Companion of Honour Recipients
by Sylviastel | created - 18 Jun 2014 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicCompanion of Honour is one of Britain's highest honors even above Knighthood or Damehood. Only 65 living recipients of this Honour at a given time.
101. Anthony Powell
Writer | A Dance to the Music of Time
Anthony Powell was born on December 21, 1905 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for A Dance to the Music of Time (1997) and Arena (1975). He was married to Violet Powell. He died on March 28, 2000 in Frome, Somerset, England, UK.
102. Stephen Hawking
Actor | Star Trek: The Next Generation
Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 on Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. He was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.
His scientific works include a collaboration with ...
103. Kenneth Baker
Self | When Vacations Attack
104. Peter Brooke
Self | The London Programme
105. Tom King
Self | The London Programme
Tom King was born on June 13, 1933 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He has been married to Jane Tilney since 1960. They have two children.
106. Elisabeth Frink
Art_department | The Damned
Elisabeth Frink was born on November 14, 1930 in Thurlow, Suffolk, England, UK. She is known for The Damned (1962), Donatello: The First Modern Sculptor (1986) and The Art Game (1966). She died on April 18, 1993 in Woolland, Dorset, England, UK.
107. V.S. Pritchett
Writer | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
V.S. Pritchett was born on December 16, 1900 in Ipswich, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), Essential Jobs (1942) and Two Fathers (1944). He was married to Dorothy Rudge Roberts and Evelyn Vigors. He died on March 20, 1997 in London, England, UK.
108. David Astor
Self | Reputations
David Astor was born on March 5, 1912 in London, England, UK. He died on December 7, 2001 in London, England, UK.
109. Janet Baker
Soundtrack | Morgan
Janet Baker was born on August 21, 1933 in York, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Morgan (2016), Byzantium (2012) and Happiness (1998).
110. John Smith
Self | Windrush
111. Alec Guinness
Actor | Star Wars
Alec Guinness was an English actor. He is known for his six collaborations with David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (1946), Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948), Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Prince Faisal in Lawrence...
112. R.V. Jones
Self | Young Scientists of the Year
R.V. Jones was born on September 29, 1911 in Herne Hill, London, England, UK. He was married to Vera Cain. He died on December 17, 1997 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK.
113. David Owen
Self | The Groovy Fellers
David Owen was born on July 2, 1938 in Plympton, Devon, England, UK. He has been married to Deborah Schabert since December 28, 1968. They have three children.
114. César Milstein
Self | Un fueguito. La historia de César Milstein
César Milstein was born on October 8, 1927 in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on March 24, 2002 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK.
115. Denys Lasdun
Self | Chronicle
116. David Attenborough
Self | Blue Planet II
Born 8 May 1926, the younger brother of actor Lord Richard Attenborough. He never expressed a wish to act and, instead, studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, graduating in 1947, the year he began his two years National Service in the Royal Navy. In 1952, he joined BBC Television at ...
117. Richard Doll
Self | Planeat
Richard Doll was born on October 28, 1912 in Hampton, Middlesex, England, UK. He was married to Joan Mary Faulkner. He died on July 24, 2005 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
118. Douglas Hurd
Writer | Scotch on the Rocks
Douglas Hurd was born on March 8, 1930 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Scotch on the Rocks (1973), Une grande perte (2002) and The Diamond Queen (2012). He was previously married to Judy Smart and Tatiana Eyre.
119. Derek Worlock
Self | Viewpoint
120. Geoffrey Howe
Self | The Great Offices of State
Geoffrey Howe was born on December 20, 1926 in Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He was married to Elspeth Howe. He died on October 9, 2015 in Warwickshire, England, UK.
121. A.L. Rowse
A.L. Rowse was born on December 4, 1903 in Tregonissey, Cornwall, England, UK. He is known for ABC Afterschool Specials (1972), The England of Elizabeth (1957) and Network (1974). He died on October 3, 1997 in St Austell, Cornwall, England, UK.
122. David Hockney
Art_department | Something's Gotta Give
David Hockney was born on July 9, 1937 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He is a production designer and actor, known for Something's Gotta Give (2003), Insignificance (1985) and Great Performances (1971).
123. Michael Heseltine
Self | Anyone for Pennis?
Michael Heseltine was born on March 21, 1933 in Swansea, Wales, UK. He has been married to Anne Williams since 1962. They have three children.
124. Eric Hobsbawm
Script_department | Alle origini della mafia
Eric Hobsbawm was born on June 9, 1917 in Alexandria, Egypt. He is known for Alle origini della mafia (1976), Jazz (2001) and Machine Gun: History Down the Barrel of a Gun (1999). He was married to Marlene Schwarz and Muriel Seaman. He died on October 1, 2012 in London, England, UK.
125. Chris Patten
Self | Tory! Tory! Tory!
Chris Patten was born on May 12, 1944 in Ealing, London, England, UK. He has been married to Lavender Thornton since 1971. They have three children.
126. Peter Brook
Director | Lord of the Flies
Born in London, Peter was educated at Westminster, and Magdalen College Oxford. He has staged numerous productions for Birmingham Rep, Stratford Upon Avon and Broadway. In 1962 he was appointed Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a position he held for 2 decades. His most famous stage ...
127. John Major
Self | The Major Years
John Major was born on March 29, 1943 in London. He was the son of Tom Major-Ball, a retired circus performer who was 65 when John Major was born. He attended Cheam Common Primary School and Rutlish Grammar School, where he had an undistinguished academic career. In the mid '50s, his family was ...
128. Bridget Riley
Actress | Paradise Falls
Bridget Riley is known for Carolina Low (1997), Very Jean Muir (1993) and Mark Gatiss on John Minton: The Lost Man of British Art (2018).
129. John de Chastelain
130. Doris Lessing
Writer | Adoration
Doris Lessing was born on October 22, 1919 in Kermanshah, Persia [now Iran]. She was a writer, known for Adoration (2013), Maupassant (1963) and Memoirs of a Survivor (1981). She was married to Gottfried Anton Nicolai Lessing and Frank Charles Wisdom. She died on November 17, 2013 in London, ...
131. Chad Varah
Writer | Sunday Story
Chad Varah was born on November 12, 1911 in Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Sunday Story (1961), The Befrienders (1972) and Seeing and Believing (1960). He died on November 8, 2007 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, UK.
132. Amartya Sen
Self | Nobelity
Amartya Sen was born on November 3, 1933 in Manikganj, Bengal Presidency, British India. He has been married to Emma Rothschild since 1991. He was previously married to Eva Colorni and Nabaneeta Dev Sen.
133. Harrison Birtwistle
Composer | The Offence
Harrison Birtwistle was born on July 15, 1934 in Accrington, Lancashire, England, UK. He was a composer, known for The Offence (1973), Aeschylus' Oresteia (Tony Harrison Adaptation), the National Theatre (1983) and The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael (2005). He was married to Sheila Duff. He ...
134. Paul Scofield
Actor | A Man for All Seasons
Though his number of film roles amount to a bit over 30, Paul Scofield has cast a giant shadow in the world of stage and film acting. He grew up in West Sussex, the son of a schoolmaster. He attended the Varndean School for Boys in Brighton. The love of acting came early. While still high school ...
135. Colin Davis
Soundtrack | Star Trek: First Contact
Colin Davis was born on September 25, 1927 in Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK. He is known for Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Red Sparrow (2018) and The Big Lebowski (1998). He was married to Ashraf Naini and April Cantelo. He died on April 14, 2013 in London, England, UK.
136. George Christie
Self | Glyndebourne: A Celebration of Fifty Years
George Christie was born on December 31, 1934 in Lewes, Sussex, England, UK. He was married to Mary Nicholson. He died on May 7, 2014 in Lewes, East Sussex, England, UK.
137. Bernard Haitink
Soundtrack | Savages
Bernard Haitink was born on March 4, 1929 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. He was an actor, known for Savages (2012), Bronson (2008) and Turner & Hooch (1989). He was married to Patricia Bloomfield, Marjolein Snijder and ???. He died on October 21, 2021 in London, England, UK.
138. Harold Pinter
Actor | Mansfield Park
Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate for Literature, was born October 10, 1930, in London's working-class Hackney district to Hyman and Frances Pinter, Eastern European Jews who had immigrated to the United Kingdom from Portugal. Hyman (known as "Jack") was a tailor specializing in women's ...
139. Michael Howard
Michael Howard was born on November 29, 1922 in Ashmore, Dorset, England, UK. He is known for End of Empire (1985), Timewatch (1982) and The Great War: 1914-1918 (1996). He was married to Mark Anthony James. He died on November 30, 2019 in the UK.
140. Howard Hodgkin
Self | The Art Game
Howard Hodgkin was born on August 8, 1932 in London, England, UK. He is known for The Art Game (1966), Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of a Genius (1981) and Omnibus (1967). He was married to Julia Lane. He died on March 9, 2017 in London, England, UK.
141. James Lovelock
Self | Titel, Thesen, Temperamente
James Lovelock was born on July 26, 1919 in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was married to Helen Hyslop and Sandra Orchard. He died on July 26, 2022 in Dorset, England, UK.
142. Charles Mackerras
Soundtrack | Now You See Me 2
Charles Mackerras was born on November 17, 1925 in Schenectady, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Now You See Me 2 (2016), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) and The Upside (2017). He died on July 14, 2010 in London, England, UK.
143. Dan McKenzie
Self | Imagined Worlds
144. 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 ...
145. Ian McKellen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery ...
146. Richard Rogers
Self | The Brits Who Built the Modern World
In 1938 the family moved from Italy to England. After graduating from school, Rogers studied architecture at the Architectural Association School in London. He later moved to the renowned Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, with the help of a Fulbright scholarship. He was, among other things...
147. George Young
Self | The London Programme
148. Sebastian Coe
Actor | The Brittas Empire
Sebastian Coe is a British politician and former track and field athlete.
As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 meters gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events - ...
149. Peter Higgs
Self | CERN neboli Továrna na absolutno
Peter Higgs was born on May 29, 1929 in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. He was married to Jody Williamson. He died on April 8, 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
150. Thomas Galbraith
Self | The Sunday Programme
151. Menzies Campbell
Script_department | The Advocates
Menzies Campbell was born on May 22, 1941 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is known for The Advocates (1991), UK General Election (1950) and A Week in Politics (1982). He was previously married to Elspeth Urquhart.
152. Nicholas Serota
Self | Marian
Nicholas Serota is Chair of Arts Council England, a post he took up in February 2017. Previously he spent almost 30 years as Director of Tate. During his directorship, Tate opened Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern (2000, expanded in 2016), redefining the Millbank building as Tate Britain (2000). ...
153. Peter Maxwell Davies
Music_department | The Boy Friend
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is one of the leading composers of his generation. After early study at Manchester University, he pursued additional compositional study with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome and as a Harkness Fellow at Princeton University under Roger Sessions and Earl Kim. He has written ...
155. Paddy Ashdown
Self | UK General Election
Paddy Ashdown was born on February 27, 1941 in New Delhi, British India. He was married to Jane Courtenay. He died on December 22, 2018 in the UK.
156. Mary Peters
Self | Amazing Greys
Mary Peters was born on July 6, 1939 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK.
157. Adrian Cadbury
Self | Decision 79
Adrian Cadbury was born on April 15, 1929 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK. He was married to Susan Sinclair and Gillian Skepper. He died on September 3, 2015 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK.
158. David Young
Self | The London Programme
David Young was born on February 27, 1932 in Finchley, London, England, UK. He was married to Lita Shaw. He died on December 9, 2022 in the UK.
159. Neville Marriner
Soundtrack | Priest
With more than 300 recordings to his credit, Neville Marriner is one of the most prolific recording maestros in history. He has recorded Mozart's music in his native London with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the chamber orchestra he founded and organized thirty-eight years ago. Since ...
160. Harry Woolf
Self | Death of a Gentleman
He was awarded the CH (Member of the Companion of Honour) in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the public and community relations in London, England.
161. Roy Strong
Writer | Spirit of the Age
Roy Strong was born on August 23, 1935 in London, England, UK. He is a writer, known for Spirit of the Age (1975), The Genius of British Art (2010) and The Levin Interviews (1980). He was previously married to Julia Trevelyan Oman.
162. Vera Lynn
Soundtrack | Hellboy
Vera Lynn was born on March 20, 1917 in East Ham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Hellboy (2004), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982) and Lolita (1997). She was married to Harry Lewis. She died on June 18, 2020 in Ditchling, East Sussex, England, UK.
164. Roger Bannister
Actor | Bad Loser
Roger Bannister was born on March 23, 1929 in Harrow, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Bad Loser (1977), Champion: The Franz Stampfl Story and What's My Line (1951). He was married to Moyra Elver Jacobsson. He died on March 3, 2018 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
165. Richard Eyre
Director | Notes on a Scandal
Richard Eyre was born on March 28, 1943 in Barnstaple, Devon, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Notes on a Scandal (2006), Iris (2001) and Stage Beauty (2004). He has been married to Sue Birtwistle since 1973.
166. Evelyn Glennie
Soundtrack | Elle
Dame Evelyn Glennie, who was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2007 New Year Honours List, is one of the best-known figures in contemporary British music. An extraordinarily virtuosic percussionist as well as an engaging personality, she has long been subject to ...
167. Alec Jeffreys
Self | Carve Your Destiny
Alec Jeffreys was born on January 9, 1950 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
168. Shirley Williams
Self | Tory! Tory! Tory!
Shirley Williams was born on July 27, 1930 in Chelsea, London, England, UK. She was married to Richard Neustadt and Bernard Williams. She died on April 11, 2021 in Hertfordshire, England, UK.
169. Terence Conran
Terence Conran was born on October 4, 1931 in Esher, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Designed in Britain (1959), Pie in the Sky (1994) and Absolutely Fabulous (1992). He was married to Vicki Davis, Caroline Herbert, Shirley Conran and Brenda Davison. He died on September 12, 2020 in...
170. Mark Elder
Music_department | Xerxes
Mark Elder was born on June 2, 1947 in Hexham, Northumberland, England, UK. He is a writer, known for Xerxes (1988), Verdi (1994) and Rigoletto (1982). He is married to Mandy. They have one child.
171. Beryl Grey
Actress | Producers' Showcase
Beryl Grey was born on June 11, 1927 in Highgate, London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Producers' Showcase (1954), This Is the BBC (1959) and Chelsea at Nine (1957). She was married to Sven Svensson. She died on December 10, 2022 in England, UK.
172. Paul McCartney
Soundtrack | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sir Paul McCartney is a key figure in contemporary culture as a singer, composer, poet, writer, artist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, and holder of more than 3 thousand copyrights. He is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for most records sold, most #1s (shared), most covered song, "Yesterday," ...
173. J.K. Rowling
Writer | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Joanne Rowling was born in Yate, near Bristol, a few miles south of a town called Dursley ("Harry Potter"'s Muggle-family). Her father Peter Rowling was an engineer for Rolls Royce in Bristol at this time. Her mother, Anne, was half-French and half-Scottish. They met on a train as it left King's ...
174. Delia Smith
Actress | Victoria Wood: With All the Trimmings
Delia Smith was born on June 18, 1941 in Woking, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Victoria Wood: With All the Trimmings (2000), Delia Smith's Summer Collection (1993) and Fantasy Football League (1994). She has been married to Michael Wynn Jones since September 11, 1971.
175. Nicholas Stern
Self | Revolution
He was awarded the Life-Peerage (Baron or Lord) of Brentford, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and an FBA before being awarded the CH (Member of the Order of Companion of Honour) in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Economics, International Relations and Tackling Climate ...
176. John Sulston
Self | Science Club
John Sulston was born on March 27, 1942 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He was married to Daphne Bate. He died in March 2018 in the UK.
177. Melvyn Bragg
Writer | Jesus Christ Superstar
Melvyn Bragg was born on October 6, 1939 in Wigton, Cumbria, England, UK. He is a podcaster and producer, known for Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The South Bank Show (1978) and Monitor (1958).
178. Antonia Fraser
Writer | Jemima Shore Investigates
Antonia Fraser was born on August 27, 1932 in London, England, UK. She is a writer and actress, known for Jemima Shore Investigates (1983), Tales of the Unexpected (1979) and Armchair Thriller (1978). She was previously married to Harold Pinter and Hugh Charles Patrick Joseph Fraser.
179. Kiri Te Kanawa
Actress | Die Fledermaus
Kiri Te Kanawa studied voice in New Zealand, where she was a popular singer as a teenager. She enrolled in the London Opera Center in 1966, and had her Covent Garden debut 1 December 1971. Although her acting ability is highly regarded on the operatic stage, she has made few theatrical films.
180. Margaret Atwood
Writer | The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She is a writer and producer, known for The Handmaid's Tale (2017), Alias Grace (2017) and MaddAddam. She was previously married to Graeme Gibson and Jim Polk.
181. David Chipperfield
Self | David Chipperfield: Form Matters
David Chipperfield was born on December 18, 1953 in London, England, UK.
182. Marina Warner
Actress | Female Human Animal
Marina Warner was born on November 9, 1946 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Female Human Animal (2018), Reader, I Married Him (2006) and Thinking Aloud (1984).
183. Salman Rushdie
Actor | Bridget Jones's Diary
He married the actress Padma Lakshmi, the hostess of "Padma's Passport," and dedicatee of his eighth novel, "Fury" (2001), on 17th April 2004. The late Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against him for the novel "The Satanic Verses" on 14th February 1989. He is currently completing a ninth novel....
184. Quentin Blake
Art_department | Jackanory
Quentin Blake was born on December 16, 1932 in Sidcup, Kent, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Jackanory (1965), Revolting Rhymes (2016) and Clown (2020).
185. Mary Quant
Costume_department | The Haunting
Mary Quant was born on February 11, 1930 in Blackheath, London, England, UK. She is known for The Haunting (1963), Two for the Road (1967) and Georgy Girl (1966). She was married to Alexander Plunket Greene. She died on April 13, 2023 in Farley Green, Surrey, England, UK.
186. Michael Marmot
Self | Once Upon a Time in Italy
Professor Sir Marmot is Director, Institute of Health Equity, University College London. He was awarded Knight Bachelor before being awarded the C.H. (Member of the Companion of Honour) in the 2023 King's New Years Honours List for his services to Public Health in London, England.
187. Anna Wintour
Actress | Zoolander 2
Anna Wintour was born in Hampstead, London, England, the daughter of an American mother, Eleanor Trego (Baker), and an English father, Charles Wintour, former Editor of the Evening Standard. She is from an upper-class family, with many prominent ancestors. She started her career in 1970, working in...
188. Ian McEwan
Writer | Atonement
Ian McEwan was born on June 21, 1948 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Atonement (2007), The Good Son (1993) and Enduring Love (2004). He has been married to Annalena McAfee since 1997. He was previously married to Penny Allen.
189. Paul Nurse
Writer | The Richard Dimbleby Lecture
Paul Nurse was born on January 25, 1949 in Norwich, England, UK. He is a writer, known for The Richard Dimbleby Lecture (1972), Science Britannica (2013) and Horizon (1964).
191. Shirley Bassey
Soundtrack | Moonraker
Shirley Bassey was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, and raised in the nearby working class neighborhood of Splott. Her mother was originally from Yorkshire, and her father was a Nigerian seaman who left the family when she was less than two. She later helped to support her family by working in an...
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