List of people from Newcastle upon Tyne

This is a list of notable people born in, or associated with, Newcastle upon Tyne in England.

Born in Newcastle

• Alfie Williams – child actor
• Rudolf Abel – Soviet spy
• David Martin Abrahams – entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Thomas Addison – physician and scientist who first diagnosed Addison's disease
• Mark Akenside – poet and physician
• Ant & Dec – light entertainers (Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly)
• Lord Armstrong – engineer and industrialist
• Ove Arup – architect and civil engineer
• Mary Astell – writer ("the first English feminist")
• Robert Barker – painter and inventor of the panorama
• Phyllida Barlow – artist
• Michelle Bass – model and television pornography presenter
• Joey Batey – actor and singer
• Anna Fisher Beiler – missionary and newspaper editor
• Isaac Lowthian Bell – ironmaster and politician
• Mary Bell – murderer
• Thomas Binney, "Archbishop of Nonconformity"
• David Bradley – science journalist and author
• Israel Brodie – Chief Rabbi of Great Britain
• Basil Bunting – English modernist poet
• Eric Burdon – singer (The Animals)
• Gordon Burn – writer
• John Hodgson Campbell – portrait artist
• Horatio Caro – chess player
• Peter Cadogan – social activist
• Chas Chandler – bass guitarist with The Animals, manager of Jimi Hendrix and Slade
• Cheryl – singer (Girls Aloud)
• Edward Clark – conductor and BBC music producer
• Freddie Clayton – cricketer
• William Clayton – cricketer
• Lord Collingwood – Nelson's second-in-command at Trafalgar
• Jack Common – writer and friend of George Orwell
• David Scott Cowper – yachtsman and multiple circumnavigator by sailing boat and powerboat
• Andrew Cushin – singer and songwriter
• Leif Davis – professional footballer
• Raffaello de Banfield – composer
• John Dewhirst – only Briton to die in the Killing Fields of Cambodia
• Chris Donald – founder of Viz
• Jack Douglas – actor in the Carry On film series
• Lesley Douglas – former controller of BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music
• Jeffrey Dunn – better known as Mantas, musician and former guitarist for the metal band Venom
• Lord Eldon – Lord Chancellor of England
• Anne Elliot – novelist
• Elizabeth Elstob – Anglo-Saxon scholar
• Sarah Lindsay Evans – temperance movement
• Harry Falconer – former professional footballer
• Mary J. Farnham – missionary and temperance advocate
• John Forster – friend and biographer of Charles Dickens
• Huck Gee – contemporary artist
• John and Benjamin Green – father and son architects
• Colin Gregson – keen footballer, 1976 FA Youth Cup winning team
• Julia Griffiths – abolitionist who edited and published the works of Frederick Douglass
• William Hails – writer
• Lee Hall – playwright and screenwriter ( Billy Elliot )
• William Hardcastle – first presenter of The World at One
• John Harle – saxophonist and composer
• Tim Healy – actor
• Peter Higgs – theoretical physicist (Higgs' boson)
• Ian Hogg, Actor
• Alan Hull – musician (Lindisfarne)
• Basil Hume – cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church
• Charlie Hunnam – actor ( Sons of Anarchy , Queer as Folk , Byker Grove )
• Charles Hutton – mathematician
• John Irvin – film director
• Wilfred Josephs – composer
• Martin Kenneavy – piper
• Paul Kennedy – historian, author and professor of history at Yale
• Lionel Kopelowitz – Jewish community leader ^[1]
• Iain Laidlaw – former professional footballer ^[2]
• Graham Laidler – cartoonist ( Punch ), also known under the pseudonym Pont
• Lady Lucinda Lambton – writer, photographer, television presenter and producer
• Herbert Laming, Baron Laming – life peer
• Stephanie Lawrence – actress and singer
• Charles Henry Laws – Methodist minister and administrator
• Carla Lynch – comedian and TV presenter
• Carole Malone – columnist and TV presenter
• Neil Marshall – director
• Hank Marvin – guitarist, singer, and songwriter
• Esther McCracken – playwright
• John Anthony McGuckin – theologian, Orthodox arch-priest, Professor of History at Columbia University, NY
• Janet McTeer – Oscar nominated actress
• Jacob Meltzer – New Zealand lawyer, unionist, coroner and community leader
• Charles Merz – electrical engineer noted for creating the electrical grid
• Marion Mingins – Anglican priest
• Jimmy Mullen – England football international
• Matthew Murray – machine-tool manufacturer who designed and built first commercially viable steam locomotive
• Jimmy Nail – actor, singer and writer
• Lesslie Newbigin – bishop and theologian, one of the first bishops of the Church of South India
• Ross Noble – stand-up comic
• Daniel Oliver – botanist and keeper at Kew Gardens
• Fred Olsen – inventor of the ball propellant manufacturing process ^[3]
• Pac – professional wrestler
• Brian Redhead – author, journalist and broadcaster
• Thomas Wemyss Reid – journalist and biographer
• Lewis Fry Richardson – meteorologist
• Matt Ridley – science writer
• Alan Robson – radio DJ and broadcaster
• George Robson – racing driver, winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1946
• Sue Rolph – swimmer
• LJ Ross – author writing locally-set crime thrillers
• Ralph Rumney – artist and co-founder with Guy Debord of the Situationist International
• Sakima – singer
• Hugh Stowell Scott – novelist writing as Henry Seton Merriman
• James Scott – actor
• Lord Stowell – legal authority
• Anna Howard Shaw – leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States
• Alan Shearer – international footballer, England captain
• Tod Slaughter – actor and film star
• Nancy Spain – author, journalist and TV personality
• Thomas Spence – Utopian writer
• Sting – musician
• Miriam Stoppard – doctor and agony aunt ( Daily Mirror )
• Peter Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth – Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
• George Temperley – landowner and founder of the Argentine city Temperley
• Peter Terson – playwright
• Dave Thomas – golfer, twice runner-up in The Open Championship
• Samuel Tolansky – scientist
• Abigail Thorn – actress and creator of the Philosophy Tube YouTube channel
• Elsie Tu – social activist
• Colin Veitch – Newcastle League and Cup winner, England international footballer, union negotiator, and playwright
• Abhisit Vejjajiva – Thailand's prime minister from 2008 ^[4]
• Bill Ward – actor
• Greg Wise – actor, married to Emma Thompson since 2003
• Emily Woof - actor and writer ^[5]
• Lord Woolf – Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
• Adam Wakenshaw – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Baz Warne - Singer and guitarist for The Stranglers
• William G. Whittaker – composer, conductor and teacher ^[6]
• Daniel Young – cricketer

Residents (past and present)

• Laurence Acton, died 1386/87 – bailiff and MP
• Laurence Acton, died 1410 – bailiff, mayor, and MP; son of the previous Laurence Acton
• William Acton – 14th-century bailiff and MP
• William Acton – 14th-century bailiff and mayor; son of the previous William Acton
• David Almond, born 1951 – prize-winning author ( Skellig )
• Gem Archer, born 1966 – guitarist, member of Oasis
• Charles Avison, 1709–1770 – composer and impresario
• William Beilby, 1840–1919 – glass enameller
• Nick Bell, born 1983 – entrepreneur
• Thomas Bewick, 1753–1828 – engraver and ornithologist
• Chaz Brenchley, born 1959 – writer
• Constance Briscoe, born 1957 – judge and bestselling author
• Flavio de Carvalho, 1899–1973 – Brazilian artist and architect
• Sid Chaplin, 1916–1986 – writer
• Charles I, 1600–1649 – prisoner in Newcastle 1646–47
• Catherine Cookson, 1906–1998 – bestselling author
• Joseph Conrad, 1857–1924 – writer, served on Tyne colliers in 1878 ^[7]
• Lucio Costa, 1902–1998 – Brazilian architect, designed masterplan of Brasília, grew up in Newcastle
• Joseph Cowen, 1829–1900 – radical MP and newspaper owner
• John Cunningham, 1729–1773 – pastoral poet, dramatist and stage actor
• Richard Dawes, 1708–1776 – classical scholar
• Robert Burns Dick, 1858–1954 – architect
• John Dobson, 1787–1865 – architect
• Jonathan Edwards, born 1966 – Olympic champion
• J. Meade Falkner, 1858–1932 – head of Armstrongs and novelist ( Moonfleet )
• Terry Farrell, born 1938 – modern architect
• Bryan Ferry, born 1945 – lead singer of Roxy Music, attended Newcastle University.
• João Cândido, 1880–1969 – Brazilian sailor, leader of the 1910 Revolt of the Lash
• Mike Figgis, born 1948 – film-maker, in Newcastle from the age of eight
• Beryl Fowler, 1881–1963 – English painter ^[8]
• James Louis Garvin, 1868–1947 – newspaper editor
• Paul Gascoigne, born 1967 – footballer
• Mrs Gaskell, 1810–1865 – novelist
• Tina Gharavi, living – film-maker
• Roger de Grey, 1918–1995 – artist
• Spencer de Grey, born 1944 – architect, head of design at Foster & Partners
• Ingeborg Refling Hagen, 1895–1989 – Norwegian writer
• Tony Harrison, born 1937 – poet
• Oliver Heaviside, 1850–1925 – engineer, mathematician and physicist
• Ralph Hedley, 1848–1913 – Realist painter
• Arthur Henderson, 1863–1935 – politician, founder of modern Labour Party
• Beda Higgins, living – poet and writer
• Rob Hubbard, born 1955 – video game musician
• Alan Hull, 1945–1995 – Lindisfarne lead singer
• Eva Ibbotson, 1925–2010 – children's writer (Which Witch?)
• Harold Jeffreys, 1891–1989 – geologist, mathematician and astronomer
• W. E. Johns, 1893–1968 – adventure story writer ( Biggles )
• Brian Johnson, born 1947 – third lead singer of AC/DC
• David Knopfler, born 1952 – Dire Straits rhythm guitarist
• Mark Knopfler, born 1949 – Dire Straits lead guitarist and singer
• John Knox, c. 1514–1572 – Scottish religious reformer
• Gibson Kyle, 1820–1903 – architect resident in Gateshead, but his practice was in Newcastle
• Conrad Lant, born 1963 – better known by stage name Cronos, musician with metal band Venom
• John Lilburne, 1614–1667 – radical, born in County Durham, grew up in Newcastle
• Ken Major, 1928–2009 – architect, author and molinologist, attended King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Jean-Paul Marat, 1843–1893 – French revolutionary
• Arthur Hardwick Marsh, 1842–1909 – painter
• John Martin, 1789–1854 – painter
• Harriet Martineau, 1802–1876 – writer and journalist
• Mary Midgley, 1919–2018 – philosopher
• Charles Mitchell, 1820–1895 – shipbuilder
• Elizabeth Montagu, 1718–1800 – coal owner and bluestocking
• Alexei Mordashov, born 1965 – Russian billionaire
• Robert Morrison, 1882–1934 – Protestant missionary in China
• Mo Mowlam, 1949–2005 – Labour politician
• Sir Andrew Noble, 1831–1915 – arms manufacturer and scientist
• Paul Noble, born 1963 – artist
• Keith O'Brien, 1938–2018 – cardinal accused of predatory sexual activity ^[9]
• Sean O'Brien, born 1952 – poet and critic
• Nikolay Ogarev, 1813–1877 – Russian poet and political activist
• Chi Onwurah, born 1965 – Labour politician
• Lembit Öpik, born 1965 – Liberal Democratic MP and local councillor
• Charles Parsons, 1854–1931 – engineer and inventor
• José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, 1845–1900 – diplomat and novelist ("the Portuguese Dickens")
• Michael Roberts, 1902–1948 – poet and critic
• Diana Ross, 1910–2000 – children's author (The Little Red Engine)
• Erik Routley, 1917–1982 – hymn writer
• William Bell Scott, 1811–1890 – poet and Pre-Raphaelite painter
• Freddy Shepherd, 1941–2017 – businessman and football club chairman
• Varada Sethu, born 1992 – actor
• Jon Silkin, 1930–1997 – poet
• Peter Smithson, 1928–1993 – Stockton-born Modernist architect
• John Snow, 1813–1858 – anaesthetist and founder of epidemiology
• James Calvert Spence, 1892–1954 – paediatrician
• W. T. Stead, 1849–1912 – journalist
• Algernon Charles Swinburne, 1837–1909 – poet
• Cecil Philip Taylor, 1929–1981 – playwright
• Gerald Vann, 1906–1963 – Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher
• Don Warrington, born 1951 – actor
• Bruce Welch, born 1941 – guitarist and singer
• Denise Welch, born 1958 – actress
• John Wesley, 1703–1791 – founder of Methodism
• Kevin Whately, born 1951 – actor
• Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889–1951 – philosopher
• Yevgeny Zamyatin, 1884–1937 – Russian novelist, ( We )

References

1. "Sadness over death of communal father-figure Lionel Kopelowitz". The JC. 28 July 2019.
2. Rollin, Jack (1997). Playfair football who's who 1998. London: Headline. ISBN   0-7472-5810-4.
3. Saxon, Wolfgang (10 November 1986). "Dr. Fred Olsen, Industrial Chemist, Art Collector and Scholar, is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
4. Powell, Sian (15 December 2008). "British-born Abhisit Vejjajiva is Thailand's new Prime Minister". Times Online.^{[ dead link ]}
5. Rustin, Susanna. "Emily Woof: 'I had to allow the romance to have its place'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
6. "Whittaker, W. G.". The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford University Press. 21 May 2013. ISBN   978-0-19-957810-8.
7. "Joseph Conrad Biography".
8. "FOWLER Beryl 1880-1963". Artist Biographies UK. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
9. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, disgraced Catholic church leader, dies The Guardian