Biografía

He is the voice of 'The Ugly Stepsister' in Shrek 2 (2004) in the UK version ('Larry King' does the voice in the US version). Although King is still credited in the main credit sequence, an additional screen, acknowledging Jonathan's role appears at the very end of the film.

He maintained a lot of control over the playlist of his BBC Radio 2 show, playing many of his favorite artists. He is a fan of Roxy Music, David Bowie, Scott Walker, John Barry, Morrissey, The Cure, The Feeling, Arctic Monkeys, Neil Hannon, Edwyn Collins, Elvis Presley, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, Elvis Costello, Frank Sinatra, Paul Weller and punk rock in general. All these artists were played on his show.

His interview with Steve Martin on The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1987) (broadcast 9 October 1987) was described by Melody Maker magazine (19th December 1987) as "the year's most embarrassing TV moment, Martin savagely highlighting his host's total lack of spontaneity".

In 2006, he was one of several BBC star presenters whose salaries were leaked to a national newspaper by a temporary agency worker at the corporation. The same year, he signed a new contract with the BBC which some reports estimated to be worth £6 million annually, a figure the corporation refused to confirm or deny. Following this, the BBC Trust launched a review into whether the BBC was paying its stars above the market rate, which was published in 2008 and vindicated the corporation.

On Russell Brand's Radio 2 show on 18 October 2008, he and Brand left obscene messages on the answerphone of Andrew Sachs, concerning the fact that Brand had slept with Sachs's grand-daughter Georgina Baillie. This programme was later broadcast, provoking widespread complaint from the public and politicians such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron. Brand later resigned from the BBC and Ross was suspended without pay for three months. The controller of Radio 2, Lesley Douglas, also resigned, as did the head of compliance David Barber. The BBC Trust called it a "deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification" and Ofcom fined the BBC £150,000, calling it "gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning".

I don't ever go to the theatre. I try and avoid it whenever possible.

I've made some good shows and I've made some dreadful shows.

Richard Curtis is one of the greatest comedy writers Britain has ever known . . . apart from the guy who used to write all Bob Monkhouse's jokes, who never really got the credit he deserved.

Pirate DVDs are not a victimless crime but some people are still buying them and that's making me cranky. Just stop buying them - that's the message we want to get out there. Saying yes to a pirate DVD is saying yes to crime on your street.

Nothing can prepare you for quite how bad Una Relación Peligrosa (2003) is.