Gillian Elizabeth Thomas (born 10 August 1953) is a Welsh actress, singer, and comedian. Early in her career she was known as Gillian Elisa Thomas.

Early life and education

Elisa was born in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

, Wales, and brought up in

Lampeter Lampeter (; (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and C ...

; she began acting before she started school. As a sixth-former at Ysgol Gyfun Llanbedr-Pont Steffan in Lampeter, she co-wrote a Welsh-language musical, ''Yr Enfys (The Rainbow)''. After leaving school, she studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Career

In 1975, she was chosen by producer Endaf Emlyn to play the lead in a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). ...

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

. Since that time, she has been a well-known figure on Welsh-language television. On

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

television, she played (1974–2010) the part of Sabrina Daniels in the long-running

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC Cymru (now B ...

'' and the comic character "Mrs O.T.T." in the variety entertainment programme '' Noson Lawen''. She appeared in the gangster drama series '' Y Pris''. She has performed one-woman comedy shows at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

. As a singer, she has completed three albums of new and traditional Welsh songs – ''Rhywbeth yn y Glas'', ''Haul ar Nos Hir'', and ''Lawr Y Lein,'' as well as appearing on a number of other recordings. She is best known to English-speaking audiences for her leading role in the 2018 drama series '' Hidden'', which was filmed in both Welsh and English, Elisa travelled around Wales with fellow actress Ruth Jones as part of the Welsh language show Iath Ar Daith, which shows celebrities learning Welsh and putting it to practice.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Official website

Chortle: Gillian Elisa With Jo's Heatwave

Equity Wales: Gillian Elisa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillian Elisa 1953 births Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Living people Actors from Carmarthen Welsh musical theatre actresses 20th-century Welsh women singers Welsh-speaking actors Welsh television actresses Welsh women comedians People from Lampeter Actresses from Carmarthenshire