Stephen Hawking
While he sadly passed away in March last year, he was an incredible person from our local area. In fact, it wouldn’t be possible to talk about famous residents of Cambridge without mentioning him. Stephen Hawking is a world-renowned theoretical physicist. He is widely recognised for his book A Brief History of Time and became even more well known after the release of a film about his life; The Theory Of Everything.
Hugh Laurie
Hugh has graced our screens for many years in numerous award winning shows, including most recently The Night Manager series. Hugh Laurie took pride in calling Cambridge his home while studying at Selwyn College. Hugh even competed in the iconic Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. He is an incredibly talented actor, musician, comedian and author.
Emma Thompson
Arguably one of the most acclaimed actresses and screenwriters, Emma Thompson was also a resident of Cambridge when at Newnham College and University of Cambridge. She was an active and talented member of the theatrical group Footlights and well-deserving of a spot on our list of famous residents in the local area. She has played a leading role in many main part of many modern and cult classics including Love Actually, Saving Mr Banks and The Children Act. All of which were incredible films when you felt the heartache and emotion with Emma.
Stephen Fry
How could you complete a list like this and not include the national treasure that is Stephen Fry? He’s a wonderful comedian, actor, writer, presenter and activist. Stephen secured a scholarship at Queen’s College in Cambridge and was a resident of Cambridge during this time. He and Hugh Laurie met at Footlights, the drama group in Cambridge. Stephen is well known for his role in the intelligent celebrity quiz show QI and never fails to amaze us with the facts and tit-bits he shares on the show.
Charles Darwin
English naturalist, geologist and biologist Charles Darwin is another famous name from Cambridge. He is well known for his contributions to the science of evolution and it was at Cambridge where he was encouraged to pursue his passion for natural science. Such is the pride of the people in Cambridge in this incredible scientist from our area, a statue of him can be found in the grounds of Christ’s College.
Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough, also known as Baron Attenborough is best known for his role in the film Jurassic Park. Richard was born in Cambridge in 1923 and is a well-known actor, filmmaker and entrepreneur. Richard was also the former president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. While Richard is better recognised for his work on screen, his talents also lie behind the camera.
Ian McKellen
Another renowned actor to hail from Cambridge is Ian Mckellan. During his time as an actor Ian has won six Laurence Olivier awards, a Tony award, a Golden Globe award, a Screen Actors Goild award, one BIF award, two Saturn awards, four Dara Desk awards and two Critic’s Choice awards. Under his belt Ian has also managed to gain two Oscar nominations, four BAFTA nominations and five Emmy award nominations. Ian is perhaps best known for his roles in the Lord of the Rings franchise.
Alan Turing
Alan studied at Cambridge to become a computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. Knowledge and public awareness of this incredible scientist went through the roof after the film The Imitation Game in which the main character, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, was based on him. Once again, such is the pride of those living in Cambridge; you can find a plaque to commemorate Alan’s amazing work at King’s College in Cambridge.
Olivia Newton John
Very few people know that Olivia was actually born in Cambridge; a place where she claims to have spent some of her favourite years, before emigrating to Australia with her family. Olivia is best known for her role as Sandy in the iconic film Grease, a film loved by many generations over the decades. Olivia is a singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and activist. She is also a four-time Grammy award winner!
These are just some of the many famous people from Cambridge, we know there are many more, and we are sure there will be many more famous names in the future too, all from our local area!