The Details

THE BASIC BIOGRAPHY

Linda Jones is an NYC actor with a “cracked wit” and a passion for words and language. She works in new plays, old plays, film, tv and voice over, and has been known to don a cocktail dress, cradle a martini and belt out ballads in a cabaret act in venues around NYC. Ever the chameleon, she’s been known to play leading ladies, old women, teenage girls, men, boys, fairies, gods and pirates. (There was an Energenius in there too – guess what that is and she will buy you a drink and sing you a song.) With dozens of premieres under her belt (New York, West Coast, US and World), she loves nothing more than to work on new plays by exceptional writers. She also does classics. She spent several years as a lead artist with Crowded Fire, an award-winning, nationally recognized San Francisco theatre company, where she was happily named by one reviewer as, “…an indispensable actor of exceptional power, nuance and range.” (Brad Rosenstein, SF Bay Guardian).

Award-winning work includes Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing and Charles Mee’s Trojan Women: A Love Story. And generous critics have called her “nuanced,” (EDGE NYC), “deep” (NY Cool), “fierce” (OnOffOff), “sharp and hilarious” (New Theatre Corps), “ever-versatile” (Backstage West), “excellent” (SF Bay Guardian), “magical” (Contra Costa Times), “inspired, touching and comic” (SF Chronicle), “mesmerizing” (Sacramento News & Review), “completely focused and faultless… hilarious” (Sacramento Press-Tribune), “[an actor with] a quality of inner light – rare, radiant and indefinable” (Ithaca Journal).

Born and bred in Concord, Massachusetts (she learned to swim in Walden Pond!), her escapades have taken her across the country, with years spent in upstate NY (she is honored to hold a BFA in Acting from Ithaca College), Chicago and San Francisco. It’s been over fifteen years since she hopped in her little convertible, waved good-bye to California, and drove cross-country, Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ blaring from the speakers as she crossed the Nevada desert. And, though she looks back fondly – she’s glad to be a New Yorker.

She is a proud member of Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA. In addition to performing, she also sometimes coaches voice, speech, dialects and voice over for actors in NYC. (More on that, here.)

Other details? She prefers her whisky neat and her coffee black. She loves dive bars and diners, thunderstorms and snow days. And road trips. And though she tried being a blonde for a few years, she discovered she actually has more fun as a brunette. She has been known to run marathons – three to be exact – and she’s looking forward to running a fourth very soon. She lives with writer John C. Foster, their dog Coraline, and an apartment filled-to-bursting, floor-to-ceiling, corner-to-absolute-corner with books.

SOME RIDICULOUSLY GOOD PRESS…

…DOUBLE VISION

by Barbara Blumenthal Ehrlich (World Premiere)
Don’t Tell Miami/NYC Fringe
(**** four stars, Time Out New York)

“The neighbor, played smartly by Linda Jones, is an appealing mix of control and nuttiness. She has a refreshing energy and brand of cheer.”
~Rob Lester, EDGE New York City

“As Celia, Linda Jones gives a nuanced performance…”
~William S. Gooch, New York Cool

“Linda Jones gives the whimsical Celia great depth…”
~Victor Gluck, Theatre Scene

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

by William Shakespeare
HoNkBarK! Theatre Company
Vital Theatre

“Ms. Jones makes for a fierce Lysander.”
~Hannah Snyder-Beck, OnOffOff

“In her gender bending role, Jones acting is sharp and hilarious and is the highlight of the production.”
~Eric Miles Glover, New Theatre Corps

THE TROJAN WOMEN: A LOVE STORY

by Charles L. Mee (West Coast Premiere)
Crowded Fire Theatre Company
(Upstage/Downstage Award, Outstanding Performance)

“Things start to cook…with Linda Jones’ excellent turn as an unhinged Andromache.”
~Brad Rosenstein, San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Linda Jones’ Andromache looks harrowed and haunted.”
~Joe Mader, San Francisco Examiner

“Linda Jones’ post-traumatic sex-and-etiquette-obsessed Andromache delivers some sharp moments…”
~Rob Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

“Linda Jones delivers a strong soliloquy as the musing, half-crazed Andromache, holding a Raggedy Andy doll. ‘I remember there were Friday night dances at the golf club,’ she says lightly, before lapsing into a fugue about being a faithful wife.”
~Michael Scott Moore, San Francisco Weekly

THE REAL THING

by Tom Stoppard
Center Repertory Theatre
(Shellie Award nomination, Outstanding Performance)

“Seer and Jones are absolutely magical together, and when they get rolling in a scene, sparks fly.”
~Pat Craig, Contra Costa Times

“The principle actors, Richard Seer as Henry and Linda Jones as Annie, could hardly be better.”
~Robert Lee Hall, Piedmont Post

TOP GIRLS

by Caryl Churchill
Crowded Fire Theatre Company

“Linda Jones, as Marlene, emerges as the company’s major player, an indispensable actor of exceptional power, nuance and range.”
~Brad Rosenstein, San Francisco Bay Guardian

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER

by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
Center Repertory Theatre

“…And then there’s Jones’ deft turn as Maggie, the secretary who falls in love with the local newspaperman and aspiring playwright. …When she gets caught scheming to chase a rival out of town, Jones goes so still and small she almost vanishes into the wallpaper. It’s an inspired and touching comic moment.”
~Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle

A-A-AMERICA!

by Edward Bond (US Premiere)
Crowded Fire Theatre Company

“Jones is downright chilling as ‘the devil out the smokey pit’”
~Chad Jones, Oakland Tribune

“The cast is both funny and frightening, with special credit going to the ever-versatile Linda Jones.”
~Jean Schiffman, Backstage West

“A committed performance from Linda Jones, as the sinister, coil-voiced Grandmother.”
~Michael Scott Moore, San Francisco Weekly

MRS. CALIFORNIA

by Doris Baizley
River Stage

“The standout performance is Linda Jones as Mrs. San Bernardino. She is mesmerizing to watch.”
~Patti Roberts, Sacramento News & Review

“Linda Jones as Mrs. San Bernardino is completely focused and faultless. Without uttering a word, Jones can induce laughter…she is hilarious.”
~Diane Bartlett, Sacramento Press-Tribune

THE MARRIAGE OF BETTE & BOO

by Christopher Durang
Eternity’s Well Productions

“Only Linda Jones, as Bette’s hypersensitive sister Emily, provides the degree of character development this play demands. …Because she makes this crucial character increasingly real, Emily’s final benediction does provide the family with its first genuine sense of peace.”
~Diana Spinrad, Chicago Reader

Resumes