British Knights in Waiting

1. John Woodvine

Born in the Simonside area of South Shields, he left the North East when he was five, but went back for holidays with his grandparents. As he grew older he had it in his mind to be an actor, but had no idea how to go about it, so did various jobs before being called up for National Service in the ...

2. Charles Kay

Actor | Amadeus

Charles Kay was born on August 31, 1930 in Coventry, West Midlands, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Amadeus (1984), Henry V (1989) and Fall of Eagles (1974).

3. William Roache

Actor | Coronation Street

William Patrick "Bill" Roache MBE is an English actor. He has played Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street since its first episode on 9 December 1960. He is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving living television actor in a continuous role. First acting job with ...

He was awarded an MBE in 2000. As of December 2015, he has set a record as the longest running performance as Ken Barlow from December 1960 to present. He has surpassed Helen Wagner's record of 54 years. He was awarded an OBE in 2022.

4. Alan Dobie

Actor | The Disputation

Alan Dobie was born on June 2, 1932 in Wombwell, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Disputation (1986), War & Peace (1972) and Mystery and Imagination (1966). He was previously married to Maureen Scott and Rachel Roberts.

5. John Turner

Actor | Corrigan Blake

Born in London he was brought up in Nottingham where his father taught interior design at the College of Art. An early interest in the theatre found him taking part in the school dramatic society plays at High Pavement School in Nottingham and later with 3 Nottingham Dramatic Societies at the same ...

6. Edward de Souza

Actor | The Spy Who Loved Me

Edward James de Souza was born in Hull, Yorkshire, of British and Portuguese-Indian parentage to Annie Adeline Swift (née Calvert) and Edward Valentine De Souza Jr. He has appeared in numerous classical plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Bristol Old Vic, the Globe ...

7. Christopher Guinee

Actor | Les Misérables

Christopher Guinee was born on September 6, 1932 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Les Misérables (1967), The Brothers Karamazov (1964) and ITV Play of the Week (1955). He died in 2001 in Hastings, East Sussex, England, UK.

8. Brian Murphy

Actor | Man About the House

In 1952 he did his National Service as an aircraftsman attaining 2nd class, Also in his company was Richard Briers. On being demobbed he joined RADA but after a year he had to leave as his money had run out. He then auditioned for Joan Littlewood in 1963 and was taken on for Oh! What a Lovely War ...

9. Tom Baker

Actor | Doctor Who

One of Britain's most recognizable (and most larger-than-life) character actors, Tom Baker is best known for his record-setting seven-year stint as the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). He was born in 1934 in Liverpool, to Mary Jane (Fleming) and John Stewart Baker. His father was of English and ...

10. Edward Bond

Writer | Blow-Up

Edward Bond was born on July 18, 1934 in London, England, UK. He was a writer and director, known for Blow-Up (1966), Walkabout (1971) and Laughter in the Dark (1969). He was married to Elisabeth Pablé. He died on March 3, 2024 in Cambridge, England, UK.

11. Jim Dale

Actor | Pete's Dragon

Jim Dale began his career as a stand-up comic. He sharpened his comedy skills during a stint in the army, where he organized and performed in camp shows. After his discharge he pursued a comedy career, and landed a job as the warm-up comic on a musical variety show. He did so well that the ...

12. Hugh Whitemore

Writer | 84 Charing Cross Road

Hugh Whitemore was born on June 16, 1936 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, UK. He was a writer and producer, known for 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), The Gathering Storm (2002) and The Boy in the Bush (1984). He was married to Rohan McCullough and Sheila Lemon. He died on July 17, 2018 in the UK.

13. Brian Blessed

Actor | Flash Gordon

Boisterous British actor Brian Blessed is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and television. A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice, Brian was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire. His father was a ...

14. Alan Rothwell

Actor | Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Alan Rothwell was born on February 9, 1937 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Alan Partridge (2013), Nothing But the Best (1964) and Coronation Street (1960). He was previously married to Maureen Haydon and Marjorie Ward.

15. Paxton Whitehead

Actor | Back to School

Paxton Whitehead was born on 17 October, 1937 in Kent, England, UK. He trained at London's Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts starting at the age of 17. After attending the academy for two years he went to work in stock companies starting with the "weekly rep", small touring companies that ...

16. Kenneth Colley

Actor | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Kenneth Colley was born on December 7, 1937 in Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Firefox (1982) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). He has been married to Mary Dunne since 1962.

17. Stephen Moore

Actor | Pirate Radio

Stephen Moore was born on December 11, 1937 in Brixton, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Boat That Rocked (2009), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). He was married to Noelyn George, Beth Morris, Celestine Randall and Barbara Mognaz. He died ...

18. Brian Cooke

Writer | George & Mildred

Brian Cooke was born on December 13, 1937 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He is a writer, known for George & Mildred (1976), Man About the House (1973) and Starting from Scratch (1988).

19. Michael Culver

Actor | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Michael Culver was born on June 16, 1938 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), A Passage to India (1984) and Breakaway (1980). He was married to Amanda Ward and Lucinda Curtis. He died on February 27, 2024.

20. Terence Stamp

Actor | The Limey

Terence was born in London and spent his early years watching American films and dreamed of being like the stars on the screen, He was awarded a scholarship for the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. In his second year, during an audition, Peter Ustinov signed him for the title role in Billy ...

21. Patrick Mower

Actor | Carry on England

British leading actor, born Patrick Archibald Shaw, one of three siblings of Welsh and English parentage. A 1962 graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he was at the peak of his popularity in the late 60s and early 70s. On the London stage from 1963, he also began acting on television the...

22. Oliver Ford Davies

Actor | Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Eminent English actor Oliver Ford Davies began his career in academia. The son of a teacher, he studied at Merton College, Oxford University, where he became president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society and performed on stage with the experimental Theatre Club at the age of twenty. After ...

23. Peter Gill

Actor | Zulu

Peter Gill was born on September 7, 1939 in Cardiff, Wales, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Zulu (1964), Plays for Britain (1976) and As You Like It (1963).

24. Malcolm Hebden

Actor | Coronation Street

Malcolm Hebden is an English television and stage actor known for his role as Norris Cole in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

Hebden was born in Chester before his family moved to Burnley, Lancashire, three weeks later. He was educated at West Gate High School and began his career ...

No MBE yet.

25. John Alderton

Actor | Zardoz

An English actor active in the theater since 1961, having made few theatrical movies, none of which particularly outstanding, with the exception of John Boorman's Zardoz (1974) and Nigel Cole's popular Calendar Girls (2003), John Alderton has become famous thanks to British television. Appearing in...

26. Nick Ullett

Actor | Hook

Nick Ullett was born on March 5, 1941 in London, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Hook (1991), Days of Our Lives (1965) and Music Scene (1969). He has been married to Jenny O'Hara since July 20, 1986. They have two children. He was previously married to Marcia Green, Catherine Ann ...

27. Tom Conti

Actor | Oppenheimer

Preferring contemporary over classical theatre (with nary a Shakespeare stage credit in sight), one of West End theatre's most enduring and popular faces of the past four decades has been that of Tom Conti.

He was born Thomas Antonio Conti on November 22, 1941, in Paisley, Scotland, to a pair of ...

28. John Shrapnel

Actor | Notting Hill

John Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, the son of Norman and Myfanwy Shrapnel. He was brought up in Stockport and south London, attending City of London School and Cambridge University. He was an original member of the National Youth Theatre and had worked extensively in theatre, particularly the ...

29. Ian McShane

Actor | Deadwood

A natural at portraying complex villains, anti-heroes, and charming heavies, Ian McShane is the classically trained, award-winning actor who has grabbed attention and acclaim from audiences and critics around the world with his unforgettable gallery of scoundrels, kings, mobsters and thugs.

And, now...

30. Howard Brenton

Writer | Spooks

Howard Brenton was born on December 13, 1942 in Portsmouth, England, UK. He is a writer, known for MI-5 (2002), Dead Head (1986) and Plays for Britain (1976). He has been married to Jane Margaret Fry since January 31, 1970. They have two children.

31. Eric Idle

Actor | Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, playwright, director, and songwriter. co-creator of Monty Python on TV, stage, and five films, including The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail, which he later adapted for the stage with John Du Prez as Monty Python's Spamalot, winning the Tony...

32. Vangelis

Composer | Blade Runner

Vangelis was a composer and performer who worked almost exclusively with electronic instruments. With Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield in the 1970s, Vangelis was a pioneer in the instrumental music and a main influence in the creation of the musical genre "new age," a style related to spiritual,...

33. Michael Pennington

Actor | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Michael Pennington was born on June 7, 1943 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), The Iron Lady (2011) and Hamlet (1969). He was previously married to Katharine Barker.

34. Robert East

Actor | Jojo Rabbit

Robert East was born on July 7, 1943 in Porthcawl, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Jojo Rabbit (2019), MI-5 (2002) and Emma (1972).

35. Roger Waters

Soundtrack | Pink Floyd: The Wall

Roger Waters was born on September 6, 1943 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He is a music artist and composer, known for Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), The Squid and the Whale (2005) and The Big Boss (1971). He was previously married to Laurie Durning, Pricilla Phillips, Carolyn Christie ...

36. Jimmy Page

Soundtrack | The Song Remains the Same

Jimmy Page was born on January 9, 1944 in Heston, Middlesex, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for The Song Remains the Same (1976), Godzilla (1998) and The Adam Project (2022). He was previously married to Jimena Gomez-Paratcha, Patricia Ecker and Charlotte Martin.

37. Brian Protheroe

Actor | Superman

Brian Protheroe was born on June 16, 1944 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Superman (1978), North & South (2004) and MI-5 (2002). He is married to Gilly Nash.

38. Nick Brimble

Actor | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Nick (for Nicholas) Brimble is one of three brothers, all actors. The other two, twins, are Ian Brimble and Vincent Brimble. Their father, Roy Brimble, was a school teacher, which freed him in summers to travel around with and sometimes manage groups of performers. He acted with WEA and Bristol ...

39. Kenneth Cranham

Actor | Layer Cake

Kenneth Cranham was born on December 12, 1944 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Layer Cake (2004), Valkyrie (2008) and Oliver! (1968).

40. Tony Haygarth

Actor | Chicken Run

Instantly recognisable, often bearded Liverpudlian character actor who regularly featured on stage and screen in period productions, police dramas, sitcoms and soaps during a career that spanned five decades. Extremely prolific and versatile, he took on just about any type of role, merrily ...

41. Pete Townshend

Music_department | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Born in Chiswick, London just ten days after the German surrender in 1945, Townshend grows up in a typical middle-class home. His parents, Cliff and Betty Townshend, are both musicians, and as a child he accompanies them on dance band tours. Townshend starts playing guitar at 12. He goes to art ...

42. David Horovitch

Actor | The Young Victoria

David Horovitch was born on August 11, 1945 in London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Young Victoria (2009), Mr. Turner (2014) and 102 Dalmatians (2000). He was previously married to Jane Elizabeth Gwynn Roberts.

43. John Paul Jones

Soundtrack | The Song Remains the Same

John Paul Jones was born on January 3, 1946 in Sidcup, Kent, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for The Song Remains the Same (1976), The Adam Project (2022) and Small Soldiers (1998). He has been married to Maureen Jones since 1967. They have three children.

44. Tom Chadbon

Actor | Casino Royale

Tom Chadbon was born on February 27, 1946 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Casino Royale (2006), Rebecca (1997) and Tess (1979). He has been married to Jane Hennessy since July 20, 1977. They have one child. He was previously married to Deborah Leathers.

45. Timothy Dalton

Actor | The Living Daylights

At a consistently lean 6' 2", green-eyed Timothy Dalton may very well be one of the last of the dying breed of swashbuckling, classically trained Shakespearean actors who have forged simultaneous successful careers in theater, television and film. He has been comparison-shopped roundly for stepping...

46. Tim Curry

Actor | Congo

Timothy James Curry was born on April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England. His mother, Maura Patricia (Langmead), was a school secretary, and his father, James Curry, was a Methodist Royal Navy chaplain. Curry studied Drama and English at Birmingham University, from which he graduated with ...

47. David Yelland

Actor | Chariots of Fire

David Yelland was born in 1947 in the UK. He is an actor, known for Chariots of Fire (1981), Coriolanus (2011) and Hunter Killer (2018).

48. Ronnie Wood

Soundtrack | Almost Famous

Ronald David Wood is an English rock musician, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, artist, author, and radio personality best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, when he joined the Birds on guitar.He...

49. Mick Fleetwood

Actor | The Running Man

Mick Fleetwood was born on June 24, 1947 in Redruth, Cornwall, England, UK. He is a music artist and actor, known for The Running Man (1987), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Triple Frontier (2019). He was previously married to Lynn Frankel, Sara Recor and Jenny Boyd.

50. Willy Russell

Writer | Shirley Valentine

Willy Russell was born on August 23, 1947 in Whiston, Lancashire, England, UK. He is a writer, known for Shirley Valentine (1989), Educating Rita (1983) and A Time to Die (1982).

51. Robert Plant

Soundtrack | The Song Remains the Same

Prior to Hobbstweedle (a pickup blues band formed to honour a gig at West Midlands College Of Education) Robert was the frontman for The Band of Joy - featuring Percy, John Bonham, Paul Lockey (bass), Chris Brown (keyboards) and Kevyn Gammond (guitar). The BOJ were on verge of making a record deal ...

52. Jeremy Irons

Actor | Dead Ringers

British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...

53. John Caird

Music_department | Les Misérables

John Caird was born on September 22, 1948 in Canada. He is a director and writer, known for Les Misérables (2012), A Midsummer Night's Dream and Spirited Away: Live on Stage (2022). He was previously married to Frances Ruffelle.

54. Ozzy Osbourne

Soundtrack | Little Nicky

One of the pioneers of heavy metal and one of its most commercially successful and iconic artists, Ozzy Osbourne was born in Birmingham, England, as John Michael Osbourne. After leaving school and having many odd jobs, he ended up in a band with Geezer Butler. This group then split, leading Ozzy ...

55. Ken Follett

Writer | Eye of the Needle

Follett's parents belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, a Protestant sect similar to the Baptists. He was forbidden to watch television, radio or cinema. He showed a strong penchant for literature in his early youth, when he read the works of H.G. at the age of seven. Wells and Ian Flamming discovered...

56. Nigel Bennett

Actor | Forever Knight

An accomplished theatre actor, Mr. Bennett appeared on the British stage for fifteen years before moving to Canada in 1986. During this time, he starred in "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" at the Wyndhams Theatre in London's West End. He also performed in "Ghosts", "Private Lives" and "Rookery ...

57. Robert Lindsay

Actor | Fierce Creatures

Robert Lindsay was born on December 13, 1949 in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Fierce Creatures (1997), My Family (2000) and G.B.H. (1991). He has been married to Rosemarie Ford since December 31, 2006. They have two children. He was previously married to Cheryl Hall.

58. Peter Gabriel

Soundtrack | WALL·E

Peter Gabriel was educated at Charterhouse School, Surrey, England. He was the lead singer of leading progressive rock band Genesis from its inception until he left in 1975 for a successful solo career as a singer-songwriter, soundtrack composer and innovator in visual presentation of music, music ...

59. David Troughton

Actor | Crime and Punishment

David Troughton was born in London on 9 June 1950, the son of noted Shakespearean actor Patrick Troughton, who is now best remembered as the Second Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). He started his own acting career at the Unicorn Theatre for Children. His stage career has included repertory at Leeds, ...

60. Adrian Noble

Director | Mrs Lowry & Son

Adrian Noble was born on July 19, 1950. He is a director, known for Mrs Lowry & Son (2019), The Importance of Being Earnest on Stage (2015) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1996). He has been married to Joanne Pearce since June 1991. They have two children.

61. Mike Rutherford

Soundtrack | Spencer

If drummer and singer Phil Collins became the superstar of Genesis, it could be said that Mike Rutherford was the secret weapon on their way to fame, fortune and selling out the world's biggest venues. He wrote the lyrics for their first major international single, Follow You Follow Me, which ...

62. Ian Redford

Actor | The Remains of the Day

Ian Redford was born in 1951 in Carshalton, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Remains of the Day (1993), Batman: Arkham VR (2016) and Three Men and a Little Lady (1990).

63. Phil Collins

Soundtrack | Tarzan

Phil Collins was born in Chiswick, London, England, to Winifred (Strange), a theatrical agent, Greville Philip Austin Collins, an insurance agent. He spent most of his early entertainment life as a young actor and model. He played the "Artful Dodger" in the West End production of "Oliver!" ...

Singer, musician, songwriter.

64. Peter Davison

Actor | Doctor Who

Peter Davison was born as Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett on 13 April 1951 in Streatham, London. A decade later, he and his family - his parents, Sheila and Claude (an electrical engineer who hailed from British Guiana), and his sisters, Barbara, Pamela and Shirley, moved to Knaphill, Woking, Surrey, ...

65. Alfred Molina

Actor | Spider-Man 2

Alfred Molina was born in 1953 in London, England. His mother, Giovanna (Bonelli), was an Italian-born cook and cleaner, and his father, Esteban Molina, was a Spanish-born waiter and chauffeur. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. His stage work includes two major Royal ...

66. Greg Hicks

Actor | Snow White and the Huntsman

Greg Hicks was born on May 27, 1953 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Son of God (2014) and The Knock (1994).

67. Roger Allam

Actor | V for Vendetta

Born October 26, 1953 in Bow, London, England as Roger William Allam, he is a British stage, television, film, and radio actor, best known for originating the role of Javert in the musical "Les Misérables", for playing Douglas Richardson in the radio series "Cabin Pressure" and for his roles as ...

68. Joe Jackson

Soundtrack | The Big Hit

Joe Jackson was born on August 11, 1954 in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for The Big Hit (1998), There's Something About Mary (1998) and This Means War (2012).

69. Elvis Costello

Soundtrack | Cold Mountain

Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus in London, England and raised in Liverpool. The son of British band leader Ross McManus, Costello took his pseudonym from Elvis Presley and his father's stage name (Day Costello). He began performing professionally in 1969 and was a musician and/or ...

OBE recipient

70. Ken Stott

Actor | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Ken Stott was born on October 19, 1954 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

71. Charles Shaughnessy

Actor | The Magicians

Charles was born into a show business family. His father, Alfred Shaughnessy, was the principal writer for the popular London Weekend Television/ITV series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971) and his mother, Jean Lodge, was an actress. He started appearing in plays during school. He attended Eton College ...

72. Howard Jones

Soundtrack | Better Off Dead...

Howard Jones was born on February 23, 1955 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Better Off Dead (1985), Bumblebee (2018) and Waitress (2007).

73. Billy Idol

Soundtrack | The Wedding Singer

Born William Michael Albert Broad in Middlesex, England, in 1955, the first child of Bill and Joan Broad. When he was 2, his father moved the family to Long Island, New York, in pursuit of the American dream. They returned 4 years later (now with a baby sister, Jane) to Dorking. America made a big ...

74. Paul Young

Soundtrack | Sixteen Candles

Paul Young was born on January 17, 1956 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Sixteen Candles (1984), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Ruthless People (1986). He was previously married to Stacey Young.

75. Warren Cuccurullo

Soundtrack | The Saint

Born in Brooklyn, NY (December 8, 1956), this versatile and talented guitarist has had an eclectic career in the music industry. Joining Frank Zappa's band in 1978, he quickly became immortalized on the "Joe's Garage" album. In 1980 he founded the 80's new wave band Missing Persons with Dale and ...

76. Ray Winstone

Actor | The Departed

Ray Winstone was born on February 19, 1957, in Hackney Hospital in London, England, to Margaret (Richardson) and Raymond J. Winstone. He moved to Enfield, at age seven, where his parents had a fruit and vegetable business. He started boxing at the age of twelve at the famous Repton Amateur Boxing ...

77. Alex Jennings

Actor | The Lady in the Van

Alex Jennings was born on May 10, 1957 in Essex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Lady in the Van (2015), The Queen (2006) and The Wings of the Dove (1997). He has been married to Lesley Moors since 2012. They have two children.

78. Ian Buchanan

Actor | The Bold and the Beautiful

Buchanan was born June 16, 1957 in Hamilton, Scotland. He worked at a local hotel as a bellhop while still a teenager. By the time he turned 14 his parents, both of whom fought alcoholism, died suddenly. He and his five siblings were left alone and his dreams of moving to the U.S. were put on hold....

79. Stephen Fry

Actor | Gosford Park

Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not traveling. Famous for his public declaration of celibacy in the "Tatler" back in the 1980s, Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as "90 ...

80. Phil Collen

Soundtrack | Last Action Hero

Phil Collen was born on December 8, 1957 in London, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Last Action Hero (1993), Encino Man (1992) and Rock of Ages (2012). He has been married to Helen L. Collen since July 16, 2010. He was previously married to Anita Thomas and Jacqueline Collen.

81. Gary Oldman

Actor | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Gary Oldman is a talented English movie star and character actor, renowned for his expressive acting style. One of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film and television, he is known for his roles as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), ...

82. Simon Le Bon

Soundtrack | The Saint

Simon Le Bon was born on October 27, 1958 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for The Saint (1997), Donnie Darko (2001) and Layer Cake (2004). He has been married to Yasmin Le Bon since December 27, 1985. They have three children.

Lead singer for Duran Duran.

83. Rupert Everett

Actor | My Best Friend's Wedding

Stylish Rupert James Hector Everett was born on May 29, 1959, in Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk, to Sara (Maclean) and Anthony Michael Everett, a Major in the British Army, who later worked in business. Of royal stock, he is of primarily English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry with a dash of German and ...

84. Joe Elliott

Soundtrack | Last Action Hero

Joe Elliott was born on August 1, 1959 in Sheffield, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Last Action Hero (1993), Encino Man (1992) and Rock of Ages (2012). He has been married to Kristine E. Wunschel since September 1, 2004. They have two children. He was previously married to ...

the lead singer for Def Leppard.

85. Simon Cowell

Actor | Scary Movie 3

Simon Cowell was born in Lambeth, London and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire. He is the son of Julie Cowell (née Josie Dalglish), a ballet dancer, and Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, a music industry executive. Simon started his career in the music industry working in the mailroom at EMI Music ...

86. Hugh Grant

Actor | Love Actually

Hugh Grant, one of Britain's best known faces, has been equally entertaining on-screen as well as in real life, and has had enough sense of humor to survive a media frenzy. He is known for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), with Andie MacDowell, Notting Hill (1999), opposite Julia ...

87. Rick Savage

Soundtrack | Last Action Hero

Rick was born on December 2, 1960. Rick was with his high school girlfriend Joy Major until the Hysteria tour. He had a brief relationship with stylist Julianna Roberts during that tour. He started seeing Dara Corcoran in 1990 and married her on November 25, 1993. They separated in 1995. He filed ...

88. John Taylor

Soundtrack | Nine 1/2 Weeks

Nigel John Taylor is most well-known for his bass work in the popular band, Duran Duran, which he also co-founded. As schoolboys, he and Nick would sit around and daydream about the band they would one day front. It was then that they finalized a timeline for the band: they were to play Hammersmith...

89. Roger Taylor

Soundtrack | Bumblebee

Drummer for British group Duran Duran from 1980 - 1984. Drummer for Arcadia 1985 which released one album. 1985 saw Duran Duran's last on'stage performance as the Fab 5 for quite some time for the Live Aid charity event. In 1986 Duran Duran reformed without Roger or guitarist Andy Taylor. Roger ...

90. Andy Taylor

Soundtrack | Commando

Encouraged by his father, Andy Taylor took lessons in playing the guitar from a jazz guitarist who lived across the road from him and started to play the instrument seriously from the age of 11. He left school in 1976 and joined a punk band called The Gigolos. They became Motorway and released a ...

91. Ricky Gervais

Writer | The Office

Ricky Dene Gervais was born in a suburb of Reading, Berkshire, to Eva Sophia (House) and Lawrence Raymond Gervais, who was a hod carrier and labourer. His father was born in Ontario, Canada, of French-Canadian descent, and his mother was English. He was educated at Ashmead Comprehensive School and ...

92. Eddie Izzard

Actor | Ocean's Thirteen

Best-known for her surreal and digressive stand-up, British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was born on February 7, 1962, in Aden, Yemen, where her English parents -- Dorothy Ella, a nurse and midwife, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant -- worked for British Petroleum.

Izzard worked as a street ...

93. Craig Ferguson

Writer | I'll Be There

By August of 1994, Craig Ferguson was established as one of Great Britain's leading comedians - he had just had huge success at the Edinburgh Festival. In January 1995 he moved to Los Angeles where he now works as an actor-writer-director-producer-creator.

94. Vivian Campbell

Soundtrack | Highlander II: The Quickening

Has been with the band since 1992 when the original guitarist, Steve Clark, died in early 1991. Has two daughters, Lily Rose and Una Marigold, with wife Jewels Has played guitar for the Rock 'n' Roll band 'White Snake' and other Rock 'n' Roll groups.

95. Nick Rhodes

Actor | South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Nick Rhodes was born in Mosley, a suburb of Birmingham, England, son of Sylvia and Roger Bates. Rhodes began playing guitar while still in school, sharing the aspiration of becoming a lead guitarist with neighbourhood friend, John Taylor. Soon after, Rhodes also began teaching himself to play ...

96. Ralph Fiennes

Actor | The Constant Gardener

Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus ...

97. Rick Allen

Soundtrack | Rock of Ages

Rick Allen was born on November 1, 1963 in Sheffield, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Rock of Ages (2012), Balls of Fury (2007) and That's My Boy (2012). He has been married to Lauren Monroe since October 10, 2003. They have one child. He was previously married to Stacy Gilbert.

98. Hugh Bonneville

Actor | Downton Abbey

Hugh Bonneville is a British actor, known for his stage work at the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company as well as the West End. His extensive film and television work includes Twenty Twelve, W1A, Downton Abbey, Paddington, The Gold and I Came By. See his website hughbonneville.uk for ...

99. Steve Coogan

Actor | Philomena

Steve Coogan was born on October 14, 1965 in Middleton, Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Philomena (2013), Alan Partridge (2013) and 24 Hour Party People (2002). He was previously married to Caroline Hickman.

100. Col Needham

Self | Movies That Changed My Life

Col Needham was born on January 26, 1967 in Manchester, England, UK. He is an executive and actor. He has been married to Karen Needham since July 22, 1989. They have two children.