Ronni Ancona

Early life

Ancona was born in Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland and is of Italian Jewish descent. Her father was a commander in the Royal Navy and her mother was an artist who painted the sets at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr. She attended Marr College, a secondary school in Troon. In the programme Comedy Map of Britain she returned to her old school in Troon and talked about her earliest comedy performing experience as part of an improvisation group called Pots People. She made a one-off appearance on Blue Peter in 1986 while she was still at school. She moved to London when 17 to study design at St Martin's, then became a teacher before embarking on stand-up comedy.

Career

Ancona's comedy career started on the comedy circuit and she won the Time Out Hackney Empire New Act of the Year in 1993. For many years she worked extensively in radio and on television shows, such as Fist of Fun, as well as performing stand-up comedy. She also appeared in the first series of The Sketch Show before The Big Impression.

In 2005 she played Barbara, opposite Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson and Emily Blunt in Stephen Poliakoff's Gideon's Daughter on BBC One.

She has appeared six times on the BBC celebrity panel show QI. She won episode four of series four ('Dictionaries') in October 2006, won again in the first episode of series six in November 2008 ('Family'), won on the women's team with Sandi Toksvig in January 2010, and came last in November 2011 ('Infantile').

In November 2006 she was a guest presenter of Have I Got News For You. She also appeared on the Channel 4 comedy show TV Heaven, Telly Hell discussing her preferences in television shows.

In December 2006 she revealed herself as a fan of Strictly Come Dancing and appeared on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. In 2007, following a successfully received pilot, the BBC commissioned a new comedy sketch series titled Ronni Ancona & Co consisting of her own material and co-starring Phil Cornwell, Jan Ravens and John Sessions. The show initially aired on 25 May 2007 and had three episodes. In 2008 Ancona appeared in the film Penelope as Wanda.

She appeared as the mother of Katie and Emily Fitch in the third and fourth series of Skins. In 2009 she appeared in Hope Springs on BBC 1. She was one of eight main cast members. On 24 July 2009, Ancona appeared on The One Show, and she appeared on it again, with Alistair McGowan, on 16 October 2009.

In 2009 Ancona's first book A Matter of Life And Death: How To Wean A Man Off Football was published by Faber & Faber. As part of BBC's Big Read she promoted The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

In April 2010, she appeared on A Comedy Roast, celebrating Sharon Osbourne's life. In 2012 she appeared in Last Tango in Halifax as Judith on BBC One. On 2 January 2015 she was a guest on Room 101. In 2016, Ancona played the role of Mrs Fletcher, the manager of a local care home in the seventh series of the Scottish comedy, Still Game.

On stage Ancona was Beline in Molière's The Hypochondriac at the Almeida Theatre. In June 2015, Ancona will begin playing the role of Paula, in the new West End musical Bend It Like Beckham.

In April 2017 Arcona appeared as a guest on ITV's The Nightly Show presented by Jason Manford in which they both performed impersonations of famous people and each tasked with identifying the impersonation while visually screened from each other. During this, the audience were made more visually aware of the person being impersonated by the use of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).

Awards

Ancona won a British Comedy Award for The Big Impression and a Variety Club Award.

Personal life

Ancona had a seven-year relationship with Alistair McGowan which ended shortly before they started working together professionally. Ancona is married to Gerard Hall, a consultant rheumatologist with whom she has two daughters. They live in west London.

Her brother, Simon Ancona, CBE, followed their father into the Royal Navy and as of June 2016 holds the rank of rear admiral.