Famous People Born In Leicester

Gary Lineker is a British former football player who currently works as a sports broadcaster. Considered one of the greatest British strikers of all time, Gary Lineker is the third-highest goal-scorer for England. During his 16-year playing career, Lineker never received a red or yellow card, due to which he was honored with the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990.

Graham Chapman was an English comedian, author, actor, and writer. An important member of the popular comedy group Monty Python, Chapman was also a patron of the Dangerous Sports Club. An openly gay comedian, Chapman supported gay rights throughout his life. In September 2012, a blue plaque was unveiled at The Angel pub in North London to commemorate Graham Chapman.

A popular English conspiracy theorist, David Icke has written books and delivered lectures on various theories, such as infinite dimensions, reptoid humanoids, and the Illuminati. While he has faced criticisms and accusations, he also has a large following and has influenced people who support counter-cultural movement and ancient astronaut theories.

British actress Parminder Nagra is best known for playing Jess Bhamra in the film Bend It Like Beckham. She started appearing in theatre productions while she was in college, and decided to become a professional actress. Beginning her career with Theatre Royal Stratford East productions, she soon started taking up roles in films and TV shows as well.

English composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player Jon Lord is remembered for his fiery performances as the keyboardist of the rock band Deep Purple. Trained in classical piano, he also received a drama school scholarship, which he ditched to focus on music. He was posthumously named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Though the daughter of a tennis coach mother, Katie Boulter had initially focused on playing the piano before she deviated to tennis as a career. She first gained attention after winning the Lemon Bowl at 11 and now has five singles and four doubles titles in her kitty.

Best known for creating the protagonist Adrian Mole, Sue Townsend was a legendary comic writer from Britain. Apart from the Adrian Mole series, she had also penned other novels and plays. A chain-smoker as a teenager, she had her first marriage at 18 and was a mother of three by 22.

Best known for The Irish Times column An Irishman's Diary, journalist Kevin Myers was accused of misogyny after his controversial comment that stated equal pay was to be “earned.” He has reported from places such as Africa, Central America, and India, and penned books such as Watching the Door.

English novelist, playwright, and journalist, Simon Arthur Noël Raven, began his career as a book reviewer before joining the British Army, from where he was discharged for “unbecoming conduct”. Thereafter, at the age of thirty, he took up journalism and started writing, eventually becoming known especially for his depiction of the hedonisms of the upper class society in mid 1900s.

Gregory Winter is a British molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner. He is best known for his work concerning the therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies. Gregory Winter is credited with pioneering a technique to humanize mouse monoclonal antibodies, which enabled the usage of antibodies for therapeutic uses.

Nicknamed Jabba, Jamie Caven is a former English darts player with 7 PDC Pro Tour event wins. Though he lost his sight in his right eye in infancy, that didn’t stop him from winning the World Youth Masters champion at 17. He has been part of the PDPA Board of Directors.

Born to a grocer, Alan Walters had worked at a shoe factory after quitting school. Later, he studied at Oxford and began his teaching career at Birmingham University. The noted economist also worked at the World Bank. He is best remembered as the chief economic advisor to British PM Margaret Thatcher.