Recently we covered 13 celebrities you never knew were from Devon, because Devon is home to so many famous faces here are eight more that we missed…
Muse
The coastal town of Teignmouth was where rock band Muse were born, Matthew Bellamy (guitarist), Chris Wolstenholme (bassist) and Dominic Howard (drummer). The band started in their teens and went through a few name changes from the ‘Gothic Plague’ to ‘Fixed Penalty’ to ‘Rocket Baby Dolls’ before settling on ‘Muse’ in 1997.
Angela Rippon
The first female to anchor on BBC, Angela Rippon was born in the beautiful port city of Plymouth with its historical barbican and maritime heritage. Rippon left school at 17 to work for the Western Morning News then the Sunday Independent and BBC local radio and Westward Television as an editor; she was awarded and OBE in 2004.
Wayne Sleep
Wayne Sleep was born in Plymouth and is best known for his talented dancing skills and his appearance on various TV shows such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Come Dine with Me. At the age of 13 he won a Leverhulme Scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London and in the 80’s he formed his own dance company DASH which ended up touring the world. Sleep was awarded an OBE in 1998.
Sue Barker
The ‘Paignton Peach’ Sue Barker was amongst the top tennis players in the 1970’s and won the French Open in 1976. After her career in tennis she went on to be a sports presenter for the BBC.
Peter Cook
Actor and writer Peter Cook was born in Torquay in 1937; when he finished school he went on to study at Pembrooke College at the University of Cambridge. He appeared in many TV series and films such as the short TV series of ‘A life in Pieces’ where he played Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling in 1990. He even played the Mad Hatter in the 1966 Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately he passed away in 1995 in Hampstead.
Conrad Humphreys
Professional yachtsman Conrad Humphrey has been around the world three times and has been sailing for over two decades. As well as a sailor he’s also a motivational speaker and entrepreneur who is originally from Exmouth.
Pauline Collins
Actress Pauline Collins hails from the port town of Exmouth and was awarded an OBE in 2001. Collins studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and has since played many roles including Sarah Moffat in BBC’s ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ and Lisa’s mother in the Sky 1’s series Mount Pleasant.
Ed Stewart (TV presenter)
Exmouth-born Ed Stewart was mainly known for being a DJ on BBC Radio1 and Radio 2 for Junior Choice as well as a presenter for Top of the Pops and Crackerjack; sadly Ed passed away in 2016.
