#1Famous people · Billingham, County Durham
25 famous people were born in Billingham, most of them in the 20th century
At the top of the list is the English actor Jamie Bell, covered in 46 languages. Close behind are Eddie Jobson and Anthony Sampson. 11 were born in 1970 or later. Only 9 of the 73 towns in County Durham with anyone on record list more.
Born here
25
notable people
Best known
Jamie Bell
in 46 Wikipedia languages
First
1855
Martin Barnaby Madden
Youngest
1996
Zooey Perry
Most common field
Sports
16 people
What stands out about Billingham’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Billingham’s famous people were born
Count by decade and the 1980s come out on top, with 5 births.
SportsFilm, TV & StageMusicPolitics & LawWriting & ArtsNotable
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Billingham
Counted by languages, Jamie Bell is ahead of Eddie Jobson and Anthony Sampson: 46, 21 and 12.
#1
#2AS#3
Writing & Arts
Anthony Sampson
1926–2004British writer and journalist (1926–2004)
12 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Known for
What Billingham is known for
Billingham has 1.4× the usual share of performers.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Billingham
22 more, from 1855 to 1996.
Barry Duffield
born 1962Australian actor, director, scriptwriter and producer
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Close by, Middlesbrough counts 365 famous people, the most of its neighbours.
Middlesbrough · 5 miJames Cook & 364 more
Stockton-on-Tees · 3 miColin Renfrew & 218 more
Hartlepool · 5 miJanick Gers & 169 more
Eston · 6 miPaul Daniels & 36 more
Sedgefield · 7 miMark Gatiss & 14 more
Egglescliffe · 7 miCec Parkin & 3 more
Stillington · 5 miAnthony Carlisle & 1 morePWFishburn · 8 miPaul Ward & 1 moreQuestions about famous people from Billingham
Who is the most famous person from Billingham?
Jamie Bell (English actor (born 1986)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 46 languages. Next come Eddie Jobson and Anthony Sampson.
How many famous people were born in Billingham?
25 people born in Billingham have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 28 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Billingham known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 16 of the 25. That is 64% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Billingham?
Martin Barnaby Madden, born in 1855. The youngest on the list was born in 1996.
Who counts as from Billingham?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Billingham’s built-up area (the ONS 2022 boundary), a hospital or district within it included, whose English Wikipedia article agrees. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.
Why is someone missing?
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a bigger area (“London”), another town, or missing, or their article may give no birthplace. We only list people both sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations) and English Wikipedia (each person’s article confirms the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are placed in the town by the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary (Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0). Ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across UK towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (17)
- Jamie Bell: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Eddie Jobson: Lrheath, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- James Wharton: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Smith: Stuart Sevastos, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Martin Barnaby Madden: Bain News Service, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Tony Barras: hounddog7, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Brad Walker: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Evan Horwood: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Dowd: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Zooey Perry: Effyhn123, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- James Cook: Nathaniel Dance-Holland, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Colin Renfrew: Portable Antiquities Scheme from London, England, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Janick Gers: Scott Penner, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Daniels: eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Gatiss: zeropuntosedici (Sara Zizza), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Cec Parkin: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Anthony Carlisle: Henry Bone (6 Feb 1755-17 Dec 1834), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
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