omitted harry potter characters

1. Rik Mayall

Actor | The Young Ones

Rik Mayall, one of the first and foremost alternative comedians in the UK, was born in Matching Tye, a village just outside Harlow in Essex. His parents, John and Gillian, were both drama teachers. His acting debut was at the age of seven when he appeared in one of his father's stage plays. He met ...

2. Stephanie Beacham

Actress | Dynasty

Stephanie Beacham is without a doubt one of Britain's most talented, beautiful and well-known actresses. Despite becoming world famous and an icon of the 1980s due to her role as Sable Colby in the American soap operas Dynasty (1981) and The Colbys (1985) and going on to have starring roles in ...

3. Brenda Blethyn

Actress | Pride & Prejudice

After forty years of hard work on stage and both television and film, there are not many other actresses who deserved the success, recognition and stardom which Brenda Blethyn has now achieved.

Born in 1946 in Ramsgate, Kent, England, she started her career at British Rail in the 1960s. Saving money...

4. Bob Hoskins

Actor | The Long Good Friday

Bob Hoskins was described by the director John Mackenzie as "an actor from the British tradition but with an almost American approach, an instinctive approach to acting and knowing how to work with the camera". He was born on October 26, 1942, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, where his mother was ...

5. Peter O'Toole

Actor | Lawrence of Arabia

A leading man of prodigious talents, Peter O'Toole was born and raised in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, the son of Constance Jane Eliot (Ferguson), a Scottish nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish metal plater, football player and racecourse bookmaker. Upon leaving school, he decided to become a...

6. Pauline Collins

Actress | Shirley Valentine

Collins entered motion pictures as a stripper in the exploitation film, Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1966), and television, as a maid in the British drama series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971). In 1988, she starred in the one-woman play 'Shirley Valentine' in London, and soon after, brought the role to...

7. Stephen Rea

Actor | The Crying Game

Stephen Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Belfast High School and the Queen's University, where he studied English. He later trained at the Abbey Theatre School in Dublin. In 1970s, he acted in the Focus Company in Dublin with the talented Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney. After ...

8. Sean Bean

Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sean Bean's career since the eighties spans theatre, radio, television and movies. Bean was born in Handsworth, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, to Rita (Tuckwood) and Brian Bean. He worked for his father's welding firm before he decided to become an actor. He attended RADA in London and appeared in a ...

9. Ben Kingsley

Actor | Sexy Beast

Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born medical doctor, of Gujarati Indian descent, and his mother, Anna Lyna Mary (Goodman), was an English actress. Ben began to act in stage plays during ...

10. Wendy Craig

Actress | The Nanny

Her parents, George and Anne were originally farmers in the Sacriston area of County Durham where she started her education at a village school and eventually attended Durham High School. Her family eventually gave up farming and became haulage contractors in Darlington where she then attended ...

11. Tom Wilkinson

Actor | Michael Clayton

Popular British character actor Tom Wilkinson was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and came from a long line of urban farmers. He was the son of Marjorie (Percival) and Thomas Wilkinson. Economic hardships forced his family to move to Canada for a few years when Wilkinson was a child; then, ...

12. Peggy Cummins

Actress | Gun Crazy

Peggy Cummins was an Irish actress, appearing in several films between 1940 and 1961. Her best known role was that of trigger-happy bank robber Annie Laurie Starr in the film "Gun Crazy".

In December, 1925, Cummins was born under the name of "Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller" in Prestatyn, Denbighshire...

13. Minnie Driver

Actress | Circle of Friends

Minnie Driver was born January 31, 1970 in London and raised in Barbados until she was seven. Her mother, Gaynor Churchward, was a designer and former couture model. Her father, Charles Ronald "Ronnie" Driver, was a businessman. Minnie's mother was her father's mistress while he was still married ...

14. Paul Bettany

Actor | WandaVision

Paul Bettany is an English actor. He first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film Gangster No. 1 (2000), and director Brian Helgeland's film A Knight's Tale (2001). He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including A Beautiful Mind (2001), ...

15. Colm Meaney

Actor | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Colm Meaney was born on May 30, 1953 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor and producer, known for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Layer Cake (2004) and Under Siege (1992). He has been married to Ines Glorian since March 15, 2007. They have one child. He was previously married to Bairbre Dowling.

16. Juliet Stevenson

Actress | Bend It Like Beckham

With her father being in the army much of her early life was spent in boarding school from the age of 9. Initially she was turned down for RADA but got in and won a prize for Best Student. She had to turn down a role in Schindler's List (1993) as his wife due to already being committed to a theatre...

17. Jane Asher

Actress | Death at a Funeral

Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946) is an English actress, author and entrepreneur, who achieved early fame as a child actress, and has worked extensively in film and TV throughout her career.

She has appeared in TV shows and films such as The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Alfie (1966), Deep End (1970)...

18. Jenny Agutter

Actress | Logan's Run

Jenny Agutter was born on December 20, 1952, in Taunton, Somerset, England, UK. The daughter of an army officer, she spent her childhood traveling and living in different countries. Her film career began at the age of 12 in East of Sudan (1964), which was quickly followed by The Magical World of ...

19. Jason Flemyng

Actor | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Jason Flemyng was born on September 25, 1966 in Putney, London, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Deep Rising (1998). He has been married to Elly Fairman since June 6, 2008.

20. Rebecca Hall

Actress | Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Rebecca Hall was born in London, England, the daughter of Peter Hall, a stage director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Maria Ewing, an opera singer. Her father was English. Her mother, who is American, is of Dutch and African-American origin. Her parents separated when she was ...

21. Claire Bloom

Actress | Clash of the Titans

Age has not taken the flower off this Bloom. The well-known and highly respected stage, screen and television actress Claire Bloom continues to be in demand as an octogenarian actress and looks as beautiful as ever.

She was born Patricia Claire Blume on February 15, 1931, in Finchley, North London, ...

22. Timothy Dalton

Actor | The Living Daylights

At a consistently lean 6' 2", green-eyed Timothy Dalton may very well be one of the last of the dying breed of swashbuckling, classically trained Shakespearean actors who have forged simultaneous successful careers in theater, television and film. He has been comparison-shopped roundly for stepping...

23. Ian Holm

Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sir Ian Holm was one of the world's greatest actors, a Laurence Olivier Award-winning, Tony Award-winning, BAFTA-winning and Academy Award-nominated British star of films and the stage. He was a member of the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company and has played more than 100 roles in films and on ...

24. Tom Holland

Actor | Spider-Man: Homecoming

Thomas Stanley Holland was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, to Nicola Elizabeth (Frost), a photographer, and Dominic Holland (Dominic Anthony Holland), who is a comedian and author. His paternal grandparents were from the Isle of Man and Ireland, respectively. He lives with his parents and ...

25. Sophie Turner

Actress | Game of Thrones

Sophie Belinda Jonas (née Turner; born February 21, 1996) is an English actress. Turner made her professional acting debut as Sansa Stark on the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011) (2011-2019), which brought her international recognition and critical praise. For her performance, ...

26. Keir Gilchrist

Actor | It's Kind of a Funny Story

Keir Gilchrist is an English-born Canadian actor. He is known for the films It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) and It Follows (2014), and the Netflix comedy television series Atypical (2017). Gilchrist also starred in Dark Summer (2015), and The Good Neighbor (2016), alongside James Caan. His film ...

27. Gabriel Byrne

Actor | The Usual Suspects

Byrne was the eldest of six children born to a family in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a cooper and his mother a hospital worker. He was raised Catholic and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. He spent five years of his childhood in a seminary training to be a Catholic priest. He later said...

28. Tommy Flanagan

Actor | Sons of Anarchy

Tommy Flanagan was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland where he made his stage debut at the Raindog Theatre Company and appeared in such productions as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and MacBeth.

Flanagan soon landed the role of Scottish rebel 'Morrison' in the Mel Gibson epic Braveheart (1995) ...

29. Rachel Weisz

Actress | The Constant Gardener

Rachel Hannah Weisz was born on 7 March, 1970, in London, U.K., to Edith Ruth (Teich), a psychoanalyst, and George Weisz, an inventor. Her parents both came to England around 1938. Her father is a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and her mother, from Vienna, was of Italian and Austrian Jewish heritage. ...

30. Ed Speleers

Actor | Star Trek: Picard

Ed Speleers was born on April 7, 1988 in Chichester, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Star Trek: Picard (2020), You (2018) and Downton Abbey (2010).

31. Will Payne

Actor | The Red Tent

Will Payne was born on June 19, 1989 in Bristol, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Red Tent (2014), Mr Selfridge (2013) and Humans (2015).

32. Luke Newberry

Actor | The Legend of Hercules

Luke Newberry was born on February 19, 1990 in Exeter, Devon, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Legend of Hercules (2014), Anna Karenina (2012) and In the Flesh (2013).

33. Craig Roberts

Actor | Submarine

Craig Roberts is one of the most interesting, diverse and exciting young actors working today. He is known for his breakout role in Submarine, for which he won the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor, the London Critics Circle Film Award for Young British Performer of the Year, in addition to being ...

34. Jack O'Connell

Actor | Unbroken

Jack O'Connell was born in Alvaston, Derby, England, to Alison J. (Gutteridge) and John Patrick O'Connell. His mother is English, and worked at British Midland, and his father was Irish (from County Kerry), and worked on the railways for Bombardier. Jack went to Saint Benedict Catholic School, and ...

35. Judi Dench

Actress | Skyfall

Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with the ...

36. Eileen Atkins

Actress | Gosford Park

Eileen Atkins was born in a Salvation Army Women's Hostel in north London. Her father was a gas meter reader; her mother, a seamstress and barmaid. A drama teacher taught her how to drop her Cockney accent, and she studied Shakespeare and Greek tragedies. Her breakthrough role in "The Killing of ...

37. Gavan O'Herlihy

Actor | The Descent: Part 2

Gavan O'Herlihy was born on July 29, 1951 in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for The Descent: Part 2 (2009), Willow (1988) and Never Say Never Again (1983). He was married to Juliette. He died on September 15, 2021 in Bath, England, UK.

38. Sarah Bolger

Actress | In America

Sarah Lee Bolger (born 28 February 1991) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her roles in the films In America (2002), Stormbreaker, and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), as well as her award winning role as Lady Mary Tudor in the TV series The Tudors (2007), and for guest starring as ...

39. Sean McGinley

Actor | On a Clear Day

Sean McGinley was born on March 1, 1956 in Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for On a Clear Day (2005), Braveheart (1995) and Michael Collins (1996). He has been married to Marie Mullen since 1990. They have two children.

40. Owen Roe

Actor | Michael Collins

Owen Roe was born on May 30, 1959. He is an actor, known for Michael Collins (1996), Intermission (2003) and Any Time Now (2002). He has been married to Michèle Forbes since 1984. They have two children.

41. Carey Mulligan

Actress | Never Let Me Go

Carey Hannah Mulligan is a British actress. She was born May 28, 1985, in Westminster, London, England, to Nano (Booth), a university lecturer, and Stephen Mulligan, a hotel manager. Her mother is from Llandeilo, Wales, and Carey also has Irish and English ancestry.

Her first major appearance was ...

42. Damian O'Hare

Actor | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Damian O'Hare was born on August 13, 1977 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. He is an actor, known for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Hatfields & McCoys (2012). He has been married to Georgie Hurford-Jones ...

43. Gerard McSorley

Actor | Michael Collins

Gerard McSorley was born in 1950 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, UK. He is an actor, known for Michael Collins (1996), Bloody Sunday (2002) and The Constant Gardener (2005).

44. Joseph Morgan

Actor | The Originals

Joseph Morgan was born in London and spent his childhood with his family in Swansea, Wales. Morgan moved back to London in his late teens to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. While there he continued to write and experiment with filmmaking, participating in student films and ...

45. Natalie Dormer

Actress | Game of Thrones

Natalie Dormer born February 11, 1982 is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Anne Boleyn on the Showtime series The Tudors (2007-10), as Margaery Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones (2012-14), Irene Adler on the CBS series Elementary (2013-15), and as Cressida in the ...

46. Sinéad Cusack

Actress | V for Vendetta

Sinéad Cusack was born on February 18, 1948 in Dalkey, Ireland. She is an actress, known for V for Vendetta (2005), Eastern Promises (2007) and Stealing Beauty (1996). She has been married to Jeremy Irons since March 28, 1978. They have two children.

47. Dylan Moran

Actor | Black Books

Irish comedian Dylan Moran was born in Navan, County Meath in 1971. Leaving school without any qualifications at age 16, Moran quickly became attracted to stand-up comedy and debuted, in 1992, at a comedy club in Dublin, The Comedy Cellar. A year later, he won the Channel Four comedy newcomer's "So...

48. Aidan Gillen

Actor | Game of Thrones

Aidan Gillen is an Irish actor. He is best known for portraying Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011), CIA operative Bill Wilson in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Stuart Alan Jones in the Channel 4 series Queer as Folk (1999), John Boy in the RTÉ Television series ...

49. Michael McElhatton

Actor | Game of Thrones

Michael McElhatton was born on September 12, 1963 in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for Game of Thrones (2011), Jack Ryan (2018) and Chernobyl (2019).

50. Janet McTeer

Actress | Albert Nobbs

Janet McTeer was born on August 5, 1961 in Newcastle, England, UK to parents Jean and Allan McTeer. She was raised in York from the age of 6. She attended Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls, where there was not much opportunity for drama. She became interested in acting at age 16, when she saw "...

51. Peter Capaldi

Actor | Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Nancy (Soutar) and Gerald John Capaldi. His parents owned an ice cream business. He is of Italian (from his paternal grandfather), Scottish, and Irish descent. Capaldi attended drama classes and was accepted into the Glasgow School of Art. After ...

52. James Corden

Producer | The Late Late Show with James Corden

Describing himself as the "chunky unit," James Kimberley Corden was born in Hillingdon, London, England and raised in Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Margaret (Collins), a social worker, and Malcolm Corden, a musician. He studied drama at the Jackie Palmer Stage School before going on to ...

53. Rosamund Pike

Actress | Gone Girl

Born in 1979 in London, England, actress Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is the only child of a classical violinist mother, Caroline (Friend), and an opera singer father, Julian Pike. Due to her parents' work, she spent her early childhood traveling around Europe. Pike attended Badminton School in ...

54. Ruth Sheen

Actress | Another Year

Ruth Sheen was born in 1950 in Stepney, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Another Year (2010), Vera Drake (2004) and Run Fatboy Run (2007).

55. Peter Wight

Actor | Another Year

Peter Wight was born in 1950 in Worthing, Sussex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Another Year (2010), Hot Fuzz (2007) and Naked (1993).

56. Izzy Meikle-Small

Actress | Never Let Me Go

Izzy Meikle-Small was born in March 1996 in Hove, East Sussex, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Never Let Me Go (2010), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and Private Peaceful (2012).

57. Catherine Tate

Actress | The Catherine Tate Show

Catherine Tate is an English actress and comedian, primarily known for the role of Donna Noble in the "Doctor Who" franchise.

Tate was born as "Catherine Ford" during 1969, in Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is a district of the London Borough of Camden, known as the home of several of London's museums, ...

58. Jeremy Irons

Actor | Dead Ringers

British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...

59. Orla Brady

Actress | The Foreigner

Irish-born Orla Brady studied acting at the Ecole Phillippe Gaulier in Paris. Upon returning to Dublin, she won the role of Adela in the House of Bernarda Alba at the Gate Theatre. Since then, she has been working on both sides of the Atlantic with a career mix of television, film, and stage to her...

60. Susie Shinner

Susie Shinner was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, UK.