#1Famous people · Corby, Northamptonshire
17 famous people were born in Corby, most of them in the 20th century
Brendan Coyle, the British and Irish actor, is the most widely known, written about in 19 languages. Close behind are Billy McKay and Emma Kennedy. From Dick Graham in 1922 to Billy McKay in 1988, the births cover 66 years. 7 were born in 1970 or later.
Born here
17
notable people
Best known
Brendan Coyle
in 19 Wikipedia languages
First
1922
Dick Graham
Youngest
1988
Billy McKay
Most common field
Sports
12 people
What stands out about Corby’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Corby’s famous people were born
The 1970s alone account for 6 of the births charted here.
SportsFilm, TV & StageScience & MedicineWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Corby
Performers take two of the three places.
#1BM#2
#3Known for
What Corby is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is performers, at 2.1 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Corby
Still to come: 14 more, from 1922 to 1977.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The most names next door are in Kettering: 118.
Questions about famous people from Corby
Who is the most famous person from Corby?
Brendan Coyle (British and Irish actor) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 19 languages. Next come Billy McKay and Emma Kennedy.
How many famous people were born in Corby?
17 people born in Corby have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 19 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Corby known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 12 of the 17. That is 71% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Corby?
Dick Graham, born in 1922. The youngest on the list was born in 1988.
Who counts as from Corby?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Corby’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 (8)
- Brendan Coyle: Moonfilmsvideo, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Emma Kennedy: Loz Pycock from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stuart Campbell: Hayden Schiff from Cincinnati, USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jon Purdie: Æthelred, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Sienna Guillory: Helen Taylor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jim Dale: Associated Press, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ada Goodrich Freer: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Humphrey Henchman: After Peter Lely, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.