Skip to main content

Gary Turner, actor with a connection to Rhyl

  • Person's Name: Gary Turner
  • Fame as?: Actor raised in Rhyl
  • Fame Hilite: English actor raised in north Wales, best known for Emmerdale's Carlos Diaz.
  • Birth info: Born 1968, Chester, Cheshire
  • Body Text 2:

    Turner trained at RADA, graduating in 1991, before building a long career across British television and theatre.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Played Carlos Diaz in ITV's Emmerdale (2000-2001, 2004)
    • Career Highlight: Founding member of The Spontaneity Shop improvisation company
  • Show Comment Form: No, don't show form
  • Connection: Raised in Chester and north Wales; local record associates him with Rhyl High School.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Rhyl, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 53.3184,-3.4906

Lee Evans, actor with a Welsh Dad, from Rhyl, North Wales

Lee Evans: photo thanks to Phil Guest, Bournemouth, UK
  • Person's Name: Lee Evans
  • Fame as?: Comedian and Actor
  • Fame Hilite: Born in Bristol to a Welsh father from North Wales — Lee Evans became one of Britain's most beloved comedians, selling out arenas and breaking Christmas DVD records with his extraordinary physical genius
  • Birth info: Born 25 February 1964 in Avonmouth, Bristol — son of Welsh comedian Dave Evans from North Wales
  • Body Text 2:

    Evans rose to prominence through the Edinburgh Festival and the Comedy Store circuit, winning the Perrier Award (now the Edinburgh Comedy Award) in 1993 — one of comedy's most coveted prizes. His film career followed swiftly: Funny Bones (1995) with Jerry Lewis won him the Paris Film Festival Award for Best Actor, then The Fifth Element (1997), Mouse Hunt (1997), There's Something About Mary (1998), The Ladies Man (2000) and The Medallion (2003) with Jackie Chan. He appeared in Doctor Who's 2009 Easter Special Planet of the Dead as Malcolm Taylor — a Welsh scientist. Entirely appropriate.

    But it was live stand-up where he truly lived. His Big tour in 2008 played 59 dates to over 500,000 people, and the DVD filmed at the O2 Arena became the best-selling Christmas DVD in the UK that year, shifting over a million copies. His 2011 Roadrunner tour grossed £12.9 million. The 2014 Monsters tour DVD surpassed even Big at Christmas. In November 2014 he announced his retirement from stand-up on The Jonathan Ross Show, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. He was 50.

    He came briefly out of retirement in 2017 for a Shakespeare and Pinter fundraiser with Jack Whitehall, and announced a return to the stage in 2025 with a new arena tour including a date at Utilita Arena Cardiff — a homecoming of sorts, to the nation that shaped his father and, through him, him. His father Dave Evans died in June 2019 after a long illness. Lee Evans was born with a hole in his heart. He has never, as far as anyone can tell, stopped moving.
  • Public Video Title A : 3 Hours of Lee Evans Comedy Magic — Stand-Up Compilation
  • Public Video Title B: Lee Evans' Greatest One-Liners — Stand-Up Compilation
  • Public Video Title C: Over An Hour of Lee Evans Being Hilarious — Stand-Up Compilation
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival (1993) — comedy's most prestigious prize
    • Career Highlight: Film debut in Funny Bones (1995) with Jerry Lewis — won the Paris Film Festival Award for Best Actor
    • Career Highlight: Appeared in Hollywood films The Fifth Element (1997), Mouse Hunt (1997) and There's Something About Mary (1998)
    • Career Highlight: Big tour (2008) — 59 dates, 500,000 tickets sold; DVD became the best-selling Christmas release in the UK that year
    • Career Highlight: Roadrunner tour (2011) — grossed £12.9 million, one of the highest-grossing comedy tours in British history
    • Career Highlight: Received the Channel 4 Special Contribution to Comedy award at the British Comedy Awards (2011)
    • Career Highlight: Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of East London (2010)
    • Career Highlight: Announced return to the stage in 2025 with new arena tour including Utilita Arena Cardiff
  • Show Comment Form: No, don't show form
  • Connection: Father Dave Evans was a comedian and musician from North Wales
  • Related Material:
  • Products:
    • Product Name: Lee Evans: Big — Live at the O2 [DVD] , Product Type: Movie , Product Description: Filmed at the O2 Arena in front of over 16,000 fans, this is Lee Evans at his peak — five record-breaking nights, 80,000 people, and the best-selling Christmas DVD in the UK in 2008. , Product Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000XTBDNQ?tag=thefamouswelshwe-21 , Product Store: Amazon UK , Product Image:
    • Product Name: Lee Evans: Monsters Live [DVD] , Product Type: Movie , Product Description: His final stand-up tour before retirement — and it surpassed even Big at Christmas 2014. Lee Evans going out at the very top of his game. , Product Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ID9Y24U?tag=thefamouswelshwe-21 , Product Store: Amazon UK , Product Image:
    • Product Name: Lee Evans: Complete Live Comedy Collection 1994–2011 [8-DVD Box Set] , Product Type: Movie , Product Description: Every stand-up DVD from his entire career in one box — from Her Majesty's Theatre in 1994 to Roadrunner at the O2 in 2011. The definitive Lee Evans collection. , Product Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009LFUB4A?tag=thefamouswelshwe-21 , Product Store: Amazon UK , Product Image:
    • Product Name: Lee Evans: So What Now — Series 1 [DVD] , Product Type: Movie , Product Description: All eight episodes of the BBC sitcom Evans wrote and starred in himself in 2001. Slapstick, warm and very funny — a perfect companion to his live shows. , Product Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00005OCTN?tag=thefamouswelshwe-21 , Product Store: Amazon UK , Product Image:
  • Location String: North Wales — father's home
  • Public Videos:
    • Public Video Title A : 3 Hours Of Lee Evans Comedy Magic | Stand-Up Compilation | Lee Evans , Public Video A: https://youtu.be/KEmifrMEAaA , Public Video Title B: Lee Evans' GREATEST One-Liners | Stand-Up Comedy Compilation | Lee Evans , Public Video B: https://youtu.be/M2pLoshNg9c , Public Video Title C: Over An Hour Of Lee Evans Being HILARIOUS | Stand-Up Comedy Compilation | Lee Evans Lee Evans Lee Evans 280k subscribers , Public Video C: https://youtu.be/evAVd7QzJqU
  • Connection Place Map: 53.3191,-3.4903
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: ForReal , This Comment: Is his father Welsh then? — Ed: Yes — Dave Evans was from North Wales and worked the clubs circuit there. Lee has spoken about his father's influence throughout his career.
    • Comment By: Joanne , This Comment: I know that his grandfather is Welsh as he spoke about him when he played Cardiff.
    • Comment By: Harryk9 , This Comment: His father was also a stand up comedian Dave Evans from North Wales.
    • Comment By: niknak147 , This Comment: Outstanding! Funniest man alive! No doubt about it.
    • Comment By: moogmoog12 , This Comment: He is without a doubt the most gorgeous man alive!
    • Comment By: BigFan2008 , This Comment: Saw him at the O2 on the Big tour in 2008. He was on stage for nearly three hours — soaked through with sweat, utterly hilarious. I've never laughed that hard in my life. Wales should claim him with both hands.
Lee John Martin Evans was born on 25 February 1964 in Avonmouth, Bristol — the son of Dave Evans, a Welsh comedian, musician and impressionist from North Wales, and his Irish wife Shirley Hunt. The Welsh blood ran strong in the family, and Lee has spoken warmly of his father's influence throughout his career. Dave Evans worked the working men's club circuit, taking young Lee along with him, and it was in those smoky halls that the future comedian first understood the alchemy of making a room laugh. Lee has an older...

Nerys Hughes, actress from Rhyl, North Wales

  • Person's Name: Nerys Hughes
  • Fame as?: Actress from Rhyl, North Wales
  • Fame Hilite: Rhyl-born actress known for The Liver Birds and The District Nurse.
  • Birth info: Born 8 November 1941, Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    Hughes has continued to work in audio drama, returning to the Doctor Who universe through Big Finish Productions as the Fourth Doctor's companion Margaret Hopwood. In the theatre she has appeared in productions ranging from Shakespeare with the Royal Shakespeare Company to Dylan Thomas's 'Under Milk Wood' in 1995.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Starred as Sandra Hutchinson in the BBC sitcom The Liver Birds (1969-1978, and 1996).
    • Career Highlight: Won the Variety Club Television Actress of the Year Award for The District Nurse (1984-1987), a series written for her.
    • Career Highlight: Appeared in Doctor Who ('Kinda', 1982) and Torchwood ('Something Borrowed', 2008).
  • Show Comment Form: No, don't show form
  • Connection: Born and raised in Rhyl, Denbighshire; Welsh was her first language, learned at home before she started school.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 53.3183,-3.4924
Nerys Hughes was born on 8 November 1941 in Rhyl, Denbighshire. Her parents, Myfi and Ted Kerfoot-Hughes, raised her as a Methodist, and she attended Howell's School in Denbigh, where she developed an early interest in drama. Welsh was her first language, and she has said that it was only in later life that she felt she had lost some of her fluency. She trained at Rose Bruford College and in 1960 won the Carleton Hobbs Bursary, joining the BBC Radio Drama Company. Early stage work included productions with the Royal...

Sara Sugarman, actress and director born in Rhyl, Denbighshire

  • Person's Name: Sara Sugarman
  • Fame as?: Actress, Director and Screenwriter
  • Fame Hilite: Actress and film director, known for Very Annie Mary, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Vinyl.
  • Birth info: Born on 13 October 1962 in Rhyl, Denbighshire.
  • Body Text 2:

    Sugarman began her acting career on British television before moving into film directing, becoming one of relatively few Welsh women to direct major Hollywood studio productions.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Directed Very Annie Mary (2001)
    • Career Highlight: Directed Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)
    • Career Highlight: Wrote and directed Vinyl (2012), filmed largely in Rhyl
  • Show Comment Form: No, don't show form
  • Connection: Born and raised in Rhyl, Denbighshire
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 53.3184,-3.4934
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: sarajay , This Comment: She has appeared on British TV in the ITV police drama The Bill and Minder as well as the BBC's Grange Hill and Juliet Bravo.
Sara Sugarman was born on 13 October 1962 in Rhyl, Denbighshire. She moved to London at fourteen to train as an actor, later enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 1989. As an actress she appeared on British television in the ITV police drama The Bill and Minder, as well as the BBC's Grange Hill and Juliet Bravo. She went on to direct feature films including Very Annie Mary (2001), Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) and Vinyl (2012), a comedy she also wrote, based...