Mark Lewis Jones

Born in Rhosllanerchrugog in 1964, he began acting with the Clwyd Youth Theatre and trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Jones has acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing the roles of Lord Grey and Henry, Earl of Richmond in Richard III in 1993. He also starred in a range of roles in 1997 at the Globe Theatre, London, including Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Milantius in The Maid's Tragedy, and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. Other stage roles include The Tempest, Love's Labour Lost, The Merchant Of Venice, Volpone, and Under Milk Wood.

He began his screen career in the late 1980s, notably starring in an adaptation of Rosamunde Pilcher's The Shell Seekers in 1989. Bit parts in hit shows including Between The Lines, Casualty and Soldier, Soldier followed before he starred in This Life as Dale between 1996 and 1997 and as David Ancrom in crime drama The Knock in 1999. This year also saw him star as Crad Rees in hit Welsh film Solomon & Gaenor.

Jones appeared in small roles in television dramas Where The Heart Is, The Bench, Holby City, Red Cap and Spooks before landing a part in Hollywood film Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World in 2003. He played a whaler, Mr Hogg, in the film that featured Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany.

He followed this a year later with the role of Tecton in Wolfgang Petersen's epic Troy, starring alongside Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom.

In 2004 he starred as DS Ray Lloyd in the series Murder Prevention and followed this with another crime drama a year later, appearing in BBC production 55 Degrees North as DI Russell Bing.

Roles in Waking The Dead and Torchwood followed in 2005 and 2006 respectively before Jones took on a further police-based persona, Chief Constable Bryan Jones, in Y Pris in 2007, a series about a group of West-Walian gangsters.

In 2009 Jones starred in BBC Scotland film Zig Zag Love as Paul Carmichael alongside Robert Carlyle and Joe McFadden. He also appeared in BBC drama Framed - set largely in Wales - alongside Trevor Eve and Eve Myles.

In September 2009 he starred in new BBC Cymru Wales drama Crash, written by Tony Jordan, as consultant Mr Hill.

Jones was set to star in A Child's Christmases In Wales with fellow Welsh actor Ruth Jones, a festive comedy written by Mark Watson and inspired by Dylan Thomas, in December 2009.

He starred as Stone Mason Longstride - father to Robin Longstride, played by Russell Crowe - in the 2010 blockbuster Robin Hood.

In 2011 he played D.I Frank Skipper in a new series of popular crime drama Silent Witness.