Famous People Born In Cambridge

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 1 
Olivia Newton-John
(One of the Best-selling Artists, Who Starred in the Musical 'Grease')
Olivia Newton-John
137
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: September 26, 1948
Sun Sign: Libra
Died: August 8, 2022

Olivia Newton-John's breathy voice and stunning beauty made her one of the biggest pop stars of the 1970s. She charmed generations of movie viewers in the blockbuster film Grease. Following a string of country and soft-rock hits, Newton-John starred opposite John Travolta in the 1978  blockbuster Grease, considered as one the most popular movie musicals of all time.

 2 
Richard Attenborough
(English Actor & Filmmaker)
Richard Attenborough
32
Birthdate: August 29, 1923
Sun Sign: Virgo
Died: August 24, 2014

Richard Attenborough is credited with making one of the greatest films of all time - Gandhi. Also an actor, Richard served as the president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Apart from being honored by the British royalty, he was also honored with India's third-highest civilian award, The Padma Bhushan.

 3 
David Gilmour
(Guitarist, Singer-songwriter, Songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist, Record producer)
David Gilmour
14
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: March 6, 1946
Sun Sign: Pisces

Pink Floyd guitarist/singer David Gilmour helped the band become one of the best-selling acts ever. One of Rolling Stone magazine’s greatest guitarists of all time, he has also been an advocate of animal rights and other causes. He once auctioned off 120 guitars, including his iconic Black Strat, for charity.

 4 
John Maynard Keynes
(One of the Most Influential Economists of the 20th Century Whose Ideas Greatly Influenced Economic Policies of Governments)
John Maynard Keynes
16
Birthdate: June 5, 1883
Sun Sign: Gemini
Died: April 21, 1946

John Maynard Keynes was an English economist. His ideas are credited with changing the theory and practice of the economic policies and macroeconomics of governments at a fundamental level. Counted among the 20th century's most influential economists, Keynes' ideas are the basis for Keynesian economics. In 1999, he was named in Time magazine's Most Important People of the Century list.

 5 
Douglas Adams
(Author of the BBC Radio Comedy Series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy")
Douglas Adams
16
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 11, 1952
Sun Sign: Pisces
Died: May 11, 2001

English author, screenwriter, and essayist, Douglas Adams, is most remembered for his comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As a screenwriter, he wrote two stories for the TV series Doctor Who. He advocated for environmentalism and spoke about environmental issues in his non-fiction radio series Last Chance to See.

 6 
Syd Barrett
(Singer-songwriter)
Syd Barrett
22
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: January 6, 1946
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Died: July 7, 2006
Pink Floyd co-founder and frontman Syd Barrett was known for his contribution to psychedelic rock and experiments with studio effects such as echo and distortion. He was removed from the band due to his drug addiction, following which he began a solo career. His final years were spent in privacy.
 7 
Charli XCX
(Singer and Songwriter Known for Her Hit Singles ‘I Love It’ and ‘Boom Clap’)
Charli XCX
48
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: August 2, 1992
Sun Sign: Leo
Charli XCX began her career by posting songs on Myspace. She then began performing at parties, eventually gaining fame with collaborations such as I Love It, with Icona Pop, and Fancy, with Iggy Azalea. She released Billboard charters such as Boom Clap and co-wrote the Shawn Mendes-Camila Cabello hit Señorita.
 8 
Matthew Bellamy
(Musician)
Matthew Bellamy
8
Listed In: Singers
Birthdate: June 9, 1978
Sun Sign: Gemini
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
 9 
Jeremy Northam
(Actor and Singer Known for His Role as ‘Mr. Knightley’ in the Film ‘Emma’)
Jeremy Northam
3
Birthdate: December 1, 1961
Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Jeremy Northam is an English actor whose early career is defined by his performance at the Royal National Theatre; he won the Olivier Award for his work in The Voysey Inheritance in 1990. He then went on to establish himself in the film and TV industry before working on several audiobooks for Harper Audio, Macmillan, Naxos Audiobooks, and CSA Word.

 10 
Steven Mackintosh
0
Birthdate: April 30, 1967
Sun Sign: Taurus
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
 11 
Andrew Wiles
(English Mathematician)
Andrew Wiles
6
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: April 11, 1953
Sun Sign: Aries

English mathematician Sir Andrew John Wiles, a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, is best known for proving the modularity theorem for semistable elliptic curves, thereby proving Fermat's Last Theorem for which he was awarded the Abel Prize and the Copley Medal by the Royal Society. He also proved the main conjecture of Iwasawa theory.

 12 
Rebecca Mader
(Actress)
Rebecca Mader
3
Birthdate: April 24, 1977
Sun Sign: Taurus
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
 13 
Simon McBurney
(Actor)
Simon McBurney
0
Birthdate: August 25, 1957
Sun Sign: Virgo
Height: 5'6" (168 cm)
 14 
Martin Kenzie
(British Cinematographer and Second Unit Director)
Martin Kenzie
5
Birthdate: April 29, 1956
Sun Sign: Taurus
Died: July 16, 2012

Martin Kenzie was a British cinematographer and second unit director. One of the most important members of the British Society of Cinematographers, Kenzie worked in popular and critically acclaimed films like The Shining, Aliens, Return of the Jedi, and The King's Speech. Martin Kenzie died at the age of 56 due to cancer.

 15 
Jack Hobbs
(English Professional Cricketer and One of the Greatest Batsmen in the History of Cricket)
Jack Hobbs
3
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: December 16, 1882
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Died: December 21, 1963
 16 
George Paget Thomson
(British Physicist Who Won the Nobel Prize in Physics for Discovering the Wave Properties of the Electron)
George Paget Thomson
2
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: May 3, 1892
Sun Sign: Taurus
Died: September 10, 1975

George Paget Thomson was a British physicist best remembered for his discovery of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction. The son of physicist and Nobel laureate J. J. Thomson, he himself went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937. He spent several years of his career at Imperial College London. 

 17 
Gregory Bateson
(Anthropologist, Philosopher, Sociologist, Psychologist)
Gregory Bateson
0
Birthdate: May 9, 1904
Sun Sign: Taurus
Died: June 11, 1980

Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, and visual anthropologist. Along with his colleagues, he developed the double-bind theory of schizophrenia. Also a cyberneticist, he was part of the core group of the Macy Conferences in Cybernetics. He was a member of philosopher William Irwin Thompson's esoteric nonprofit foundation Lindisfarne Association.  

 18 
Amy Williams
(British Former Skeleton Racer and Olympic Gold Medallist)
Amy Williams
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: September 29, 1982
Sun Sign: Libra

Amy Williams is a British former skeleton racer who won a silver medal at the 2009 World Championships. In 2010, Amy Williams became the first British person in 30 years to win an individual gold medal at Winter Olympics when she won the medal in the skeleton.

 19 
Ralph Brown
(Football player)
Ralph Brown
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: September 16, 1978
Sun Sign: Virgo
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
 20 
Bob Klose
(photographer, guitarist)
Bob Klose
0
Listed In: Musicians
Birthdate: 1945 AD

Bob Klose is an English photographer, musician, and printmaker. From 1964 to 1965, Klose served as the lead guitarist of a rock band that came to be known as Pink Floyd. Before starting his musical career, Klose worked as a photographer.

 21 
John Sulston
(Biologist)
John Sulston
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: March 27, 1942
Sun Sign: Aries
Died: March 6, 2018
 22 
Iain Dale
(British Broadcaster, Author and Political Commentator)
Iain Dale
0
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: July 15, 1962
Sun Sign: Cancer
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 23 
Frank P. Ramsey
(Mathematician, Philosopher, Economist)
Frank P. Ramsey
3
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: February 22, 1903
Sun Sign: Pisces
Died: January 19, 1930

British philosopher and mathematician Frank P. Ramsey was the son of a famed mathematician and later laid down the Ramsey theory of mathematical logic. The Cambridge alumnus also translated Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus but died at age 26, probably due to a liver infection he contracted while swimming.

 24 
Jenny Saville
(painter)
Jenny Saville
1
Birthdate: May 7, 1970
Sun Sign: Taurus
 25 
Ralph Brown
(Actor)
Ralph Brown
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: June 18, 1957
Sun Sign: Gemini
 26 
Daniel Goodfellow
(British Diver and Olympic Medalist)
Daniel Goodfellow
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: October 19, 1996
Sun Sign: Libra
Height: 5'6" (168 cm)
 27 
F.R. Leavis
(Literature Critic)
F.R. Leavis
0
Birthdate: July 14, 1895
Sun Sign: Cancer
Died: April 14, 1978
 28 
Simon Donaldson
(Mathematician)
Simon Donaldson
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: August 20, 1957
Sun Sign: Leo
 29 
Shitty Watercolour
(British Painter and Cartoonist)
Shitty Watercolour
0
Birthdate: 1993 AD
 30 
Mark Roberson
(Retired English Javelin Thrower)
Mark Roberson
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: March 13, 1967
Sun Sign: Pisces
 31 
Charles Galton Darwin
(English Physicist)
Charles Galton Darwin
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: December 18, 1887
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Died: December 31, 1962

Charles Galton Darwin was an English physicist. Born into a prominent family of intellectuals, he was the son of mathematician George Howard Darwin and a grandson of biologist Charles Darwin. He studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, and began an academic career. He, later on, served as the director of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). He loved to travel. 

 32 
Jeremy Taylor
(Author)
Jeremy Taylor
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: August 15, 1613
Sun Sign: Leo
Died: August 13, 1667
 33 
Michael Ramsey
(British Anglican Bishop and Life Peer)
Michael Ramsey
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: November 14, 1904
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Died: April 23, 1988

Michael Ramsey was an English Anglican bishop, educator, theologian, and supporter of Christian unity. He is best remembered for serving as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. Also a life peer, Ramsey received several honors during his lifetime. He also held honorary degrees from several prestigious universities, including Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, Durham, Manchester, and Kent.

 34 
Caroline Pearce
(British Athlete)
Caroline Pearce
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: September 1, 1981
Sun Sign: Virgo
 35 
Ronald Searle
(Caricaturist, Illustrator, Screenwriter)
Ronald Searle
1
Birthdate: March 3, 1920
Sun Sign: Pisces
Died: December 30, 2011
 36 
Judith Weir
(Composer, Musicologist)
Judith Weir
0
Birthdate: May 11, 1954
Sun Sign: Taurus
 37 
Roger Tomlinson
(Father of GIS)
Roger Tomlinson
2
Birthdate: November 17, 1933
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Died: February 9, 2014

Roger Tomlinson was an English geographer best remembered as the primary originator of geographic information systems (GIS). He also coined the phrase geographic information system and is widely regarded as the father of GIS. Throughout his illustrious career, Roger Tomlinson was honored with several prestigious awards, such as the Robert T. Aangeenbrug Distinguished Career Award.

 38 
J. J. C. Smart
(Philosopher, University teacher)
J. J. C. Smart
0
Birthdate: September 16, 1920
Sun Sign: Virgo
Died: October 6, 2012

Known as a pioneer of physicalism, British-Australian philosopher J. J. C. Smart laid the foundation of the Type Identity theory. A professor of philosophy, who spent most of life teaching at prestigious universities such as the Australian National University, Smart was also a skilled player of both cricket and hockey.

 39 
R. Palme Dutt
(Journalist, Politician)
R. Palme Dutt
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: June 19, 1896
Sun Sign: Gemini
Died: December 20, 1974
 40 
Douglas Hartree
(Mathematician)
Douglas Hartree
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: March 27, 1897
Sun Sign: Aries
Died: February 12, 1958
 41 
Walter William Skeat
(Anthropologist)
Walter William Skeat
0
Birthdate: November 21, 1835
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Died: October 7, 1912
British philologist, Walter William Skeat, was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in the UK. His research led to the publication of two major works: Malay Magic and Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula. Born in London, Skeat was the founder and only president of the English Dialect Society from 1873 to 1896.
 42 
Frances Cornford
(Poet)
Frances Cornford
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 30, 1886
Sun Sign: Aries
Died: August 19, 1960
 43 
G. Evelyn Hutchinson
(British Ecologist Who is Referred to as the Father of Modern Ecology)
G. Evelyn Hutchinson
1
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: January 30, 1903
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Died: May 17, 1991

G. Evelyn Hutchinson was a British ecologist best remembered for his contributions to the fields of systems ecology, limnology, entomology, radiation ecology, biogeochemistry, genetics, art history, philosophy, anthropology, religion, and a mathematical theory of population growth. G. Evelyn Hutchinson is sometimes referred to as the father of modern ecology.

 44 
Edward Henry Palmer
(Explorer)
Edward Henry Palmer
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: August 7, 1840
Sun Sign: Leo
Died: August 10, 1882
Ronald George Wreyford Norrish
1
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: November 9, 1897
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Died: June 7, 1978
 46 
John Cheke
(Statesman)
John Cheke
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: June 16, 1514
Sun Sign: Gemini
Died: September 13, 1557
 47 
Nellie Sengupta
(Englishwoman who fought for Indian Independence)
Nellie Sengupta
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: January 12, 1884
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Died: October 23, 1973
 48 
Brian G. Marsden
(Astronomer)
Brian G. Marsden
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: August 5, 1937
Sun Sign: Leo
Died: November 18, 2010
 49 
James Thomason
(Government officer)
James Thomason
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: May 3, 1804
Sun Sign: Taurus
Died: September 27, 1853
 50 
William Whitehead
(Poet)
William Whitehead
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: February 12, 1715
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Died: April 14, 1785