Queen Elizabeth II Appointed Celebrity Knights
by Breumaster | created - 13 Sep 2022 | updated - 20 Sep 2022 | PublicOn September 8, 2022, the iconic royal highness passed at age 96. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, many people around the world are united in grief. She was and still is a reminder of stability and unity. Queen Elizabeth II, who experienced royal burdens and 70 years of excercise of royal business, also honored many celebrities in appreciation of their work, which indeed is a great honor. Here come the knights.
Which of these celebrities appointed by Queen Elizabeth II a Knight of the British Empire or higher is your favorite one?
Please tell us here.
1. 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 ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1979. Knight Bachelor since 1991. Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour since 2007 and Freeman of the City of London since 2014.
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
Actor | There Will Be Blood
Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the U.K., and his second wife, actress Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing ...
Knight Bachelor since 2014. (He was knighted by William, Prince of Wales on occasion of the birthday of Queen Elzabeth II).
3. Sean Connery
Actor | The Rock
The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he ...
Knight Bachelor since 2000.
4. Peter Ustinov
Actor | Spartacus
Peter Ustinov was a two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, director, writer, journalist and raconteur. He wrote and directed many acclaimed stage plays and led numerous international theatrical productions.
He was born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinow on April 16, 1921 in Swiss Cottage, ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1975. Knight Bachelor since 1990.
5. Charles Chaplin
Writer | The Great Dictator
Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1975.
6. Sidney Poitier
Actor | In the Heat of the Night
Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal ...
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1974.
7. Laurence Olivier
Actor | Sleuth
Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High ...
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth's father King George VI. In the tenure of Queen Elizabeth II, she raised him to Life Peer, Baron Olivier of Brighton in the Country of Sussex in 1971.
8. Kenneth Branagh
Actor | Henry V
Kenneth Charles Branagh was born on December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to parents William Branagh, a plumber and carpenter, and Frances (Harper), both born in 1930. He has two siblings, William Branagh, Jr. (born 1955) and Joyce Branagh (born 1970). When he was nine, his family ...
Knight Bachelor since 2012.
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 ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2000. Knight Bachelor since 2001.
10. Michael Caine
Actor | The Dark Knight
Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen (née Burchell), a cook, and Maurice Micklewhite Sr., a fish-market porter. He had a younger brother, Stanley Caine, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. He left school at age 15 and took a series of ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1993. Knight Bachelor since 2000.
11. Patrick Stewart
Actor | Logan
Sir Patrick Stewart was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, to Gladys (Barrowclough), a textile worker and weaver, and Alfred Stewart, who was in the army. He was a member of various local drama groups from about age 12. He left school at age 15 to work as a junior reporter on a local paper; he ...
Officer of the Order of the British Empire since 2001. Knight Bachelor since 2010.
12. 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," ...
Member of the Order of the British Empire since 1965. Knight Bachelor since 1997. Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour since 2017.
13. Ringo Starr
Actor | A Hard Day's Night
Ringo Starr is a British musician, actor, director, writer, and artist best known as the drummer of The Beatles who also coined the title 'A Hard day's Night' for The Beatles' first movie.
He was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, in a small two-storey house in the working class area of Liverpool...
Knight Bachelor since 2018. (He was knighted by William, Prince of Wales, representing Queen Elizabeth II.)
14. Christopher Lee
Actor | Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation to have starred in so many films and cult saga. Although most notable for personifying bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters on screen, most of which were villains, whether it ...
Member of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem since 1997. Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2001. Knight Bachelor since 2009.
15. 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...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1955. Knight Bachelor since 1959. Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour since 1994.
16. 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 ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1989. Knight Bachelor since 1998.
17. Anthony Hopkins
Actor | The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins was born on December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales, to Muriel Anne (Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His parents were both of half Welsh and half English descent. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1987. Knight Bachelor since 1993.
18. Richard Attenborough
Actor | Jurassic Park
Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1965. Knight Bachelor since 1976. He was raised to Life Peer with the title Baron Attenborough, of Richmond upon Thames one day after his 70th birthday.
19. Michael Palin
Writer | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Michael Palin is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He was one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python.
After the Monty Python television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on Ripping Yarns, an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2000. Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George since 2018.
20. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
Knight Bachelor since 2003.
21. 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 ...
Commander of the Order of the Britsh Emprie since 1974. Fellow of the Royal Society since 1983. Knight Bachelor since 1985. Awarded with the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George since 2020.
22. Elton John
Soundtrack | Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Sir Elton John is one of pop music's great survivors. Born 25 March, 1947, as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he started to play the piano at the early age of four. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. His first band was called Bluesology. He later auditioned (...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1995. Knight Bachelor since 1998.
23. David Lean
Director | Lawrence of Arabia
An important British filmmaker, David Lean was born in Croydon on March 25, 1908 and brought up in a strict Quaker family (ironically, as a child he wasn't allowed to go to the movies). During the 1920s, he briefly considered the possibility of becoming an accountant like his father before finding ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1953. Knight Bachelor since 1983.
24. John Gielgud
Actor | Arthur
Born in London, England, John Gielgud trained at Lady Benson's Acting School and RADA, London. Best known for his Shakespearean roles in the theater, he first played Hamlet at the age of 26. He worked under the tutelage of Lilian Bayliss with friend and fellow performer Laurence Olivier and other ...
Knight Bachelor since 1953.
25. John Hurt
Actor | Nineteen Eighty-Four
One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend ...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2004. Knight Bachelor since 2015.
26. Michael Gambon
Actor | Gosford Park
Sir Michael Gambon was born in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland, to Mary (Hoare), a seamstress, and Edward Gambon, an engineer. After joining the National Theatre, under the Artistic Directorship of Sir Laurence Olivier, Gambon went on to appear in a number of leading roles in plays written by Alan Ayckbourn...
Knight Bachelor since 1998. (He was knighted by then Prince Charles in the tenure of Queen Elizabeth II.)
27. Bob Hope
Actor | The Ghost Breakers
Comedian Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, London, England, the fifth of seven sons of Avis (Townes), light opera singer, and William Henry Hope, a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. His maternal grandmother was Welsh. Hope moved to Bristol before emigrating with his parents...
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1998.
28. Daniel Barenboim
Soundtrack | Les amours imaginaires
Daniel Barenboim was born on November 15, 1942 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a music artist and writer, known for Heartbeats (2010), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and Heartbreaker (2010). He has been married to Elena Bashkirova since 1988. They have two children. He was previously married to ...
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2011.
29. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2001.
30. Pelé
Actor | Victory
Simply he was, and for many people still is, the greatest football player of the world. Not a single thing was impossible for him: he won three World Cups with his National Team of Brazil (Sweden 1958, Chile 1962, Mexico 1970). He scored more than 1.200 goals during his long career (more than 1.300...
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1997.
31. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 1980.
32. Roger Deakins
Cinematographer | Blade Runner 2049
Roger Deakins is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve.
He is a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers.
Deakins' first feature film in America as cinematographer was Mountains of the Moon (...
Commander of the Order of the British Empire since 2013. Knight Bachelor since 2021.
33. Mark Rylance
Actor | Bridge of Spies
Mark Rylance was born in Ashford, Kent, the son of Anne (née Skinner) and David Waters, both English teachers. His grandmother was Irish. His parents moved to Connecticut in 1962 and Wisconsin in 1969, where his father taught English at the University School of Milwaukee. Rylance attended this ...
Knight Bachelor since 2017.
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Self | Nazi Concentration Camps
Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on Tuesday, October 14, 1890, as Dwight David Eisenhower, in Denison, Texas. He was the third of seven sons born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover. Both of his parents were of German descent. Eisenhower studied at the West Point Military Academy from ...
Knight of the Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross since 1943. Member of the Order of Merit since 1945. African Star with the numbers 8 & 1 since 1943. Knight of the Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross (Civil Division) since 1957.
35. Winston Churchill
Writer | Matinee Theater
Born in Blenheim Palace, the residence of his grandfather, the 7th Duke of Marlborough. His father was the Duke's third son, Lord Randolph Churchill. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was the daughter of an American financier.
After passing through famous English public schools such as Harrow, he went on ...
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour since 1922. This honor was appointed before the tenure of Queen Elizabeth II. But in 1958 Churchill was appointed as Sir of the Order of the Garter, which is the highest achievement in chivalry.
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