Regional Guide
Famous People from the North East
For its size, the North East of England has produced a staggering roll call of household names — rock stars and Hollywood directors, World Cup winners and the engineers who built the railways that changed the world. From the shipyards of the Tyne to the pit villages of Northumberland and County Durham, here are some of the region’s most famous sons and daughters, and where they came from.
Music
From the Tyneside shipyards to the top of the charts.
Sting
Wallsend, North Tyneside
The Police frontman & solo artist
Born Gordon Sumner in 1951, Sting grew up in the shadow of the Swan Hunter shipyards in Wallsend before forming The Police and becoming one of Britain's biggest rock and pop stars. His Tyneside roots later inspired his musical The Last Ship.
Bryan Ferry
Washington, County Durham
Roxy Music frontman & solo artist
Born in the mining town of Washington in 1945, Ferry studied fine art at Newcastle University — a grounding that shaped the art-rock style of Roxy Music and one of the most stylish solo careers in British music.
Brian Johnson
Dunston, Gateshead
Lead singer of AC/DC
Born in Dunston in 1947, Johnson fronted the local band Geordie before joining AC/DC in 1980 and recording Back in Black, one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Mark Knopfler
Raised in Newcastle (born Glasgow)
Dire Straits guitarist & songwriter
Born in Glasgow but raised in Newcastle from the age of seven, Knopfler attended Gosforth Grammar School and worked as a local journalist before founding Dire Straits and selling over 100 million albums.
Gosforth's famous faces→Sam Fender
North Shields, North Tyneside
Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter
Born and raised in North Shields, Fender broke through with Hypersonic Missiles and draws directly on his North East upbringing — nowhere more so than the anthem Seventeen Going Under.
Famous faces of the Tynemouth coast→Cheryl
Newcastle upon Tyne
Girls Aloud singer & TV personality
Born Cheryl Tweedy in Newcastle in 1983, she rose to fame with Girls Aloud after Popstars: The Rivals, then a successful solo career and judging seats on The X Factor.
Screen & Comedy
Directors, actors and the nation’s favourite double act.
Ridley Scott
South Shields, Tyne and Wear
Director of Alien, Blade Runner & Gladiator
Born in South Shields in 1937, Scott became one of the most acclaimed film directors of his generation, making Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise and Gladiator.
South Shields' famous faces→Rowan Atkinson
Consett, County Durham
Mr Bean & Blackadder star
Born in Consett in 1955 and raised on a family farm nearby, Atkinson became internationally famous through his comic creations Mr Bean and Blackadder.
Ant & Dec
Newcastle upon Tyne
Britain's best-known presenting duo
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, both born in Newcastle in 1975, met as child actors on Byker Grove and went on to become the most successful presenting partnership on British television, from Saturday Night Takeaway to I'm a Celebrity.
Jimmy Nail
Newcastle upon Tyne
Actor & singer, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Born James Bradford in Newcastle in 1954, Nail became a household name as Oz in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, then created and starred in Spender and Crocodile Shoes.
Tim Healy
Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne
Actor, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet & Benidorm
Born in Benwell in 1952, Healy is best known for playing Dennis in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Lesley in the long-running holiday comedy Benidorm.
Denise Welch
Tynemouth, North Tyneside
Actress & TV presenter
Born in Tynemouth in 1958, Welch is known for roles in Coronation Street and Waterloo Road and as a long-serving panellist on Loose Women.
Famous faces of the Tynemouth coast→Robson Green
Hexham, Northumberland
Actor & presenter, Grantchester
Born near Hexham in 1964 and raised in the pit village of Dudley, Green found fame in Soldier Soldier before starring in Grantchester and a string of affectionate documentaries about his native North East.
Hexham's famous faces→Charlie Hunnam
Newcastle upon Tyne
Actor, Sons of Anarchy & Pacific Rim
Born in Newcastle in 1980, Hunnam rose to prominence as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy and has starred in films including Pacific Rim and The Gentlemen.
Sport
Few places love their football like the North East — and few have given the game more.
Sir Bobby Robson
Sacriston, County Durham
England & Newcastle United manager
Born in the mining village of Sacriston in 1933, Sir Bobby managed England at two World Cups and later took charge of his boyhood club Newcastle United — the region's best-loved football figure.
Alan Shearer
Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle United & England striker
Born in Gosforth in 1970, Shearer is the Premier League's all-time record goalscorer and a legendary captain of his hometown club. A statue of him stands outside St James' Park.
Gosforth's famous faces→Sir Bobby & Jack Charlton
Ashington, Northumberland
1966 World Cup-winning brothers
Football's most famous brothers were both born in the mining town of Ashington — Bobby (1937) a Manchester United and England great, Jack (1935) a Leeds United stalwart who later managed the Republic of Ireland. Both won the World Cup together in 1966.
Paul Gascoigne
Dunston, Gateshead
England & Newcastle United footballer
Born in Dunston in 1967, 'Gazza' emerged at Newcastle United and became one of England's most gifted — and most loved — midfielders, remembered for Italia '90 and Euro '96.
Literature & Arts
Storytellers and artists shaped by the region’s landscape and history.
Catherine Cookson
Tyne Dock, South Shields
Best-selling novelist
Born in Tyne Dock in 1906, Cookson drew on her hard Tyneside childhood to become one of Britain's most-read authors, with more than 100 titles. For years she was the most borrowed writer in Britain's libraries.
South Shields' famous faces→Thomas Bewick
Cherryburn, Ovingham, Northumberland
Wood engraver & naturalist
Born beside the Tyne at Cherryburn in 1753, Bewick revolutionised the art of wood engraving and is celebrated for his beautifully illustrated A History of British Birds. His childhood home is now a museum.
Basil Bunting
Scotswood, Newcastle upon Tyne
Modernist poet, author of Briggflatts
Born in Scotswood-on-Tyne in 1900, Bunting was a major modernist poet whose masterpiece Briggflatts is steeped in the landscape, history and dialect of the North.
Science & History
The engineers, inventors and heroes who made the region world-famous.
George Stephenson
Wylam, Northumberland
'Father of the Railways'
Born in a cottage at Wylam in 1781, Stephenson built the Stockton & Darlington and Liverpool & Manchester railways and set the standard rail gauge still used across much of the world.
Robert Stephenson
Willington Quay, near Newcastle
Railway & civil engineer
George's son, born at Willington Quay in 1803, was a leading engineer of his age — the builder of celebrated structures including Newcastle's High Level Bridge and the Britannia Bridge in Wales.
Sir Joseph Swan
Sunderland
Pioneer of the electric light bulb
Born in Sunderland in 1828, Swan developed a working incandescent lamp and famously lit his Gateshead home by electricity, before merging his company with Edison's to form Ediswan.
Admiral Lord Collingwood
Newcastle upon Tyne
Second-in-command at Trafalgar
Born in Newcastle in 1748, Cuthbert Collingwood was Nelson's close friend and took overall command of the British fleet after Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. His monument overlooks the Tyne at Tynemouth.
Famous faces, town by town
Many of our towns have their own hall of fame. Read who came from Gosforth, South Shields, Tynemouth, Hexham and Morpeth — or explore the region’s museums, castles and the full Visit the North East guide.