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Geraint Jarman, Welsh musician and poet born in Denbigh, Wales

  • Person's Name: Geraint Jarman
  • Fame as?: Musician and poet
  • Fame Hilite: Pioneer of Welsh-language dub reggae and one of the most influential figures in modern Welsh popular culture.
  • Death info: Died 2 March 2025 in Cardiff, Wales, aged 74.
  • Birth info: Born 17 August 1950 in Denbigh, Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    Jarman mentored generations of Welsh musicians and directed a documentary on Super Furry Animals' first world tour in 1997. His autobiography, Twrw Jarman, was published in 2011, cementing his legacy as a poet and musician central to modern Welsh-language culture.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Released debut album Gobaith Mawr y Ganrif with Geraint Jarman a'r Cynganeddwyr, 1976
    • Career Highlight: Pioneered Welsh-language dub reggae, drawing on Cardiff's Casablanca Club scene
    • Career Highlight: Published autobiography Twrw Jarman, 2011
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  • Connection: Born in Denbigh, Wales; grew up in and became a defining cultural figure of Cardiff for over five decades.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Denbigh and Cardiff, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.4816,-3.1791
Geraint Jarman was born on 17 August 1950 in Denbigh, North Wales, but grew up in Cardiff, the city that would become the backdrop to his life's work as a musician, poet, actor and television producer. He began his career as a poet and songwriter in the 1960s, writing for the singer Heather Jones and performing alongside her in the group Y Bara Menyn, before establishing himself as one of the most significant figures in modern Welsh-language music. Jarman became known above all as a pioneer of Welsh-language reggae,...

Grahame Fox, actor born in Cardiff

  • Person's Name: Grahame Fox
  • Fame as?: Actor from Cardiff
  • Fame Hilite: Cardiff-born actor known for Casualty, The Bill, and later roles in Game of Thrones and The Last Kingdom.
  • Birth info: Born in Cardiff, Wales (exact birth date not publicly documented).
  • Body Text 2:

    Grahame began acting in primary school and continued through his school years before training for the stage in London.

    Fox's stage work has included One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Trevor Nunn's production of The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, alongside his ongoing television career.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Played Outlaw Friar Philip in The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997)
    • Career Highlight: Played John Bates in A Respectable Trade (1998), Danny Sparks in Bodywork (2001) and Darrel in Lava (2001)
    • Career Highlight: Played Detective Inspector Cook in Casualty, and appeared in The Bill
    • Career Highlight: Later appeared in Game of Thrones and The Last Kingdom
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  • Connection: Born in Cardiff
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Cardiff, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.4816,-3.1791
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: hubahuba66 , This Comment: Anyone know what year on 'The Bill'?
Grahame Fox is a Welsh actor born in Cardiff, who discovered a love of performing in primary school and continued acting in theatre throughout his time at school before moving to London to pursue a career on stage and screen. His television credits include the outlaw Friar Philip in The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997), John Bates in the ITV drama A Respectable Trade (1998), Danny Sparks in Bodywork (2001) and Darrel in Lava (2001). He also appeared in the long-running police drama The Bill and played Detective...

Howard Jones, synth-pop singer with a connection to Wales (Welsh parents, raised in Rhiwbina, Cardiff)

  • Person's Name: Howard Jones
  • Fame as?: Singer, songwriter and keyboardist
  • Fame Hilite: One of the defining figures of 1980s synth-pop, with hits including \"New Song\" and \"What Is Love?\"
  • Birth info: Born 23 February 1955 in Hythe, Hampshire, to Welsh parents.
  • Body Text 2:

    Jones has spoken openly about his emotional connection to Wales, including once describing how the Welsh national anthem still moves him. His brothers Roy, Martin and Paul are all musicians, and Martin played bass on Jones' 1985 album Dream into Action. Jones has sold over eight million albums worldwide and remains active as a recording artist, with his third piano-based album, Piano Composed, released in 2025.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: 1983: Debut single "New Song" reached the UK top 5.
    • Career Highlight: 1984: Debut album Human’s Lib reached No. 1 in the UK.
    • Career Highlight: 1985: Performed at Live Aid, Wembley Stadium.
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  • Connection: Born in Hampshire to Welsh parents; raised in Rhiwbina, Cardiff until age nine, when the family emigrated to Canada.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Rhiwbina, Cardiff, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.5250,-3.2250
John Howard Jones was born on 23 February 1955 in Hythe, Hampshire, to Welsh parents. He is not, as sometimes claimed, from Southampton itself, though Hythe sits directly across Southampton Water from the city. The family soon settled in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, where Jones spent his early years, attending Heol Llanishen Fach primary school and then Whitchurch Grammar School, and began piano lessons at the age of seven. He is the eldest of four boys, and his three younger brothers all went on to become musicians too. When...

Howard Spring, novelist and journalist from Cardiff

  • Person's Name: Howard Spring
  • Fame as?: Novelist & Journalist
  • Fame Hilite: Welsh novelist and journalist from Cardiff, best known for the bestselling novel Fame Is the Spur (1940).
  • Death info: Howard died on the 3rd of May, 1965.
  • Birth info: Born 10th February 1889, Cardiff, Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    Spring's novel 'Fame Is the Spur' remains his most widely remembered work, adapted for both film (1947, starring Michael Redgrave) and television (BBC, 1982, starring Tim Pigott-Smith and David Hayman), and he also wrote three volumes of autobiography, later published together as 'The Autobiography of Howard Spring' (1972).
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Published Fame Is the Spur in 1940, his best-known novel
    • Career Highlight: Worked as a journalist for the South Wales Daily News, Manchester Guardian and Evening Standard
    • Career Highlight: Wrote three volumes of autobiography
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  • Connection: Born in Canton, Cardiff in 1889
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Cardiff, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.4816,-3.1791
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: finknottle , This Comment: Wrote for 'The Manchester Guardian' and 'The Evening Standard'.
Howard Spring was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 10th February 1889, one of nine children of a jobbing gardener. Some early records of this site placed his birth specifically in the Canton district of Cardiff; that detail could not be independently confirmed and is noted here honestly rather than repeated as fact. His father died when Howard was twelve, forcing him to leave school and work as an errand boy, though he continued his education through evening classes and went on to become a reporter on the South Wales Daily...

Howard Stringer (Sir), business man (sony) with a connection to Wales (Cardiff, South Wales)

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Sir Howard Stringer Multiple high profile roles including President of CBS News (1986 to 1988) Chairman and CEO of TELE-TV Chairman and CEO Sony Corporation, starting in May 1997 and became their Chairman and CEO in June 2005. Between 1974 and 1976 he earned nine individual Emmys as a writer, director and producer. Sir Howard was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Glamorgan. He also has an Honorary Fellowship from the Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Ian Lougher, Isle of Man TT biker from Bonvilston, Cardiff

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Ian Lougher Guts, skill and force of will, Ian has brought victory after victory home, a true Welsh sporting hero! His first motorcycle was a Demm Dove moped/shopping bike which he got when he was twelve for ten pounds, he rode it in the fields and forestry around his home in Bonvilston (near Cardiff) where he was born.

Ieuan Rhys, actor from Aberdare, South Wales

  • Person's Name: Ieuan Rhys
  • Fame as?: Actor from Aberdare
  • Fame Hilite: Aberdare-born actor and Welsh-language broadcaster, best known for thirteen years as Sergeant Glyn James in Pobol y Cwm.
  • Birth info: Born Ieuan Rhys Evans, 24 December 1961, in Trecynon, near Aberdare, South Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    Rhys has also worked extensively as a broadcaster, presenting the Welsh-language radio show Showbusnesan for BBC Radio Cymru, and has appeared as Master of Ceremonies at Cardiff Castle's Welsh banquets. His pantomime career has taken him to theatres across England as well as Wales, including seasons in Canterbury, Crawley, Sheffield, Dunstable and Lichfield.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Played Sergeant Glyn James in BBC Cymru's long-running soap opera Pobol y Cwm for thirteen years.
    • Career Highlight: Trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.
    • Career Highlight: Worked repeatedly with director Michael Bogdanov on stage, including five Shakespeare productions between 2001 and 2004.
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  • Connection: Born and raised in Trecynon, near Aberdare, and educated at Welsh-medium schools throughout his childhood; trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, where he still lives.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Trecynon, near Aberdare, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.7147,-3.4453
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: Cyfaill , This Comment: Five Shakespeare productions with Michael Bogdanov between 2001 and 2004.
Ieuan Rhys was born Ieuan Rhys Evans on 24 December 1961 in the village of Trecynon, near Aberdare in South Wales. He was raised speaking Welsh and attended Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar primary school and Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen secondary school near Pontypridd, both Welsh-medium schools; his father, Gethin Evans, was a music teacher at the local comprehensive school. Rhys trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. He became a familiar face across Welsh television, playing Sergeant...

Ioan Gruffudd, actor valley boy from Aberdare

Ioan Gruffudd, image thanks to ARG Talent, fair use claimed.
  • Person's Name: Ioan Gruffudd
  • Fame as?: Actor
  • Fame Hilite: Welsh actor from Cardiff best known for playing Horatio Hornblower on television and Reed Richards / Mr Fantastic in the Fantastic Four films.
  • Birth info: Born Ioan Gruffudd, 6 October 1973, Aberdare (raised in Cardiff), South Wales
  • Body Text 2:

    Before his screen career took off, Gruffudd studied oboe to Grade 8 standard and played for several years in the South Glamorgan Youth Orchestra. He met the actress and writer Alice Evans on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 1999; the couple later moved to Los Angeles and married in 2007. Gruffudd was made a Druid at the National Eisteddfod in 2002 in recognition of his services to Wales through his acting career.

    He has also worked steadily in American network television, taking regular roles in Ringer opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar, the supernatural drama Forever, and the medical drama Harrow, filmed in Australia, while continuing to appear in British and Welsh productions.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Played Horatio Hornblower in the ITV/A&E television film series (1998-2003)
    • Career Highlight: Played Reed Richards / Mr Fantastic in Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
    • Career Highlight: Played Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in James Cameron's Titanic (1997)
    • Career Highlight: Played the abolitionist William Wilberforce in Amazing Grace (2006)
    • Career Highlight: Began his acting career aged 13 in the Welsh-language soap opera Pobol y Cwm
    • Career Highlight: Made a Druid at the National Eisteddfod in 2002
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  • Connection: Born in South Wales and raised as a Welsh speaker in Cardiff, where he began his acting career as a child in the Welsh-language soap opera Pobol y Cwm.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Cardiff, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.4816,-3.1791
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: Ioanluver , This Comment: He lived in Aberdare until he was eight when he moved to Cardiff. On his first day of his new primary school in Cardiff he wore woollen trousers, apparently they were all the rage in Aberdare at the time!
Ioan Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973; his birth was registered in Aberdare in the South Wales valleys, though he was raised mainly in Cardiff from around the age of eight. He grew up speaking Welsh, was a talented oboist as a teenager, and began acting at just thirteen with a regular role in the long-running Welsh-language soap opera Pobol y Cwm. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Gruffudd took the title role in a 1996 television adaptation of Poldark. He built on that early success with...