Toby Jones facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Toby Jones OBE
Jones in 2022
Born	Toby Edward Heslewood Jones (1966-09-07) 7 September 1966 (age 58) Hammersmith, London, England
Education	Abingdon School
Alma mater	University of Manchester (1986–1989) L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq (1989–1991)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	Karen Jones ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Freddie Jones (father)

Toby Edward Heslewood Jones (born on September 7, 1966) is an English actor. He is famous for playing many different types of characters in movies, on TV, and on stage. He trained to be an actor from 1989 to 1991 at a special school in Paris.

Toby Jones first acted on stage in 2001 in a comedy play called The Play What I Wrote. This play was shown in London's West End and later on Broadway. For his role, he won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2020, he was nominated for another Olivier Award for his acting in a play called Uncle Vanya.

He started his film career in 1992 in the movie Orlando. He had small parts in movies like Les Misérables (1998) and Finding Neverland (2005). He played the writer Truman Capote in the 2006 movie Infamous.

Toby Jones is also well-known for his voice acting. He was the voice of Dobby the house-elf in the Harry Potter films (2002–2010). He also voiced Owl in Disney's Christopher Robin (2018). He has played big roles in popular movies too, like Claudius Templesmith in The Hunger Games movies (2012–2013). He was also Arnim Zola in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). More recently, he appeared in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023).

On television, Toby Jones has been in shows like Doctor Who (2010) and Sherlock (2017). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for playing Alfred Hitchcock in the TV movie The Girl (2012). He won a BAFTA award for Best Male Comedy for his role in the show Detectorists (2018). In 2024, he starred as Alan Bates in the popular series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which was about a real-life scandal.

Early Life and Education

Toby Jones was born in Hammersmith, London. His parents, Jennifer Jones and Freddie Jones, were also actors. He has two brothers, Rupert and Casper. Toby went to school at Christ Church Cathedral School and Abingdon School in Oxfordshire. He then studied drama at the University of Manchester from 1986 to 1989. After that, he continued his acting training in Paris at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1989 to 1991.

His Acting Career

Toby Jones in 2003

Toby Jones has appeared in more than 60 films since his first role in 1992. He is known for playing many different kinds of characters.

Famous Roles in Movies

He voiced Dobby in two Harry Potter films: Chamber of Secrets (2002) and The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). In 2006, he played the writer Truman Capote in the movie Infamous. He also appeared in the film The Mist in 2007.

In 2011, he played the British spy master Percy Alleline in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He also played Arnim Zola in Captain America: The First Avenger. He played this role again in Captain America: The Winter Soldier three years later. In 2012, he was one of the seven dwarves in Snow White and the Huntsman. He also played the famous film director Alfred Hitchcock in the TV movie The Girl. This role earned him nominations for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.

In 2016, he played Captain Mainwaring in the film Dad's Army. In 2018, he played Mr. Eversoll, a dinosaur auctioneer, in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. In the same year, he voiced Owl in Disney's live-action movie Christopher Robin.

Television Appearances

Toby Jones has had many roles on television. In 2010, he appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Amy's Choice" as the Dream Lord. He also played Samuel Ratchett in an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot called "Murder on the Orient Express".

From 2014 to 2017, he starred in the BBC Four TV series Detectorists. For this show, he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2018. In 2015, he played Roger Yount, a banker, in the BBC series Capital. The writer of the show, Peter Bowker, said that Toby Jones is a "genius" and can show many feelings through his acting.

In 2017, he played Culverton Smith in an episode of the crime drama Sherlock. In 2024, Toby Jones played Alan Bates in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. This show was about a real-life scandal involving the Post Office in Britain.

Voice Acting for Radio and Audiobooks

Toby Jones has also lent his voice to many radio shows and audiobooks. In 2003, he was Lord Brideshead in a BBC Radio version of Brideshead Revisited. He voiced the main character in the 2005 BBC Radio 4 show Oblomov. He also read the radio version of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany in 2009. In 2021, he recorded the audiobook for John Le Carré's last novel, Silverview.

Stage Performances

In 2001, Toby Jones starred in the comedy play The Play What I Wrote in London's West End. His funny performance earned him the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The play later moved to Broadway in 2003.

In 2020, he played the main role in Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Personal Life

Toby Jones is married to Karen Jones. They were together for 26 years before they got married in 2015. They have two daughters.

In 2021, Toby Jones was given an award called Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This award recognized his great contributions to drama.

Selected Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

Film Awards

Television Awards

Theatre Awards

Images for kids

• 

  Toby Jones in 2022

• 

  Toby Jones in 2003