Catherine Frederica "Cathy" Jones (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian actress, comedian and writer. She is known for her work for 28 years on the Canadian television series '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. Jones left the show in 2021.

Early life and CODCO

Jones was born on 6 April 1955 in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. She was 17 when her older brother, comedian Andy Jones, put in a good word for her with the Newfoundland Traveling Theatre Company. After a summer touring with this company Cathy joined

Tommy Sexton Thomas Sexton (July 3, 1957 – December 13, 1993) was a Canadian comedian. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland, he was the youngest member of the ''CODCO'' comedy troupe. Educated in St. John's, he was an honours student before quitting after Grad ...

, Greg Malone, Mary Walsh, and Dyan Olsen in Toronto to look for more work in theatre and there in the fall of 1973, they formed the comedy troupe

CODCO ''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.Rick Mercer Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, Political satire, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' ...

and former ''CODCO'' co-stars Mary Walsh and Greg Thomey created a new television series, '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. She played many unique characters on the show, and is known for playing both men and women often at the extreme edges of gender identity. Some of her more well known characters include Mrs. Enid, Babe Bennett, Joe Crow, and one of her personal favorites, 'Love Murphy', who played a love interest with her female character in the short film ''Outport Lesbian''. As of 2005, with the departure of Greg Thomey, Jones was the only remaining original cast member of ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' at the time of her departure. Jones left the show in 2021. In 2020, Jones reprised her longtime ''22 Minutes'' character of Miss Enid in the

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

web series '' Broad Appeal: Living with E's''.

Other work

Jones has toured extensively with her one-woman shows ''Wedding in Texas'' and ''Me, Dad and The Hundred Boyfriends''. Her film career includes the lead role in her brother Mike Jones' film '' Secret Nation'', which aired on CBC Television, and supporting roles in '' How to Be Deadly'' and Bruce McDonald's ''

Weirdos ''WeirdOs'' is the debut full-length studio album by British band O. It has received positive reviews from critics. Reception Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Heather Phares writing this music shows the band ...

''. A CBC '' Life and Times'' biopic titled ''Keeping up with Cathy Jones'' was produced in 2006 by Lynne Wilson, directed by Barbara Doran, and featured several of her co-stars from both ''CODCO'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' including Greg Thomey,

Rick Mercer Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, Political satire, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' ...

, Greg Malone, and Andy Jones.

Awards and accolades

Jones has won 18

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

and three Canadian comedy awards for Best Writing in a Comedy Series for her work on ''22 Minutes'' and ''CODCO''.

Personal life

In 1996, Jones married American-born painter Paul Hannon, with whom she shares their daughter Eleanor. The couple divorced in 2000. For several years after 2004, Jones had a relationship with musician and artist Tom Wilson."Variety show spices up married life: Comic Cathy Jones weds her husband's music with her stand-up on a tour that gets the couple a little more together". ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'', November 25, 2006. They have since separated. Jones' first daughter, Mara, was born in Newfoundland in 1981. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...

, Jones has been critical of mask wearing, restrictions and

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an ag ...

.The Coast: Cathy Jones is off CBC’s 22 Minutes after 28 years
/ref> She commented that "people's health should be really in their own hands and not in the hands of the government."

References

External links

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TheGreatCathyJones - YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Cathy 1955 births Living people Canadian television personalities Canadian Screen Award winning writers Entertainers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian Buddhists Actresses from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian women comedians This Hour Has 22 Minutes Canadian sketch comedians Canadian women television personalities Comedians from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian Comedy Award winners Canadian anti-vaccination activists Screenwriters from Newfoundland and Labrador 20th-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian comedians