Vinnie Jones: biography, personal life, roles and films, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Vinnie Jones is a British actor, professional footballer and singer. Played as a defensive midfielder. He is best known for his roles in Guy Ritchie's films Cards, Money, Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, as well as for his work in the films Bone Breaker, Gone in 60 Seconds and Eurotrip. In recent years, he appeared in the TV series Galavant, Elementary and Arrow.

Childhood and youth

Vinnie Jones was born on January 5, 1965 in Watford, Hertfordshire. Full name is Vincent Peter Jones. He played football since childhood, and as a teenager he moved with his family to the city of Hertfordshire, where Vinnie was the captain of the football team of all schoolchildren in the city.

Sports career

At the age of nineteen, Vinnie Jones joined the Uldstone football club, which played in the fifth English league. Along with footballJones worked in construction. Later, the player spent a year in one of the Swedish clubs, with whom he won the country's third division.

In 1986, he moved to Wimbledon Football Club, which paid the previous team ten thousand pounds for the transfer of Vinnie Jones. The football player scored in the second game in the first division of the country, hitting the gates of the world-famous Manchester United club. This goal eventually became the winner.

The team, called "The Crazy Gang" in the British press for their tough style of play, managed to win the FA Cup in 1988, beating the national champions Liverpool in the final. Vinnie Jones played the entire match without substitutions and was instrumental in winning the trophy.

A year later, however, the player was sold to Leeds United. He won with the team the second English division and earned promotion, showing the most restrained and disciplined football of his career. For the entire season, Vinnie Jones has earned only three yellow cards, which is an unusually low figure for a player in his position.

In 1990, the player left the club, as he lost his place in the first team to younger players. After that, Jones changed clubs frequently, playing for Sheffield United, Chelsea and eventually returning to Wimbledon. He ended his professional career at Queens Park Rangers Football Club. During his career, Vinnie Jones played 446 matches and scored thirty-eight votes. In addition, he has seven matches for the nationalWales team.

First roles

In 1998, the first film with Vinnie Jones, Guy Ritchie's crime comedy "Cards, Money, Two Smoking Barrels" was released. The picture, which cost a little more than a million dollars, unexpectedly became a hit in the British box office, and Jones was remembered by the audience thanks to the role of the bandit Big Chris.

After that, for many years this role was assigned to Vinnie Jones. The actor worked with Richie again, playing in his second film "Snatch", playing a thug named Tony "Bullet in the Teeth". After that, the aspiring actor moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in minor roles in many notable projects.

Hollywood projects

In 2000, the action movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" was released, starring Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie. Vinnie Jones appeared in a small role. The film grossed over $230 million at the box office.

A year later, another blockbuster with the participation of the British "Password swordfish" was released. This project failed to return at the box office spent on its production of one hundred million dollars and received negative reviews from critics.

Also in 2001, the first major role appeared in the filmography of Vinnie Jones, in a film about a famous football player and captain of the England national team, who is suspended from football for life and sentenced to three yearsprison, sports comedy "Bonebreaker". The picture is a remake of the American film "The Longest Yard" with the participation of Burt Reynolds. There is also another remake of the tape, the comedy All or Nothing, starring Adam Sandler. "Bonebreaker" received mixed reviews from critics and did not perform well at the box office.

In subsequent years, Vinnie Jones began to work actively, appeared in the robbery film "The Big Theft", the comedy action movie "The Explosion", the sci-fi film "Time Trap", the action movie "The Ultimate Depth" and the TV movie "Mysterious Island". All these films were not very successful. The most successful work in these years for Jones was the small role of a football hooligan in the cult youth comedy Eurotour.

In 2006, Vinnie appeared in the sports comedy "She's the Man", and also played a minor role in the blockbuster "X-Men: The Last Stand". In the final part of the trilogy, the actor appeared as a powerful mutant named Juggernaut. Vinnie Jones later stated that he would like to star in the spin-off, as he believes that he can add depth to the character, however, "The Last Stand" received poor reviews from critics and did not perform too well at the box office, which almost nullified the opportunity spin-off. In 2018, the Juggernaut appeared in the performance of another actor in the film "Deadpool 2".

The decline of popularity

In subsequent years, the actor stopped appearing in big-budget Hollywood projects, often playing in not very successful comedies and action films. Vinnie Jones appeared in the action movie "The Condemned", the horror movie "Midnight Express", the action movie "Hell Ride" and other films. Some projects with the participation of the British were not even released to the public.

In 2010, Vinnie played a small role in the crime drama The Irishman. A year later, he played the role of a hired killer in the Kazakh film "Liquidator". In 2013, Vinnie Jones played a brutal prison guard in the action movie Escape Plan. However, his best projects on the big screen were left behind. A new wave of popularity was brought to the actor by roles in television projects.

Television work

In 2010, Vinnie Jones guest-starred on the sci-fi series "Chuck", a year later got a regular role in the superhero drama "The Cloak", which was canceled after the first season due to low ratings.

In 2013, Jones played the famous villain Sebastian Moran in two episodes of the popular detective series "Elementary" based on the works of the detective Sherlock Holmes. Also appeared in one episode of the TV adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

In 2015, Vinnie Jones appeared in an unexpected role, having received one of the main roles in a comedy musical"Galavant". On the screen, the actor not only appeared in a very comical role, but also sang and danced during the performance of musical numbers. Galavant received critical acclaim and was named one of the best new shows of the year, but was canceled after its second season due to low ratings.

Also in 2015, Vinnie Jones appeared in four episodes of the superhero series Arrow. A year later, the actor appeared as a guest star in the spy series MacGyver. In 2018, he joined the main cast of the detective series Cunning, which was closed by the channel due to not too high ratings after the first season.

Other projects

In 1998, after the end of his career as a professional football player, Vinnie Jones published a memoir, which he rewrote and republished a year later, after appearing in the successful film "Lock, Stock, Two Smoking Barrels".

Also, the actor participated in the seventh season of the spin-off of the famous reality show "Big Brother", where only celebrities appear. He was considered the favorite to win, but the TV viewers disliked Jones and ended up finishing third of the season.

Vinnie is actively working on television. In 2013, the British documentary series "Really About Russia" was released, Vinnie Jones, as part of the project, tested whether it is so hard to live and work in the largest country in the world. The actor visited many cities in Russia and tried himself in many professions. Since 2016, Vinnie Jones has been hosting a documentary seriesabout the work of the British police.

Reputation and scandals

During his football career, Jones was considered one of the toughest football players in the world. He holds the record for being able to receive a yellow card just three seconds after the start of one of the matches, which was not possible for any professional player in history.

In total, the defensive midfielder has twelve removals in his career. A very widespread photo of Vinnie Jones in the British media at the moment when he grabs the genitals of the famous English player Paul Gascoigne while he writhes in pain. It was taken in 1987 during a match between Newcastle United and Wimbledon.

In 1992, Jones narrated a documentary about the most brutal players in football history, urging young players to be real men on the pitch and giving advice on rough play. For this, he was fined by football officials and suspended for six months.

In 1998, Vinnie Jones was arrested for assaulting and injuring his neighbor. In 2003, he was again arrested for assault, as well as causing harm to an aircraft, when, in a state of intoxication, he attacked one of the passengers on the flight and threatened to kill the crew of the aircraft.

Private life

In 1994, Vinnie Jones married Tanya Terry, the ex-wife of another British footballer, Steve Terry. The couple has two children, they also have a daughter, Tanya, from their first marriage.

In 2013, it became known that Jones and his wife were undergoing treatment for skin cancer, Tanya had been ill for several years by that time, and Vinnie discovered the disease after a routine check.