Tara Bethan Williams (born 8 December 1983) is a Welsh actress, singer and presenter.

Biography

Daughter of professional footballer and wrestler

Orig Williams Orig Williams (20 March 1931 – 12 November 2009) was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the ring name "El Bandito", and after retiring as a figh ...

, Bethan was brought up in

Llansannan Llansannan is a rural village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the bank of the River Aled and is about 8 miles to the south of Abergele and to the west of Denbigh. The population was 1,291 in 2001, with 67% able to spea ...

and

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

. From a young age, Bethan sang and danced and performed in the ''

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

''. She was educated at Aled Primary School in Llansannan and

Ysgol Glan Clwyd Ysgol Glan Clwyd (or Ysgol Uwchradd Glan Clwyd) is a Welsh-language, Welsh Medium of instruction, medium secondary school, and was the first of its kind. It opened in 1956, initially at Rhyl on the coast before moving inland to St Asaph in 1969 ...

. She later graduated with honours from Ivor Novello - Redroofs Theatre School, where she won "Most Promising Performer of the Year". She won the National Eisteddfod's Gwobr Goffa Wilbert Lloyd Roberts when it was held in

Llanbedrgoch Llanbedrgoch () is a hamlet and post town, a mile south of the town of Benllech and west of Red Wharf Bay, on the island of Anglesey (), north Wales. The parish church is St Peter's Church, Llanbedrgoch, a Grade II* listed building that dates ...

in 1999. She became the youngest member ever of the Gorsedd of Bards at Newport Eisteddfod at the age of 20. Bethan began appearing on stage in north Wales from a young age, appearing in plays such as ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'', ''

Jack And The Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...

'' and ''Peter Karrie Unmasked'' at the Pavilion Theatre in

, ''

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an impudent old woman who enters the forest home of three anthropomorphic bachelor bears while th ...

'' at the Empire Theatre in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' at the Royal Ascot Pavilion and ''

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' at the City of Varieties Theatre in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. In 2004, she appeared as Laura in the series ''Emyn Roc a Rol'' and had a role as temptress Kelly in ''

Footballer's Wives ''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League football club Earls Park F.C., its players and their wives. It was broadcast on ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focuses on three very different coupl ...

'' in a 90-minute special. Her debut album ''Does Neb yn fy Nabod i'' features her own, and eight compositions by Gwenno Dafydd and Heulwen Thomas, released on the Sain Records label. In 2006, she was presenter of the S4C children's fun show, ''Mama Mia''. She appeared in '' I'd Do Anything'' in 2008 and was voted out by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

after she performed "

Somewhere Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz'', in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role a ...

" She also had a role as a cowgirl in ''Cymru Fach'' and appeared in ''

Rownd a Rownd ''Rownd a Rownd'' (''Round and Round'') is a Welsh language, Welsh-language soap opera created by Rondo Media (formerly Ffilmiau’r Nant) and shown on S4C since 11 September 1995. It was claimed to be the first Celtic-related language soap spec ...

''. Bethan did a UK tour of ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

''. in 2013. Bethan appeared in ''

Bugsy Malone ''Bugsy Malone'' is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker (in his feature film directorial debut). A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, comprising only child actor ...

'' at the Queen's Theatre in London with the

National Youth Music Theatre The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a private limited company (or ...

. She then appeared in the Welsh language soap opera ''

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 ...

'' from 2011 to 2016 and then again from 2018 to 2019. From 2018, Bethan has been one of three main Welsh judges (alongside

Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp i ...

and Stifyn Parri (series 1) / Lloyd Macey (series 2) ) on the panel of '' Junior Eurovision: Chwilio am Seren'' (English: Search for a Star), a singing competition organised by Rondo Media and broadcast 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 ...

, to select an entrant aged 9 to 14 to participate in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the sixteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the National State Television and Radio Company of Belarus, Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) and the European Broa ...

, representing .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethan, Tara Welsh stage actresses Welsh-language television presenters Welsh television actresses 21st-century Welsh women singers Living people 1983 births Welsh folk singers People from Llansannan People educated at Ysgol Glan Clwyd Welsh-speaking actors Welsh television presenters Welsh women television presenters Actresses from Conwy County Borough