Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960)[1] is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Cat in the sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf, Barrington in the comic children's series Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, and policeman Dwayne Myers in the crime drama Death in Paradise.[2] He was also a protagonist in the hit CBBC children's spy drama M.I. High, in which he portrayed Lenny Bicknall, the caretaker.
Danny John-Jules | |
|---|---|
.JPG) John-Jules in 2008 | |
| Born | Daniel John-Jules 16 September 1960 Paddington, London, England |
| Education | Rutherford School, Paddington |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Known for | Red Dwarf Maid Marian and Her Merry Men Blade II Death in Paradise M.I. High |
| Spouse | Petula Langlais |
| Children | 2 |
| Family | Tyreece John-Jules (nephew) |
Early life
editJohn-Jules was born in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, brought up in Notting Hill[3] and attended Rutherford School, Paddington, from 1972 to 1977. There he learnt gymnastics.[3]
Both his parents are from Dominica, and arrived in the UK aboard HMT Empire Windrush.[4][5] His mother worked in the courts; he has a brother who is a barrister.[3]
Career
editJohn-Jules has played the role of Cat in the science fiction comedy series Red Dwarf since its inception in 1988. He also starred in the children's spy series M.I. High and played Barrington in the children's series Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. In addition to his acting career, he has made various appearances both as a dancer and a singer.[6]
Before his television and film work, he was a dancer in a group called 'second generation'[3] and in many productions in West End theatres. He was a member of the original cast of Starlight Express, playing a boxcar called Rocky I. In 1993, he released a song from Red Dwarf, "Tongue Tied", as a single, which entered the top 20, eventually reaching a high of 17. John-Jules featured his Red Dwarf co-stars and backing singers in the video. For this release, he was billed as simply "The Cat"; a CD-EP release was also issued featuring this song along with a version of the Red Dwarf theme song.
Among other productions, John-Jules was the dancer from the crowd in the Wham! video for "The Edge of Heaven". He gets up partway through the instrumental section and dances alongside George Michael. John-Jules also danced on the Lena Zavaroni TV Series in 1981, and has made a tribute to her on her website.[7]
On television, John-Jules is best known for his portrayal of Cat and Cat's geeky alter ego Dwayne Dibbley in the British comedy series Red Dwarf. He got the part of Cat by turning up half an hour late for his audition, dressed in his father's old zoot suit. He was unaware that he was late and hence did not appear at all concerned about it. The producers immediately decided he was cool enough to be "the Cat". Craig Charles said at a Red Dwarf convention that John-Jules was a lot like the Cat in that he had a lot of clothes. He said, "Danny John-Jules could change his clothes every four seconds for a year and he still wouldn't run out of clothes." Along with Charles, John-Jules is the only other cast member to appear in every episode of Red Dwarf to date.
His first acknowledged television and film roles were in Roy Minton's critically acclaimed Scum, where he played one of the inmates. The TV version, which was part of the Play for Today strand, was banned prior to broadcast.
He has also played the parts of Barrington in Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Byron Lucifer in The Tomorrow People and Milton Wordsworth, the original presenter of The Story Makers on CBeebies.
Since 1999, he has had several guest appearances as himself in shows such as Comedy Connections, RI:SE and Night Fever.
Between 2002 and 2004 he played Milton Wordsworth in the CBeebies series The Story Makers, an educational children's television programme that was broadcast for four series. He appears in every series except series 2.
He has also appeared in at least one episode of CBBC's sitcom Kerching!, playing Michael's father, Trevor and appeared as Lenny Bicknall in series 1 and 2 of M.I.High, also on CBBC. He has also appeared in The Crouches.
On 8 November 2009, he made a brief appearance during BBC Two's coverage of the 2009 Valencian Moto Grand Prix.
In 2014, he played Nigel Rogers in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern. In May 2015, it was announced that he would, again, be returning to Red Dwarf for the eleventh and twelfth series.[8]
In 2004, Jules played a character on the SF comedy Starhyke, but the series remained in post-production for five years, being shown only privately in 2009, the rights finally being bought by Amazon.com in 2015 and released in 2016.
He appeared in the BBC One series Death in Paradise as policeman Dwayne Myers[2] from its start until 2018. He returned as a guest star for the Christmas Special in 2021.
It was announced that John-Jules plays the lead as Sir Leigh Teabing in the stage version of hit novel The Da Vinci Code's 2022 UK tour.[9]
Film
editJohn-Jules' film career began in 1975 playing Frog in the short film Seven Green Bottles, which was produced in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police and warned of the dangers and consequences of juvenile crime. He supplied the voice for two characters in Labyrinth (1986), then appeared in the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), and Blade II (2002). He has also appeared, uncredited, in the 1979 British film Scum, playing a look-out during a fight scene.
He has appeared in the 2008 British films The Grind and Sucker Punch. He has a small role as Rachel Weisz' manager in the Lincoln, Nebraska police force in the 2010 film The Whistleblower.
John-Jules also played one of the dancers in the 1981 movie The Great Muppet Caper, which, like Little Shop Of Horrors, was directed by Frank Oz. He is among the dancers in the restaurant where Kermit and Miss Piggy are dancing.
Other work
editJohn-Jules provided his voice for the character of Gex in the UK and European release of Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko.[10] For several years in the late 1990s he appeared in the annual Christmas pantomime at Aldershot's Princes Hall theatre, playing his Cat character. John-Jules has also provided voices for the British Canadian animated series Chop Socky Chooks for Cartoon Network, Teletoon and Aardman Animations and the 2015 remake of the British children's animated series Bob the Builder.
John-Jules participated in the 16th series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Amy Dowden. In week 5 he topped the leaderboard with a total of 37 points for his jive. The couple were awarded the first 10 score of the series when Darcey Bussell marked their Jive to "Flip, Flop and Fly" in week 5. The couple were eliminated in Week 8 after losing a dance off to Graeme Swann and Oti Mabuse, their elimination came days after controversial bullying allegations, with tabloids reporting that John-Jules had reduced Dowden to tears.[11]
Personal life
editJohn-Jules is married to Petula Langlais; the couple have two children, both of whom have had minor acting roles alongside their father.[12] He is also an avid motorcyclist and regularly participates in charity rides.[13]
His nephew is former Arsenal and current Crawley Town footballer Tyreece John-Jules.[14]
In November 2008 John-Jules was convicted of assaulting two bin men. He was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. After the court hearing, John-Jules maintained he had a "clear conscience", saying "I've been doing community service for over 30 years, this is just another day."[15]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Scum | Baldy's Lookout | Uncredited |
| 1981 | The Great Muppet Caper | Street Dancer | |
| 1986 | Labyrinth | Firey 3 and 4 (voice) | [16] |
| 1986 | Little Shop of Horrors | Doo-Wop Street Singer | |
| 1998 | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Barfly Jack | |
| 2002 | Blade II | Asad | Credited as Danny John Jules |
| 2010 | The Whistleblower | Duke | |
| 2011 | Arthur Christmas | Elf (voice) | [16] |
| 2012 | The Grind | Phil | |
| 2021 | Creation Stories | Maurice | [17] |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Seven Green Bottles | Frog | Television short |
| 1983–1984 | The Hot Shoe Show | Dancer | |
| 1984 | Danger: Marmalade At Work | Roy Lee | Episode: "Shame" |
| 1988–2020 | Red Dwarf | Cat | 74 episodes |
| 1989–1994 | Maid Marian and Her Merry Men | Barrington | 26 episodes |
| 1991 | Jackanory | Storyteller | Episode: "Surprises" |
| 1991 | Spatz | Captain Electric | Episode: "Loot" |
| 1992 | Runaway Bay | Lord Frittas | Episode: "Taking the Rap" |
| 1994 | The Bill | Andy Brown | Episode: "Backlash" |
| 1995 | The Tomorrow People | Byron Lucifer | The Living Stones |
| 1996 | The Demon Headmaster | Eddy Hair | 2 episodes |
| 2002–2004 | The Story Makers | Milton Wordsworth | 74 episodes |
| 2003–2005 | The Crouches | Ed | 11 episodes |
| 2004 | Casualty | Leon | Episodes: "Emotional Rescue: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2006 | Doctors | Bradley Patterson | Episode: "Junk Soul Brothers" |
| 2007–2008 | M.I. High | Lenny Bicknall | 23 episodes |
| 2011–2018, 2021, 2024– | Death in Paradise | Officer Dwayne Myers | 60 episodes |
| 2015–2018 | Bob the Builder | Curtis (voice) | UK/US versions |
| 2018–2022 | Robozuna | Niven & Spark (voice) | UK/US versions |
| 2017 | Urban Myths | Don King | Episode: "The Greatest. Of All Time." |
| 2022 | Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators | Ben Lovedon | Episode: "If Music Be the Food of Love" |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko | Gex | UK and European release[16] |
References
edit- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ a b "BBC One – Death in Paradise, Episode 1". BBC. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d carpoolUK (20 April 2009), Danny John Jules | Carpool, retrieved 4 September 2018
- ^ Raffray, Nathalie (17 August 2018). "Kensal Rise's Danny John-Jules gets ready for Strictly Come Dancing". Kilburn Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ Martin, William (17 October 2011). "Danny John-Jules ('Death in Paradise') interview". Cultbox.
- ^ Morgan, David (7 October 2013). "Galaxy of roles for Red Dwarf star Danny John Jules (From Warrington Guardian)". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ Danny John-Jules Tribute Archived 16 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. lenazavaroni.net. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ Debnath, Neela (3 May 2015). "Red Dwarf returns: Craig Charles quits Coronation Street to return to comedy sci-fi series". The Independent. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ^ "Cast portraits released for The Da Vinci Code tour | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
- ^ "GEX: Deep Cover Gecko out now on PlayStation Network". Square Enix. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ Hogan, Michael (11 November 2018). "Strictly Come Dancing 2018, week 8 results: Danny John-Jules eliminated in wake of bullying allegations". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ "Death in Paradise: Danny John-Jules' actor children and famous footballer nephew". 26 December 2021.
- ^ Smith, Cameron (8 January 2013). "Danny John-Jules Exclusive Interview". Female First. FemaleFirst Ltd.
- ^ "Arsenal reward Tyreece John-Jules with new deal". Daily Cannon. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "Red Dwarf actor's attack sentence". BBC News. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "Danny John Jules (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. 16 September 1960. Retrieved 3 June 2019. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Fear, Helen (10 March 2024). "Danny John-Jules returns as Dwayne Myers in Death in Paradise". Entertainment Daily. Retrieved 1 September 2024.