Biography

Winter Jones, previously Tony Yalda, sometimes credited as Anthony Yalda (born March 25, 1981) is a non-binary Assyrian actor. Jones was born to Assyrian parents in Beirut, Lebanon. Their family fled Lebanon after facing persecution during the Lebanese Civil War. Like most Assyrian refugees, their family arrived in Athens, Greece, seeking asylum. Four years later, the family finally arrived in Chicago, Illinois.

Jones studied theatre at DePaul University and Roosevelt University's Theatre Conservatory. In 2004, they dropped out of school and arrived in Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Pretending to be a messenger service, dropping off pictures and resumes, they made the rounds of casting offices until in 2005 they landed a role in The Comeback starring Lisa Kudrow. They booked their next role in American Dreamz a month later, which landed him with former talent agency, GVA Talent.

Their former band The Hollabacks won a national competition for 7 Eleven in 2010, making the band the face of Slurpee for a 6-month campaign.

The Hollabacks music was featured in Cyrus. The band was also archived in Wolfgang’s Vault.

Jones moved to Minneapolis in 2011 to pursue their solo career with producer/songwriter Michael Bland who is the former drummer for the late Prince. Jones wrote two albums with Bland, O My God and Sex Appeal under the alias Ladyboi. The two albums are now featured as Winter Jones, Volume I on Spotify.

Jones dropped the name Ladyboi in 2014 adopting the name Winter Jones, and legally changing their name in 2015.

Jones currently resides in Chicago, IL and is writing/recording and performing in the Windy City.