Tara Bethan Williams[2] (born 8 December 1983)[3] is a Welsh actress, singer and presenter.

Tara Bethan
Born
Tara Bethan Williams

(1983-12-08) 8 December 1983 (age 41)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • presenter
FatherOrig Williams

Biography

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Daughter of professional footballer and wrestler Orig Williams,[4] Bethan was brought up in Llansannan and Rhyl.

From a young age, Bethan sang and danced and performed in the Eisteddfod. She was educated at Aled Primary School in Llansannan and Ysgol Glan Clwyd. She later graduated with honours from Ivor Novello - Redroofs Theatre School, where she won "Most Promising Performer of the Year".[5] She won the National Eisteddfod's Gwobr Goffa Wilbert Lloyd Roberts when it was held in Llanbedrgoch in 1999.[6] She became the youngest member ever of the Gorsedd of Bards at Newport Eisteddfod at the age of 20.[5]

Bethan began appearing on stage in north Wales from a young age, appearing in plays such as Cinderella, Jack And The Beanstalk and Peter Karrie Unmasked at the Pavilion Theatre in Rhyl, Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Empire Theatre in Sunderland, My Fair Lady at the Royal Ascot Pavilion and Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at the City of Varieties Theatre in Leeds.[7] In 2004, she appeared as Laura in the series Emyn Roc a Rol and had a role as temptress Kelly in Footballer's Wives in a 90-minute special.[7] 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.[8] In 2006, she was presenter of the S4C children's fun show, Mama Mia.[9] She appeared in I'd Do Anything in 2008 and was voted out by Andrew Lloyd Webber after she performed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"[citation needed] She also had a role as a cowgirl in Cymru Fach and appeared in Rownd a Rownd.[5]

Bethan did a UK tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.[10] in 2013. Bethan appeared in Bugsy Malone at the Queen's Theatre in London with the National Youth Music Theatre.[5] She then appeared in the Welsh language soap opera Pobol Y Cwm 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 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, to select an entrant aged 9 to 14 to participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018, representing Wales.

References

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  1. ^ "Llansannan's Tara Bethan out of I'd Do Anything show". Dailypost.co.uk. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Robes of honour". Dailypost.co.uk. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. ^ Williams, Orig; Williams, Martyn (2010). El Bandito – Orig Williams, The Autobiography. Wales: Y Lolfa. ISBN 9781847712929.
  4. ^ "Pobol Y Cwm star Tara Bethan pays tribute to wrestler dad Orig Williams in TV film". Wales Online. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d "Tara Bethan" (in Welsh). BBC Cymru. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Grant for engine Why teen star Tara keeps on coming back for more". Daily Post. 9 November 2001.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b "From bardic to bedroom, Tara takes on role of TV temptress". Daily Post. 20 June 2004.[dead link]
  8. ^ "Tara Bethan". Sainwales.com. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  9. ^ "tvwales: Sitting pretty; Tara Bethan reveals why her wardrobe secrets are dictated by her dancing". Daily Post. 20 May 2006.[dead link]
  10. ^ "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
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