This is a list of notable people born in
Leicester, England, or in the county of
Leicestershire, educated there, or otherwise associated with the city or county.
Academia (except scientists)
*
Graham Barnfield (sociologist)
*
Caroline Ashurst Biggs
Caroline Ashurst Biggs (23 August 1840–4 September 1889) was an advocate for women’s rights and a third generation member of the Ashurst family of radical activists. Born in Leicester on 23 August 1840, she was the second child of Matilda As ...
(suffragette & academic)
*
Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsm ...
(21st century cultural theorist and philosopher)
*
W. G. Hoskins (landscape historian)
*
Jack Simmons (historian esp. of British railways)
Architecture
*
John Breedon Everard
John Breedon Everard (22 September 1844 – 12 September 1923) was an English civil engineer and architect strongly associated with works in Leicestershire, and co-founder of the firm Pick Everard.
Career
Everard was born in Groby, Leicestersh ...
(architect and civil engineer)
*
William Flint (architect)
*
Ernest Gimson
Ernest William Gimson (; 21 December 1864 – 12 August 1919) was an English furniture designer and architect. Gimson was described by the art critic Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest of the English architect-designers". Today his reputati ...
(architect,
craftsman)
*
Henry Goddard (architect)
*
Stockdale Harrison
Stockdale Harrison (1846-10 November 1914) FRIBA was an architect based in Leicester best known for Usher Hall, Edinburgh.
History
Stockdale Harrison was born in November 1846, the son of William Harrison (1813-1873) timber merchant, and Mar ...
(architect)
*
George Hodson
George S. Hodson (June 1868 – January 9, 1924) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Beaneaters in 1894 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1895. (Loughborough architect and civil engineer)
*
John Johnson (architect)
*
William Keay William Keay (1869-1952) was an English civil engineer and architect particularly associated with works in Leicestershire.
Career
Born in Leicester, Keay began his career as a civil engineer working with Everard, Son and Pick from 1911, while also ...
(architect and civil engineer)
*
Samuel Perkins Pick Samuel Perkins Pick (1858Samuel Perkins Pick FRIBA', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011. Accessed 11 April 2016. – 23 May 1919) wa ...
(architect)
*
Arthur Wakerley
Arthur Wakerley (May 15, 1862 – 4 April 1931) was a British architect, businessman and politician. Life
Born in Melton Mowbray, he was articled to James Bird. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and sometime President of ...
(architect)
Arts and entertainment
Acting, film, and comedy
*
Richard Armitage (actor, ''
North and South North and South may refer to:
Literature
* ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
* ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987)
** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...
'', ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
'', ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'')
*
Richard Attenborough (actor, ''
Jurassic Park''; director, ''
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
'')
*
Patrick Barlow (actor, comedian and playwright)
*
Lydia Rose Bewley (stage and movie actor, ''
The Inbetweeners Movie
''The Inbetweeners Movie'', known simply as ''The Inbetweeners'' in North America, is a 2011 British coming-of-age teen adventure comedy film based on the E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners'', written by series creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris ...
'')
*
Norman Bird
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor.
Early life
Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of ''The Wi ...
(actor, ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'', ''
Cash on Demand'')
*
Jeremy Bulloch
Jeremy Andrew Bulloch (16 February 1945 – 17 December 2020) was an English actor. In a career that spanned six decades, he gained recognition for originating the physical portrayal of Boba Fett in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, appearing as th ...
(actor, ''
Star Wars'')
*
Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...
(comedian,
Monty Python)
*
Selina Chilton
Selina Chilton (born 1981) is an English actress. After making appearances in various stage productions including ''The Taming of the Shrew'', '' Can-Can'' and '' Marianne Dreams'', she was cast in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''. She appeared ...
(actress, ''
Doctors)
*
Amanda Drew
Amanda Drew (born 12 December 1969) is an English actress with extensive credits in theatre, television and film.
Biography
One of four children, Drew was born in Boston, Lincolnshire. Drew's mother was a nurse and her father was a vicar. When ...
(actress, ''
EastEnders'')
*
Betty Driver
Elizabeth Mary Driver, (20 May 1920 – 15 October 2011) was a British actress and singer, best known for her role as Betty Williams in the long-running ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', a role she played for 42 years from 1969 to 2011, a ...
(singer and actress, ''
Coronation Street'')
*
Terri Dwyer
Teresa "Terri" Dwyer (born 31 July 1973) is a British television presenter and actress, best known for her role as Ruth Osborne in the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. She has also presented the ITV home makeover show 60 Minute Makeover.
Care ...
(actress, ''
Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...
'')
*
Sheila Fearn (actor, ''
The Likely Lads
''The Likely Lads'' is a British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966. However, only te ...
'', ''
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit '' The Likely Lads''. It was created and written, as was its prede ...
'', ''
George and Mildred
''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from '' Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple ...
'')
*
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...
(film director, ''
Dangerous Liaisons
''Dangerous Liaisons'' is a 1988 American period romantic drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his 1985 play '' Les liaisons dangereuses'', itself adapted from the 1782 French novel of the s ...
'')
*
Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Ann Harris (born 19 September 1927) is an English actress. She is the recipient of such accolades as a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. In ...
(actress, "
Spider-Man film trilogy")
*
Tom Hopper
Thomas Edward Hopper (born 28 January 1985) is a British actor. He has appeared as Percival in ''Merlin'', Billy Bones in '' Black Sails'', Dickon Tarly in ''Game of Thrones'', and Luther Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy''.
Early life
T ...
(actor, ''
Merlin'', ''
Doctor Who'')
*
Colin Hurley (Shakespearean actor)
*
Dominic Keating
Dominic Keating ('' né'' Power; born 1 July 1961) is a British television, film and theatre actor known for his portrayals of Tony in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Desmond's'' and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed on ''Star Trek: Enterprise''.
Early life an ...
(actor, ''
Star Trek: Enterprise
''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...
'')
*
Alison King
Alison Rosamund King (born 3 March 1973) is an English actress and model. She is known for her roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One drama series ''Dream Team'' (1998–2003, 2005–2007), and Carla Connor in the long-running ITV soap opera ''C ...
(actress, ''
Coronation Street'')
*
Michael Kitchen (actor, ''
Foyle's War
''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...
'')
*
John Leeson
John Francis Christopher Ducker (born 16 March 1943), known professionally as John Leeson, is an English actor, voice artist and freelance wine educator. He is known for portraying Bungle in ''Rainbow'' and voicing K9 in ''Doctor Who'' and s ...
(actor, voice of
K-9 in ''
Doctor Who'' and
Bungle in''
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
'' and narrator for the children's hospital radio series,
The Space Gypsy Adventures
The Space Gypsy Adventures is a children's sci-fi comedy radio and internet series created by Cumbrian broadcaster and cartoonist Terry Askew. It was first broadcast on British Hospital Radio in 1986 under the title of 'The Adventures of Leah, D ...
)
*
Barry Letts
Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of ''Doctor Who'' from 1969 to 1974.
Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre, ...
(actor, television director, writer and producer)
*
Bill Maynard
Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...
(actor, ''
Coronation Street'', ''
Heartbeat'')
*
Parminder Nagra (actor, ''
Bend It Like Beckham
''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knight ...
'', ''
ER'')
*
David Neilson
David Neilson (born 13 March 1949) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as cafe owner Roy Cropper in the long running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', which he has played since 1995.
Early life
Neilson was born in Loughbo ...
(actor, ''
Coronation Street'')
*
Andy Nyman
Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer and magician.
Early life and career
Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire. His first noteworthy performance was in 2000 as Keith Whitehead in '' Dead ...
(actor)
*
Vincenzo Nicoli
Vincenzo Nicoli (born 27 July 1958) is a British actor who appears in film, television and theatre. He is best known for roles in blockbuster films, such as Alan Jude in the 1992 science fiction film '' Alien³'' (1992), Enrico Biscaglia in the ...
(actor)
*
Kate O'Mara
Kate O'Mara (born Francesca Meredith Carroll;Michael CoveneObituary: Kate O'Mara ''The Guardian'', 30 March 2014 10 August 1939 – 30 March 2014) was an English film, stage and television actress, and writer. O'Mara made her stage debut in a ...
(actress, ''
Howards' Way
''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business comm ...
'')
*
Steve Oram (actor, ''
Sightseers
''Sightseers'' is a 2012 British black comedy film directed by Ben Wheatley and written by and starring Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, with additional material written by co-editor Amy Jump.
It is produced by Edgar Wright and Nira Park, among other ...
'', ''
A Dark Song'')
*
Rachel Parris
Rachel Sarah Parris (born 27 May 1984) is an English comedian, musician, actress and presenter. She hosts the satirical news show '' Late Night Mash'' (formerly ''The Mash Report'').
Early life
Parris attended Loughborough High School. She hold ...
(actor, comedian, and television presenter)
*
John Payne (
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
voice actor who was born in town and raised in
Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...
,
Leicestershire but moved to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
)
*
Helen Pearson
Helen Pearson (born 16 November 1959) is a British actress who has been in three major soap operas, '' EastEnders'' (during 1990 as April McIntosh), ''Emmerdale'' (from 2000 to 2001 as Carol Wareing), and as Frankie Osborne in ''Hollyoaks'' fr ...
(actress, ''
Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...
'')
*
Adrian Scarborough (actor, ''
The Madness of King George
''The Madness of King George'' is a 1994 British biographical historical comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own 1991 play '' The Madness of George III''. It tells the true story of George III of G ...
'', ''
Gosford Park
''Gosford Park'' is a 2001 satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. It was influenced by Jean Renoir's French classic ''La Règle du jeu'' ('' The Rules of the Game'').
The film stars ...
'')
*
Josette Simon
Josette Patricia Simon is a British actress. She trained for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and played the part of Dayna Mellanby in the third and fourth series of the television sci-fi series ''Blake's 7'' fro ...
(actress, ''
Blakes 7'')
*
Una Stubbs
Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was an English actress, television personality and dancer who appeared on British television and in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday ...
(actress, ''
Till Death Us Do Part
''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a ''Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom ...
'', ''
Sherlock'')
*
Rakhee Thakrar
Rakhee Thakrar (born 29 February 1984) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Shabnam Masood in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2014–2016) and Emily Sands in the Netflix comedy-drama ''Sex Education'' (2019–2021). She als ...
(actress, ''
EastEnders'')
*
Kraig Thornber (actor, ''
The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...
'', etc.)
*
Mark Wingett
Mark Christopher Wingett (born 1 January 1961) is an English actor.
He is best known for his roles as PC/DC Jim Carver in ''The Bill'' and '' EastEnders'' as Mike Swann, '' Hollyoaks'' as Frank Symons and '' Heartbeat'' as Terry Molloy. His fi ...
(actor, ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused o ...
'')
Broadcasting and journalism
*
David Attenborough (
broadcaster and
naturalist)
*
Karl Beattie (
Living
Living or The Living may refer to:
Common meanings
*Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms
** Living species, one that is not extinct
*Personal life, the course of an individual human's life
* ...
TV presenter, ''
Most Haunted
''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. Following complaints, the broadcast regulator, Ofcom, ruled that it was an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and "should not be taken ser ...
'' and ''
Most Haunted Live
''Most Haunted Live'' is a spin-off of the paranormal reality television series ''Most Haunted'' and was also produced by Antix Productions. The show consists of paranormal investigations broadcast live over a period of one or more nights, us ...
'')
*
Biddy Baxter (editor, ''
Blue Peter'')
*
Manish Bhasin
Manish Dev Bhasin (born 21 May 1976 in Leicester, England) is a sports journalist and presenter broadcasting for Premier League Productions as the face of the Premier League's global coverage to over 700 million viewers as well as the BBC in ...
(
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(singer, the "godfather of ska"; born in Cuba, lived on the St. Mark's Estate 1971–2005)
*