Jill James, actress, presenter, producer, agent and executive died after a short illness.
After training at GSA, Jill spent many years in the theatre throughout the UK and Europe before gaining national prominence in the '80s as the face of British Gas, a highly successful advertising campaign that ran for several years. Jill also has numerous film and TV credits and had her own radio chat show in London.
Jill co-founded, with her husband Ewart Needham, the Television Arts Performance Showcase (TAPS), the National scheme for finding, training and promoting new writers for film and television, and was the executive director during its 18 years of operation. More than 1,000 budding writers attended TAPS courses, some of whom have achieved national prominence. She was also a partner and director of the literary agency Culverhouse & James for 16 years.
Jill was a passionate, long-standing supporter and elected official of BAFTA. This spanned Council Member for 10 years, Chair of Events and Education Committee for 5 years and latterly, member of BAFTA Cymru Council for 5 years
In 2004 she returned to the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where she was born. Most recently, she ran Vale Productions, starring in and producing the BAFTA Cymru-nominated short film Dying Light (2017). Jill also took a main acting role in and produced her latest film: How Can I Be Sure?
