25 famous people from Coventry and Warwickshire
Entertainment Pete Doherty Andy Goode Carmen Silvera Clive Owen Gareth Edwards George Eliot Ken Loach Neil Back Pete Waterman Philip Larkin Sir Frank Whittle William Shakespeare Armed Forces BBC ITV Coventry University King Henry VIII School Stoke Park School Doctor Who Rugby World Cup The Enemy The Specials Ricoh Arena Return Bedworth Stratford-on-Avon Nuneaton Earlsdon Hillfields Warwickshire
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We've taken a look at some of the most famous people from Coventry and Warwickshire - how many can you name?
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Coventry Live
We all know that Coventry is home to an impressively wide variety of musicians from Pete Waterman to the Enemy.

And Warwickshire is well-known for its Shakespeare connections.

But there’s bound to be some famous faces and household names you didn’t know hailed from Coventry and Warwickshire – whether it’s the arts, music, literature, sport or politics that’s your passion.

We've taken a look at some of the most famous people from Coventry and Warwickshire.

Are there any other big names you think deserve a place in our list? Let us know in the comments below.

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Clive Owen

The Coventry-born actor first rose to fame playing the lead role in ITV crime series Chancer in the early 90s and has since gone on to star in a number of Hollywood blockbusters, such as Closer, Children of Men and Sin City.

He has most recently played former US President Bill Clinton in the popular anthology series American Crime Story: Impeachment.

Guz Khan

Before he became a comedian and impressionist, Guz was a teacher at Grace Academy in Coventry.

He grew up in Hillfields and attended Stoke Park School and later Coventry University.

He rose to fame in the BBC show Man Like Mobeen, which he starred in and co-created and this year has been a competitor on the Channel 4 smash hit comedy gameshow Taskmaster.

Last month he announced his first ever hometown show, which will be at Rialto Plaza on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Carmen Silvera

Born in Canada, Carmen moved to Coventry at a young age.

She appeared on television regularly in the 1960s, and achieved mainstream fame in the 1980s with her starring role in the British television programme, 'Allo 'Allo! as Edith Artois.

She passed away in 2002, aged 80.

Sir Nigel Hawthorne

The BAFTA, Tony and Olivier Award winning actor was born in Coventry and is best known for his role as Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom Yes Minister and the Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister.

He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying King George III in The Madness of King George.

He spent most of his young life in South Africa, having moved to Cape Town aged three.

The Specials

Arguably Coventry's most famous musical export, the two tone band were formed in Coventry in 1977.

They cemented themselves as one of the biggest British bands of the era, recording seven consecutive UK top 10 singles between 1979 and 1981, including the classic Ghost Town which reached number one.

Main lead vocalists and Terry Hall and Neville Staple and guitarist Lynval Golding left in 1981 to form new wave band Fun Boy Three and The Specials kept performing until 1984 under the name The Special AKA when founding member Jerry Dammers dissolved the band.

The group reformed in 1993 and have recorded and performed with varying line-ups since.

The Enemy

Recently reformed indie rock band The Enemy announced their comeback at lead singer Tom Clarke's solo show at the HMV Empire in October this year.

They will take to the same venue on October 28 2022 for their hometown comeback show following a UK tour starting in September.

The band are best known for their 2007 debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart.

Their second album Music for the People reached number two on the UK Albums Chart.

Jay1

Jay1, born Jason Andrè Juami, was born in Southgate, London but moved to Coventry in 2016.

It was after moving to the city that he started focusing on music seriously.

The rapper has had two top 20 UK singles and released two extended plays.

Pa Salieu

Pa was born in Slough and later moved to his parent's home nation The Gambia before return to the UK and moving to Coventry aged eight.

He started making music in 2017 and released his debut album Send Them To Coventry in November 2020.

In January he was announced as the winner of BBC Sound of 2021 and then followed that up with a performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, his US TV debut.

Pete Waterman

Waterman is a record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ and television presenter born in Coventry

He was a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting team, who wrote and produced many hit singles in the 1980s for artists such as Kyle Minogue, Bananarama and Dead Or Alive.

He's also president of Coventry Bears rugby league club.

Delia Derbyshire

One of the pioneers of electronic music, Derbyshire wrote the iconic theme tune to TV show Dr Who.

She was born in Coventry has been referred to as "the unsung heroine of British electronic music" and has influenced groups such as Aphex Twin and The Chemical Brothers.

She passed away in 2001 aged 64.

Philip Larkin

Even if poetry isn't your thing, you've probably heard his most famous work This Be The Verse - the one about how your mum and dad f*** you up.

Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922 and attended King Henry VIII School before reading English at Oxford

He was offered and declined the position of Poet Laureate in 1984 following the death of Sir John Betjeman.

Frank Whittle

If you've ever been abroad, you can thank this man.

Sir Frank Whittle was born in 1907 in a terraced house in Earlsdon to Moses Whittle, an engineer, and Sara Alice Garlick.

He joined the RAF in 1923, determined to become a pilot and graduated as a pilot officer in 1928, aged 21 from the Royal Air Force College.

While carrying out his academic studies at the Officers School of Engineering and later Peterhouse at Cambridge University, he developed the idea of the turbojet engine.

He is credited with the invention of the turbojet, which was later developed to modern jet engines we see on passenger planes today.

Andy Goode

A sports pundit and former England rugby player, Goode was born in Coventry and attended King Henry VIII School.

He joined Leicester Tigers as a youth player and also played for Saracens, Worcester Warriors, Wasps and Newcastle Falcons in the English top flight.

He also played for Brive in France and Sharks in South Africa.

Goode recorded 423 club appearances in his career and 17 international caps.

Reg Matthews

The first Coventry-born footballer to be capped by England, goalkeeper Reg Matthews turned out for the Sky Blues, Chelsea and Derby County before a later stint at Rugby Town.

He became the world's most expensive goalkeeper in 1956 when he left Coventry for Chelsea for £22,000.

James Maddison

Capped once by England, James Maddison was born and raised in Coventry and started his career at his hometown club.

He then secured a move to Norwich City where he enjoyed a loan spell at Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

He now plies his trade just down the M69 for Premier League club Leicester City.

Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova

The 16-year-old gymnastic sensations lived in Humber Avenue, Coventry, between 2008 and 2013.

The twins won bronze in the Women's Team Gymnastics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, alongside teammates Alice Kinsella and Amelie Morgan.

Neil Back

An integral part of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winning side, Neil Back was born and raised in Coventry and attended The Woodlands School.

He played his club rugby for Nottingham RFC and Leicester Tigers and he captained England during his career.

Ken Loach

Award-winning film and television director born in Nuneaton who is known for his naturalistic directing style and for his treatment of social issues.

His films include Kes, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, and Looking For Eric. He turned down an OBE.

Gareth Edwards

Ken Loach isn’t Nuneaton’s only contribution to the industry.

This film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer and visual effects artist is best known for directing the 2014 version of Godzilla but first gained widespread recognition for independent film Monsters.

James Morrison

This singer-songwriter was born in Rugby in 1984.

His debut single You Give Me Something won the Brit Award in 2007 for Best British Male.

Pete Doherty

Frontman of The Libertines and Babyshambles, he grew up at several army bases, including at Bramcote and attended Nicholas Chamberlaine Comprehensive School in Bedworth.

Justin Welch

This drummer who performed in bands such as Elastica and Suede was born in Nuneaton in 1972.

He also formed Britpop supergroup Me Me Me with Blue bassist Alex James and Lilac Time frontman Stephen Duffy.

William Shakespeare

Needing no introduction to anyone, Shakespeare is Stratford’s most famous son.

Born in 1564 he is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.

His work has appealed to all classes of society and continues to be popular nearly 400 years after his death.

George Eliot

Novelist Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was born in Nuneaton and was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era.

Her novels include Middlemarch and Mill on the Floss and she has a hospital, hospice and school named after her in her home town.