# Annie Jones (actor)

Annie Jones (born Annika Jancso; 13 January 1967) is an Australian actress, known for her roles in soap operas and serials, most especially Sons and Daughters as Jess Campbell, in Neighbours as Jane Harris and Newlyweds as Allie Carter. She has won two Logie Awards.

## Early life

Born Annika Jancso on 13 January 1967, Jones' parents were Hungarian immigrants, who met when in Adelaide and married after her father found employment as an opal miner. She has three older sisters. The family spent many years in Coober Pedy.

## Career

Professionally taking the stage name Annie Jones, she undertook some modelling, including an appearance in the music video for the Huxton Creepers song "Pretty Flamingo" in 1987. Jones began acting at aged 17 in the title role in the film drama Run Chrissie Run! She then appeared in television roles on The Henderson Kids (1985), and Sons and Daughters (1985–1986) as Jesse Campbell.
Jones auditioned for the role of Charlene Mitchell (which she lost to Kylie Minogue) in the television soap opera Neighbours, at age 19. She eventually landed the role of Jane Harris in 1986, and would continue in that role until 1989. Jones received the Logie Award for Most Popular Actress for the role. In April 1988, Jones presented a report on the opening day of World Expo 88 for Network Ten.
Post-Neighbours in 1990, Jones played Lorna Jackson, an opal miner's daughter and brief love interest for Dr David Radclife (Brett Climo), in an episode of TV series The Flying Doctors. She also played Clare Mallory in the drama miniseries Jackaroo, which won her a second Logie Award for Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-series in 1991. She guested in an episode of Bony in 1992 as Sarah, who Jones described as "an insecure 'surfie chick'". She also starred as Eva Kovac in the historical mini-series Snowy (1993).
Jones starred as Allie Carter in the Australian sitcom Newlyweds with Christopher Gabardi in 1993 and 1994. She guest starred in The Adventures of Lano & Woodley in 1997.
Jones played mother Sue Green in children's television series Pig's Breakfast, and appeared in the Mortified episode "Mother in the Nude" (2006).
Jones has guest starred in many Australian series including City Homicide (2007), Stingers (2003), Blue Heelers (1994, 2002), Marshall Law (2002), Good Guys, Bad Guys (1997) and Halifax f.p. (1996).
In 2010, she was cast in the television movie Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here, which tells of the biggest criminal investigation in the history of the state of Victoria. Jones played parole officer Rachel Sanger in three episodes of Wentworth in 2013. She also appeared in the 2014 Australian show Worst Year of My Life Again.
In March 2015, she took part in a documentary special, Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, celebrating the show's 30th anniversary. The following year, Jones was reunited with her Neighbours co-star Guy Pearce when she guested in his drama series Jack Irish. She also filmed guest appearances in the Seven Network drama Winners & Losers, and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
In April 2018, she reprised the role of Jane Harris in Neighbours. In 2019, Jones starred as Colleen Cotterill in Seven Network's Secret Bridesmaids' Business, which was based on the stage play by Elizabeth Coleman. On 27 June 2020, it was announced that Jones had reprised the Neighbours role as a permanent cast member and she remained in the role until the show's then final episode on 28 July 2022. The series was later picked up by streaming service Amazon Freevee and Jones was confirmed to be reprising her role in February 2023.

## Personal life

Jones has been married to director Paul Moloney since 1989. The couple met on the set of The Henderson Kids.
After leaving Neighbours in 1989, Jones put her acting career on hold to take care of her mother, who had Alzheimer's disease. Jones stated "She had the disease for many, many years and I became her carer. Anyone who has had anything to do with Alzheimer's or dementia will know what it's like. It's heart-breaking, seeing someone disappear before your eyes. Because of that, I had neither the time nor the energy to commit to a long-running series and could only do guest roles here and there."

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1984 | Run Chrissie Run! | Chrissie | |
| 1984 | Lands In South Australia | Presenter | Short film documentary |
| 1985 | Fair Deal | Herself | Short film documentary |
| 1988 | A Losing Battle: Adolescent Body Image | Presenter | Short video documentary |
| 1988 | A Losing Battle: Adolescent Eating | Presenter | Short video documentary |
| 2000 | The Monkey's Mask | Evelyn McDonald | Uncredited |
| 2006 | Five Moments of Infidelity | Julie / Wife (Segment 5) | |
| 2007 | The Condemned | Karen | Uncredited |
| 2015 | Sneezing Baby Panda: The Movie | Character voice | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | The Henderson Kids | Sylvia Wheeler | Recurring role |
| 1985–1986 | Sons and Daughters | Jess Campbell | Credited as Annika Jones |
| 1986–1989, 2005, 2018–2025 | Neighbours | Jane Harris | Main cast |
| 1989 | A Tribute to Neighbours: Celebrating 1000 Episodes | Herself / Jane Harris | TV documentary special |
| 1990 | The Flying Doctors | Lorna Jackson | Episode: "End of the Rainbow" |
| 1990 | Embassy | Elizabeth | Episode: "Foreign Affairs" |
| 1990 | Jackaroo | Clare Mallory | Miniseries |
| 1990 | Col'n Carpenter | Alison | Episodes: "A Kind of Loving: Part 1" and "A Kind of Loving: Part 2" |
| 1991 | Chances | Paris | Recurring role |
| 1992 | Bony | Sarah | Episode: "Surf, Sun, Sand... and Murder" |
| 1993 | Snowy | Eva Kovac | Main cast |
| 1993–1994 | Newlyweds | Allie Carter | Main cast |
| 1995 | Rainbow's End | Rhonda Nesbitt | Television film |
| 1996 | Blue Heelers | Angela Harrigan | Episode: "Old Sins, Long Shadows" |
| 1996 | Halifax f.p. | Alison Hart | Episode: "Without Consent" |
| 1997 | Good Guys, Bad Guys | Veronica Flaherty | Episode "Fatal Distraction" |
| 1997 | The Adventures of Lano & Woodley | Con Artist | Episode "The Two Men" |
| 1999 | Pig's Breakfast | Sue Green | Main cast |
| 2000 | BeastMaster | The Guardian | Episode: "The Guardian" |
| 2001 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Mother | Episode: "Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story" |
| 2002 | Shock Jock | Various roles | Episode: "Vive la différence" |
| 2002 | The Secret Life of Us | Nicole | Episode: "Signs of Life" |
| 2002 | Marshall Law | Sandra | Episode: "The Samovar" |
| 2002 | Blue Heelers | Angela White | Episodes: "Deep Water" and "Nothing Personal" |
| 2003 | Stingers | Helene Harris | Episode: "Priapus' Playground" |
| 2003 | The Saddle Club | Beth Elliot | Episode: "Blind Faith" |
| 2006 | Mortified | TV Reporter | Episode: "Mother in the Nude" |
| 2006 | Tripping Over | Wendy | Episode 1.1 |
| 2007 | City Homicide | Kelly Pilsbury | Episodes: "Cut and Dried" and "Rostered Day Off" |
| 2011 | Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here | Dorothy Debs | Television film |
| 2011 | Dogstar | Various voices | |
| 2013–2014 | Wentworth | Rachel Sanger | Recurring role |
| 2014 | Worst Year of My Life, Again! | Mum | |
| 2015 | Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite | Herself | TV documentary |
| 2016 | Winners & Losers | Karen Triggs | Episode: "iBloom" |
| 2016 | Jack Irish | Judy | Episode 1.01 |
| 2017 | The Doctor Blake Mysteries | Billie Bentley | Episode: "Hear the Angels Sing" |
| 2019 | Secret Bridesmaids' Business | Colleen Cotterill | Main cast |