Blackburn

: This article is about Blackburn in Lancashire, England. For other uses of the name, see Blackburn (disambiguation).

Famous Blackburnians

The following people were born or brought up in Blackburn:

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The arts

• Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway spent most of his childhood in Blackburn, moving there after being born in Morecambe in 1961. He attended the local private school for boys (QEGS - see above) http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/lifestyle/2003/06/04/hemingway.shtml.
• Film maker Michael Winterbottom, director of 24 Hour Party People, was born in Blackburn.
• Actor Ian McShane, famous for playing antiques dealer Lovejoy in the BBC drama series of the same name, and Al Swearengen in the U.S. television series Deadwood, was born in Blackburn on 29 September 1942 http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/faces/ian_mcshane.shtml.
• Kathleen Harrison, one of the greatest British film character actresses of the Forties and Fifties, was born in Blackburn on 23 February 1892. She found a new audience on television in the Sixties with the hugely successful comedy-drama Mrs Thursday.
• Actor Jon Walmsley was born in Blackburn on 6 February 1956. He gave his voice to the character of Christopher Robin in the 1968 Disney film version of Winnie the Pooh and went on to portray Jason Walton in the TV series The Waltons from 1972 to 1981.
• Musician, singer and composer Tony Ashton was born in Blackburn on 1 March 1946. A gifted organist, Ashton came to fame with his trio Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, best known for their 1971 smash hit "Resurrection Shuffle". He also played on sessions with Jon Lord of Deep Purple and with Jerry Lee Lewis.
• Writer Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, setting many of her novels in Lancashire. Her annual sales in Britain total nearly one million copies.
• Actor Steve Pemberton was born in Blackburn in 1967 and is most famous for co-writing and co-starring in BBC television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. He has variously been involved in theatre production, performance and direction, and is a founder member of 606 Theatre.
• Alfred Gregory, official photographer for the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, was born in Blackburn.
• Broadcaster Russell Harty was born in the town on 5 September 1934. He will probably be best remembered for an edition of his chatshow in which he was physically assaulted by the black American singer, Grace Jones.
• Wilfred Greatorex, writer and television script editor, was born in Blackburn on 27 May 1922.

Sports

• Four times Superbike World Championship winner Carl Fogarty was born in Blackburn on 1 July 1966.
• Bill Fox, chairman of Blackburn Rovers and president of the Football League from 1998 until his death in 1991, was born in Blackburn on 6 January 1928.
• Blackburn Rovers captain Ronnie Clayton was capped 35 times as an England international.
• Rock climber John Sumner was born in Blackburn on 13 March 1936. Sumner was the pre-eminent exploratory climber in his chosen domain of mid-Wales, climbing cutting-edge routes on the remote crags and cliff-faces south of Snowdonia starting in the mid-1950s.
• England Rugby union player Will Greenwood was born in Blackburn on 20 October 1972.
• The 1985 World Professional Snooker Champion Dennis Taylor moved to Blackburn from Northern Ireland in 1966 at the age of 17.

Business

• The industrialist Jack Walker was born in the town on 19 May 1929. The steel magnate ploughed his fortune into his beloved Blackburn Rovers, leading to their Premier League title success in 1995.

Science

• Mathematician David Fowler was a leading authorities on the history of mathematics in ancient Greece. Born in Blackburn on 28 April 1937, Fowler studied at the Russell School, near Morecambe Bay and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
• Arthur Maitland was a pioneering figure in laser physics research. At St Andrews University, he very quickly established a group working on gas lasers, recognising that the gas-discharge laser had enormous potential for practical use. He was born in Blackburn on 7 December 1928