Philip Livingston Jones, commonly credited by his mononym Livingston, is an Indian actor, comedian and screenwriter who usually plays supporting and comedy roles in Tamil films. He is credited as Ranjan in his earlier films such as ''

Captain Prabhakaran ''Captain Prabhakaran'' is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by R. K. Selvamani. It stars Vijayakanth in the lead role. It also features Mansoor Ali Khan, Rupini, Livingston and Ramya Krishnan, while R. Sarathkumar appears ...

'' (1991) and '' Sundara Purushan'' (1996) and is well known in the critically acclaimed movie ''

Sollamale ''Sollamale'' ( ) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Sasi in his directorial debut. The film stars Livingston and Kausalya while Karan, Vivek, Anand, and Prakash Raj play supporting roles. It was rele ...

'' (1998). He has acted over 180 films.

Career

He wrote the screenplay for the movies ''

Kanni Rasi ''Kanni Rasi'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil language film directed by Pandiarajan in his directorial debut. The film stars Prabhu and Revathi. It was released on 15 February 1985. The film was remade in Telugu as ''Menamama'' (1988). Plot Lak ...

'' (1985) and ''

Kaakki Sattai ''Kaakki Sattai'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Rajasekhar, starring Kamal Haasan, Ambika, Maadhavi, Sathyaraj, Rajeev and Thengai Srinivasan. The film, released on 11 April 1985, during the week of Puthandu, ...

'' (1985) along with G. M. Kumar. His first starring role was in ''

Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran ''Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Senthilnathan, in his directorial debut. The film stars Vijayakanth, Radhika, Anand, Vani Viswanath and Livingston. It was released on 10 June 1988, ...

'' (1988). He started out playing villains and graduated to playing lead roles with '' Sundara Purushan'' (1996), ''

'' (1998), ''

Viralukketha Veekkam ''Viralukketha Veekkam'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by V. Sekhar. The film stars Livingston, Vadivelu, Vivek, Khushbu, Kovai Sarala and Kanaka. It was released on 16 July 1999 and became successful at the b ...

'' (1999), ''

En Purushan Kuzhandhai Maadhiri ''En Purushan Kuzhandhai Maadhiri'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil language comedy film directed by S. P. Rajkumar. The film stars Livingston, Devayani and Vindhya in lead roles. The music was composed by Deva. The film was remade in Telugu as '' M ...

'' (2001) and '' Engalukkum Kaalam Varum'' (2001) are other films in which he has appeared in lead roles. At the peak of his career in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Livingston opted to take on a mix of lead roles, antagonistic roles and cameo roles.

Personal life

Livingston was born in a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamilnadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. His father, Samuel Jones worked as a

supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...

Binny and Co. Binny and Co was a shipping, textile, banking and insurance firm based in the city of Chennai, India. It was one of the oldest business firms in Chennai city. The company was responsible for the development of much of North Madras. It helped ...

, while his mother was a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

who was of

Malaysian Tamils Tamil Malaysians, also known as Malaysian Tamilar, are people of full or partial Tamils, Tamil descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia from Tamil Nadu, India and the Tamil regions of north-east Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lanka. The majorit ...

descent. He attended ELM Fabricus Hr.Sec. School in

Purasawalkam Purasawalkam also known as Purasaiwakkam or Purasai / Purasawakkam, is a residential shopping area in the district of Chennai in the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is close to the Chennai Central and Chennai Eg ...

until grade 10 after which he pursued his cinema career. On 6 September 1997, he married Jessy Irudayaraj a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

in a private ceremony in Chennai. The couple has two daughters, Jovita (born in 1999) and Gemma (born in 2001).

Filmography

As film actor

1980–90s

2000s

2010s

2020s

As screenwriter

As voice actor

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingston, J. Tamil male actors Living people Indian male film actors Male actors in Tamil cinema Indian male screenwriters Tamil screenwriters Indian male comedians Male actors in Telugu cinema 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 1958 births