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Famous People Connected to Sussex
Image right - John Logie Baird
Image By Unknown - Public Domain, Wiki Commons
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The following people of renown were either born or lived in Sussex or are strongly associated with Sussex.
A
- Eliza Acton (1799-1859) Battle Poet
- Richard Alston - born 1948 in Stoughton - choreographer
- Peter Andre (27 Feb 1973 ) lived in Dormans Park and owns a coffee shop in East Grinstead
- Dame Margery Corbett Ashby DBE (19 April 1882 – 15 May 1981) British Liberal politician, feminist and internationalist. - born 19 April 1882 in Danehill. Died 15 May 1981. Feminist
B
- John Logie Baird FRSE - born Scotland 13 August 1888. Died 14 June 1946 in Bexhill-on-Sea - Scottish engineer and inventor
- Zoe Ball - born 23 Nov 1970 Television and radio presenter, daughter of television presenter Johnny Ball and married to DJ Norman Cook lives in Hove.
- Alexandra Bastedo 1946 Hove. British actress, best known for her role as secret agent Sharron Macready in the 1968 British espionage/science fiction adventure series The Champions.
- George Baxter 1804-67 Lewes - Engraver and artist [Private Profile]
- Aubrey Vincent Beardsley - born 21 Aug 1872 Brighton. Died 16 Mar 1898 - illustrator
- Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) - English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury group, and the sister of Virginia Woolf. She and Duncan Grant (see below) moved to Sussex with their unconventional household
- Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) spent most of his life in Sussex, growing up in Slindon and returning to the county to live at Shipley.
- Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer, known professionally as E.F. Benson. His friends called him Fred. Lived in Rye and was buried there.
- Clementina Black - born 1853 in Brighton. Died 1922. English suffragist, trade unionist and novelist.
- Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 1821 – 31 May 1910) was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, as well as the first woman on the UK Medical Register. She was the first openly identified woman to graduate from medical school, a pioneer in promoting the education of women in medicine in the United States, and a social and moral reformer in both the United States and in England.
- William Blake (1757-1827) moved to Felpham in 1800
- Wilfrid Scawen Blunt - born 17 Aug 1840 in Petworth. Died 10 Sep 1922. Poet and Traveller
- Thomas Bradwardine 1290-1349 Chichester - Theologian
- Jo Brand - born 3 May 1957 in Hastings. Comedienne
- Thomas Brassey 1st Earl Brassey
- Frank Bridge (1879-1941) Brighton - Conductor
- Ray Brooks - 1939 Brighton - Actor
- Sir Anthony Browne (1500-1568)
- Emma Bunton - born 21 Jan 1976 in Hastings. Pop singer and songwriter
- Clara Butt, DBE - born 1 feb 1872 in Southwick. Died 23 Jan 1936. English concert and operatic contralto.
C
- Angela Carter - born 7 May 1940 in Eastbourne - Died 16 Feb 1992 - novelist and short story writer
- Nick Cave - born 22 Sept 1957 Australian musician / author who lives in Brighton
- Richard Challoner - born 29 Sep 1691 in Lewes. Died 12 Jan 1781; prelate and writer.
- Chico - born Yousseph Slimani grew up in Crawley
- Sir Thomas Chitty - author (2 March 1926 – 7 March 2014) who wrote under the name Thomas Hinde, most famous in the 1950s, who lived in the village of West Hoathly.
- Richard Cobden - born 3 Jun 1804 in Heyshott. Died 2 Apr 1865 - economist and politician.
- Charles B Cochran - born 31 Jan 1872 in Lindfield.Died 31 Jan 1951. English theatrical producer and manager.
- Alma Cogan 1932-1966 Worthing - Singer
- William Collins - born 25 Dec 1721 in Chichester. Died 12 Jun 1759. Poet
- Kristina Cook - born 31 Aug 1970 in Rustington. British three-day eventing rider who silver in the team eventing at the 2012 London Olympics along with William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Zara Phillips and Nicola Wilson.
- Myles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter (1488-1568) is buried at Saint Bartholomew's Church, Brighton. One of the earliest supporters of the English Reformation. He assisted Tyndale in the complete version of the Bible
- Tony Crosland - born 29 Aug 1918 in Bexhill-on-Sea. Died 19 Feb 1977 - labour Politician
- Tom Cruise has a home at Dormans Park for easy access to the European Scientologist HQ at East Grinstead
- Norman Cook - also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, famous Brighton resident with his wife Zoë Ball
- Simon Cowell - born 7 Oct 1959 in Brighton. Music executive and television celebrity.
- Aleister Crowley (1875 – 1947 Hastings) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion and philosophy of Thelema, in which role he identified himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century.
D
- David van Day - born Paul van Day in Brighton - English singer and media personality
- Jack Dee both lives in Chichester - English stand-up comedian, actor and writer known for his sarcastic, witty, and deadpan humour.
- Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) spent the last thirty years of his life in Crowborough.
- Maureen Duffy (1933- ) comes from Worthing. Maureen Patricia Duffy (born 21 Oct 1933 in Worthing, Sussex) is a contemporary British poet, playwright and novelist.
E
- Nick van Eede - was born in Cuckfield Hospital and went to Imberhorne School in East Grinstead - English musician, producer, and songwriter.
- Michael Elphick - born in Chichester - English actor, known in the UK for his trademark croaky voice and his work on British television, in particular his roles as private investigator in the ITV series Boon and later Harry Slater in BBC's EastEnders.
- Ben Elton - Lived in Coleman's Hatch near Forest Row, East Sussex. born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, author, playwright, actor and director.
- Bella Emberg - Actress born Sybil Dyke 1937 in Hove.
- Harry Enfield - born 30 May 1961 in Horsham. - BAFTA award-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.
- Chris Eubank - born 8 Aug 1966, former WBO boxing champion who lives in Brighton
F
- The band The Feeling went to St.Wilfred's school in Crawley. BRIT award-nominated English pop rock band from West Sussex and London. The band categorize their music as "pop"
- Michael Fish - born 27 April 1944 in Eastbourne. English weather forecaster.
- Alison Fisher - born 24 feb 1968 - Snooker Player
- William Fiske (1911 - 1940) buried at St Mary and St Blaise Churchyard, Boxgrove, West Sussex.
Pilot Officer Fiske was an American pilot who joined the Royal Air Force. He became the first U.S. citizen to be killed in World War II. The son of William and Beulah Fiske, he was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a wealthy banking family whose ancestors had come from Suffolk, England in the seventeenth century. He attended school in Chicago, went to France with his family in 1924, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1928 where he studied Economics and History.
- Tara Fitzgerald - Born 18 Sep 1967 in Cuckfield, Actress
- John Fletcher (1579-1625), born in Rye. Playwright
- Charles Fry Cricketer, Footballer, Athlete, Writer & Journalist
- John "Mad Jack" Fuller (20 February 1757 – 11 April 1834), better known as "Mad Jack" Fuller (although he himself preferred to be called "Honest John" Fuller), was Squire of the hamlet of Brightling, in Sussex (now East Sussex), and is well known as a builder of follies, and as a philanthropist, patron of the arts and sciences, and a supporter of slavery.
- John Fuller - born 1 Sep 1878 in Chichester. Died 10 Feb 1966 - Soldier. Served in the second Boer War and WWI. Retired in 1931 and became well known for his writings on the theory of war.
- Simon Fuller - born 17 May 1960 in Hastings. Record and television producer.
G
- General Thomas Gage - born 1719 at Firle Place, Lewes. Died 2 April 1787. Military Governor of Montreal in 1760 and Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in America from 1763-72. Lost Bunker Hill to the Americans in 1775.
- David Garnett - born 9 Mar 1892 in Brighton. Died 17 Feb 1981 - novelist
- Judy Geeson - born 10 Sep 1948 in Arundel. Actress
- David Andrew Gemmell - Born London 1 August 1948. Died in Hastings 28 July 2006) was a bestselling British author of heroic fantasy.
- Eric Gill - born 22 Feb 1882 in Brighton. Died 17 Nov 1940. Sculptor, engraver and writer. Calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental mason.
- MacDonald "Max" Gill (1884-1947) born in Brighton - the well known graphic artist brother of Eric Gill.
- Rumer Godden - born 10 dec 1907 in Eastbourne. Died 8 Nov 1998. Novelist, poet and children's author.
- Jilly Goolden lives in Colemans Hatch - British wine critic, journalist and television personality.
- Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery and theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group.
- Gundred de St. Omer, Countess of Surrey. d. 1085. Buried St. John's Church, Lewes, Sussex. The black marble tomb now inside the church was originally in Lewes Priory.
- Elizabeth David nee Gwynne - born 6 Dec 1913 in Wotton Manor, Polegate. Died 22 May 1992 Chelsea. Cookery writer.
H
- Sir Edward Marshall Hall - born 16 Sep 1858 in Brighton. Died 24 Feb 1927. Lawyer who established his reputation through successfully defending a number of murderers including Robert Wood and Harold Greenwood
- Patrick Hamilton - born 17 Mar 1904 in Hassock. Died 23 Sep 1962. Novelist
- James Hannington - born 3 Sep 1847 in Hurstpierpoint. Died 29 Oct 1885. Ugandan Missionary
- Ed Harcourt - born Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith his family home is the manor house of Wootton, East Sussex
- David Hare - born 5 June 1947 in Bexhill-on-Sea. English playwright, dramatist, director and filmmaker.
- Tony Hawks - born 27 Feb 1960 in Brighton. Comedian and Author.
- William Hayley (1745-1820)
- Baron Denis Healey MP - (1917 - 2015) Former Chancellor of the Exchequer who lived and died in the village of Alfriston.
- Sir John Berry Jack Hobbs Cricketer
- Frederick Hopkins - born 20 June 1861 in Eastbourne. Died 16 May 1947. Biochemist and Nobel Prize winner.
- Richard Hughes (1836-1902) the ‘Grand Old Man’ of British homeopathy - lived in Brighton.
- Cecil Hurst - born 28 Oct 1870 in Horsham. Died 27 March 1963. Lawyer and Judge
I
- Hammond Innes - born 1 July 1913 in Horsham. Died 10 June 1998 - author and traveller
J
- Henry James (1843-1916) leased Lamb House in Rye, and purchasing it two years later, spent most of his last 18 years there, where he wrote several major works.
- Sophia Jex-Blake - born 21 Jan 1840 in Hastings. Died 7 Jan 1912. Physician and pioneer of medical education for women.
K
- Natasha Kaplinsky - born 9 Sep 1972 in Brighton. Journalist and newsreader.
- Emily Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887–1956) was born in St Leonards-on-Sea, near Hastings, and lived most of her life in Sussex.
- Nigel Kennedy - born 28 Dec 1956 in Brighton. Violinist
- Sarah Kennedy 1950 East Grinstead - Broadcaster
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) also spent much of his life in Sussex, living in Rottingdean and later Burwash.
L
- Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP (6 January 1813 – 31 May 1889) was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland. Born in Eastbourne.
- David Leadbetter - born 27th June 1952 in Worthing. Golf instructor
- Jane Leeves - Lived in East Grinstead
- Therese Lessore 1884-1945 Brighton Artist
- Christopher Hamilton Lloyd OBE. (2 March 1921 – 27 January 2006) was a British gardener and author. Great Dixter, Northiam, Sussex
M
- Dr. Gideon Algernon Mantell (1790-1852) English Obstetrician, Geologist, and Paleontologist. He is credited with discovering the first fossils identified as originating from a dinosaur, teeth belonging to an Iguanodon. He was born in Lewes, Sussex, England 3 feb 1790. Died 10 Nov 1852.
- Anna Massey - born 11 Aug 1937 Thakeham - Actress
- Thomas May (1594/5-1650 born in Mayfield
- Max Miller (Thomas Henry Sargent) - born 21 Nov 1894 in Brighton. Died 7 May 1963. English music hall comedian.
- Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan KBE - Born 16 April 1918 India. Died 27 February 2002 in Rye; comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor
- Alan Minter - born 16 Aug 1951 in Crawley - Boxer
- Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012) - English amateur astronomer who attained prominent status in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
- Caitlin Moran - born 5 April 1975 in Brighton - broadcaster, TV critic and columnist
- Piers Morgan - born 30 Mar 1975 in Newick. Tabloid newspaper editor and television personality.
- John Hamilton Mortimer ARA (1740–1779) was a British figure and landscape painter and printmaker
N
- Adrian Noble born 19 July 1950 in Chichester - British Theatre Director
- John Nye - born 1923 in Hove; physicist and glaciologist. Described many properties of mountain glaciers and ice sheets. Awarded Charles Chree Medal in 1989 by Institute of Physics. http://www.phy.bris.ac.uk/people/nye_jf/index.html
O
- Thomas Otway - born 3 Mar 1652 in Trotton nr Midhurst. Died 14 Apr 1685. English Dramatist
- Steve Ovett - born 9 Oct 1955 in Brighton. Stephen Michael James Ovett, OBE. Middle distance Runner
P
- Jimmy Page resides in Turners Hill
- John Pell - born 1 Mar 1611 in Southwick. Died 12 Dec 1685; mathematician and clergyman.
- David Pilbeam - born 1940 in Brighton - anthropologist
- Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) - visited Hastings and used illustrations of the net shops in the picture of Little Pig Robinson making his way to ship at the fictional town of Stymouth!
- John Cowper Powys who is particularly associated with Dorset and Wales, lived in Sussex from the mid-1890s until 1910
- Katie Price/Jordan - born 22 May 1978 in Brighton - Celebrity, model
Q
- Roger Quilter - born 21 Sep 1877 in Brighton. Died 21 Sep 1953. English Composer
R
- Dame Anita Roddick, DBE (1942 – 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism
- Gordon Roddick (born c. 1942), Founder and Chair of the Board - 38 Degrees in memory of his wife Dame Anita. Associated with a number of other causes including the Big Issue.
- Gilbert Ryle - born 19 Aug 1900 in Brighton. Died 6 Oct 1976. Philosopher - Editor of the journal Mind (1947-71)
- "Sam" Roddick (born 1 July 1971) is the founder of Coco de Mer a British 'erotic emporium' dedicated to the celebration of sexual pleasure, empowerment, dignity and discovery.[1] She is the daughter of Body Shop founder and activist Anita Roddick.
- Sir Martin Ryle - born 27 Sep 1918 in Brighton. Died 14 Oct 1984 - English physicist, radio astronomer and Nobel Prize winner.
S
- Sackville
- John Sackville
- Sir Richard Sackville
- Thomas Sackville - born 1536 in Buckhurst. Died 19 Apr 1608. Poet and statesman, 1st Earl of Dorset.
- Leo Sayer - born 21 May 1948 in Shorham - singer
- Tom Sayers - born 25 May 1826 in Brighton. Died 8 Nov 1865 - boxer
- Paul Scofield - born 21 Jan 1922 in Hurstpierpoint. Died 19 Mar 2008. Stage actor.
- John Selden - born 16 Dec 1584 in Worthing. Died 30 Nov 1654; Jurist and historian.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley - born 4 Aug 1792 at Field Place, Broadbridge Heath, near Horsham. Died 8 July 1822. Romantic Poet
- Nicolette Sheridan 1963 Worthing - Actress
- John Maynard Smith F.R.S. - founding member of the University of Sussex and died in Lewes.
- Robert Smith of the band The Cure was raised in Crawley
- Jon Snow - born 28 Sep 1947 in Ardingly. Newsman, journalist
- Frederick Soddy - born 2 Sept 1877 in Eastbourne. Died 22 Sep 1956. English radio chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
- Robert Southwell 1561-1595 Horsham - Poet
- Suggs - born Graham McPherson 13 Jan 1961 in Hastings. Front man of the band Madness
T
- Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) spent his summers, away from the holiday crowds of the Isle of Wight, at Aldworth House, Blackdown
- Jamie Theakston - born 21 Dec 1970 in Ditchling. Television presenter
- Daley Thompson grew up in Crawley
- William Thorpe - born 1 Apr 1902 in Hastings. Died 7 Apr 1986 Zoologist
- Edward Titchener 1867-1927 Chichester - Psychologist
- Issac Todhunter 1820-1884 Rye - Mathematician
U
V
W
- Herbert George "H.G". Wells was brought up at Uppark, South Harting, near Petersfield, where his mother was housekeeper. He also went to school and taught in Midhurst.
- James Whitley Paralympian Alpine Skier
- Henry Willett born Catt (1823-1903) was a founding father of Brighton Museum. Willett also set up the Brighton Emigration Society to assist poor people living in the Brighton area to emigrate to Canada.
- Holly Willoughby - born 10 Feb 1981 in Brighton - television presenter and model
- Angus Wilson - born 11 Aug 1913 Bexhill-on-Sea Died 1991 - English writer
- Samantha Zoe Womack (née Janus; born1972) is an English actress, singer and director, both on television and stage.
- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) and her husband Leonard, had a country retreat in Rodmell near in Lewes from 1919
- Henry Wriothesley - 3rd Earl of Southampton - born 6 Oct 1573 in Cowdray. Died 10 Nov 1624. Soldier
X-Y-Z
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