in Tenby.
He works extensively in both the English and Welsh languages and now lives in Cardiff with his wife Gwenno. He has 4 sons, Tomos, Barnaby, Alfie and Jacob. Mark has maintained close contact with Rhos since he left in 1983 and all his immediate family and many childhood friends still live in the village.
And so, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Theatre and the Performing Arts, it is with great pleasure that I present Mark Lewis Jones, son of this place, for admission to our highest honour of Honorary Fellowship of Wrexham University.
