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Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones (born 5 January 1965) is an English-born film actor and ex-footballer (and former captain of the Wales national football team). He has capitalized on his tough man image gained through his football and is now famous for his aggressive style of acting and highly intimidating demeanour. One of the hardest of the “hard men” of UK football, Vinnie Jones parlayed his flinty sports image into a successful second career as an actor on both sides of the Atlantic. Born Vincent Peter Jones in Watford, England on Jan. 5, 1965, Jones began his football career with the semi-professional Wealdstone Football Club (or F.C.) before joining the Wimbledon F.C. in 1986. Jones quickly earned a reputation as a tough player – he held the still-unbroken record of the fastest receipt of a yellow card (a citation of a second warning in a single match, which warrants removal from the game), which he accomplished within the first three seconds of a game, and was notoriously photographed distracting another player by grabbing his testicles, among other offenses. Despite such questionable actions, he also helped Wimbledon win the Football Association Challenge Cup (English football’s greatest honor) in 1988. He started his football career in 1984 at Alliance Premier League side Wealdstone, during which time he combined playing football with being a hod-carrier. He played one season in second-level Swedish club IFK Holmsund in 1986 and helped them win the series. Later that year he moved to Wimbledon for a £10,000 fee. He was part of the 'Crazy Gang' team that won the FA Cup in 1988, arguably the club's greatest achievement. He subsequently played for Leeds United, Sheffield United, and Chelsea, before moving back to Wimbledon again in 1992. He played over 250 games for the Dons, before briefly becoming player/coach of QPR in 1998. When overlooked for the vacant post of manager of QPR, he announced his retirement from the game. While a footballer, he became quickly infamous for his brutal "hard man" image, which frequently brought much criticism of his style of play. He was sent off 12 times in his career, and once was booked after only five seconds of play. In one notorious incident he distracted Paul Gascoigne by grabbing his testicles. During another match, he ended the career of Tottenham defender Gary Stevens with a vicious tackle. However, during his season at Leeds United, during which they won promotion to the top-flight as Champions of Division Two, he proved that he could prosper and play well without the illegal side of his game, and under the stewardship of Howard Wilkinson only received 3 yellow cards in the whole season. He also was the presenter of the infamous Soccer's Hard Men video released in 1992, which featured archived footage of himself and many other "hard men" of the game, and included advice for budding "hard men". After the release of the video, Jones received a £20,000 fine from The FA for "bringing the game into disrepute." A high point in his football career was when he was chosen to play international football for Wales. Though Jones is a common surname in Wales, the qualifying relationship was his grandfather on his mother's side, who came from Ruthin, north Wales. He earned eight caps and even captained the side. Vinnie has stated that he would eventually like to return to football, possibly with Leeds United as a fan of the club himself[4]. Jones told Yorkshire Radio "I will come back without a doubt, Leeds fans gave me so much and it's a club very close to my heart." Jones went on to play for several other leagues before returning to Wimbledon in 1992. That same year, he doubled his previous notoriety by hosting a video compilation called “Soccer’s Hard Men,” which offered up footage of him and other footballers engaging in rough gameplay. The video earned Jones a fine of 20,000 pounds from the Football Association – and further cemented his outlaw celebrity status. Despite his rough-and-tumble persona, Jones was enough of an accomplished player, with 384 games and 33 goals to his name, that he was chosen to captain the Wales International soccer team in 1994. He closed his professional sports career in 1998 by serving as player/coach of the Queens Park Rangers before retiring the following year. In 1998 Jones published his autobiography, "Vinnie: The Autobiography", which was later revised and reprinted a year later to include information on his 1998 feature film debut in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. On 6 December 1998, Jones appeared at the World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view Capital Carnage, where he played up his 'hard man' image, acting as a special guest enforcer for the main event. Before the match he had a (staged) fight with fellow enforcer The Big Bossman and was "red carded" and kicked out. He came back at the end of the show to drink beer with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and referee Earl Hebner. Jones returned to the promotion, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment, on 18 February 2007 at No Way Out, where he claimed he had "kicked Stone Cold's arse" on the set of The Condemned. In May of 2002, Jones played a character in the music video for Westlife's single 'Bop Bop Baby'. In November 2002, he released an album of blues and soul songs on Telstar called Respect in the UK, as his musical debut under the tuition of Phil Edwards. He also appeared in a series of UK TV advertisements for Bacardi. Vinnie appeared on the first episode of the second season of the current Top Gear in their 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment. He managed to make it around the track in 1' 53". Jones’ celebrity status and rough-hewn charisma seemed a natural transition to the entertainment biz, starting in 1999 with television commercials and moving quickly to feature films – most importantly, Guy Ritchie’s crime comedy, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (1999). Jones’ character, Big Chris, was not too far from his actual persona – the leg breaker – but the character’s personality quirks (his son accompanies him on “jobs,” and a hapless victim is verbally reprimanded for swearing in front of the boy) and Jones’ stony visage made the role one of the most memorable elements of the film. For his performance, Jones won his first of two Empire Awards – the second, for Ritchie’s “Snatch” in 2001. In 2000, Jones caused controversy when he appeared in an ad for a drink called "Red Devil". In the ad, Jones is pruning flowers in his garden when he sees a robin crying because its bird feeder is empty. Vinnie fills the feeder, and places it on the windowsill of his kitchen. Seeing the feeder, the robin flies at it, collides with the kitchen window, and slides down the pane while Vinnie bursts out laughing. Many parents said the ad (which drew about 390 complaints) was tasteless, and upsetting for children. Later, the ad was shown only after the nine o'clock watershed. The ad was eventually axed. Jones’ subsequent performances were essentially cut from the same cloth as Big Chris – menacing, physical men with an occasional wrinkle of humor in their make-up. He was a tough, implacable hood in the remake of “Gone in Sixty Seconds” (2000), “Swordfish” (2001), and “The Big Bounce” (2004), while “Tooth” and “EuroTrip” (both 2004) allow him to flex a little comic muscle as a malevolent fairytale figure and a hotwired soccer hooligan, respectively. “Mean Machine” (2001), an English football revision of “The Longest Yard” (1974), and the thriller “Johnny Was” (2004) offered Jones a rare opportunity to topline a film, but for the most part, Jones was well ensconced in the villain/cop/crook-on-the-lam roles. He also continued to appear in UK television commercials, most notably in a self-parodying series for Bacardi that ran from 2001-03, until Jones was banned from Virgin Airlines for brawling with crew members in a much-publicized incident. Jones was the first ever guest host for The Friday Night Project when it first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005. In the same year he also had a minor role in the film She's the Man as coach Dinklage. As of September 2006, Jones' image and voice are being used in a campaign by UK bookmakers Ladbrokes to promote greyhound racing, a sport Jones has been connected with in the past, as a racing dog owner and an enthusiast. Jones has recently appeared as himself in an RAC commercial also featuring his wife, Tanya. In 2006, Jones was tapped to play the malevolent mutant, Juggernaut, in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and reportedly signed to continue the role in subsequent franchise titles. He also inked the deal for several upcoming international projects, including “The Condemned,” which would pit him against another ex-athlete turned actor, wrestling superstar “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. In December 2003, Jones was convicted of air rage offences committed on a flight the previous May. Following his conviction Bacardi withdrew the ads in which Jones appeared. He was convicted of assaulting a neighbour in 1998. He used to live in Dronfield, near Sheffield. In 2005, he became president of Hertfordshire Agricultural Society. Vinnie is also President of NOBs (the National Organisation of Beaters and Pickers-up) and is a keen countrysports enthusiast. Jones now lives with his wife, Tanya, and their two children in Los Angeles. |
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