List of British Jews

The first Jews arrived in Britain with the Romans but it wasn't until the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066 that organized Jewish communities first appeared. These existed until 1290 when the Jewish population was expelled by Edward I. (Hence plays such as The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice were written when England was essentially devoid of Jews.) Jews were readmitted in 1656 by Oliver Cromwell, and emancipation took place in 1858. In the late 19th century there was mass Jewish immigration from anti-semitic Russia, and the 1930s saw an influx of refugees from Nazism. The Jewish population peaked at 450,000, but has since declined due to low birth rate, intermarriage and emigration. The current population according to the 2001 Census is around 240,000 (though many experts consider this an underestimate), most of whom live in London. The following is a list of some prominent British Jews.

Showbusiness

Film actors

• Alfie Bass, comic actor
• Claire Bloom, actress
• Orlando Bloom, actor (Jewish father ; unclear if Bloom is biologically Jewish)
• Eleanor Bron, actress and name inspiration for Eleanor Rigby
• Helena Bonham Carter, actress (Jewish maternal grandmother)
• Katrin Cartlidge, actress (Jewish mother)
• Daniel Day Lewis, actor (Jewish mother)
• Marty Feldman, comic actor
• Jordan Frieda, actor (Jewish father)
• Stephen Fry, comedian & actor (Jewish mother)
• Laurence Harvey, actor (Lithuanian-born)
• Leslie Howard, actor
• Jason Isaacs, actor
• Sid James, comic actor
• Sir Ben Kingsley, actor (Jewish maternal grandparent)
• David Kossoff, actor and stage monologuist
• Miriam Margolyes, actress
• Ron Moody, actor
• Olivia Newton-John, film actress and singer (UK-born; Jewish maternal grandfather & half-Jewish maternal grandmother)
• Sophie Okonedo, actress (Jewish mother; raised Jewish)
• Paul Rudd, actor (U.S. born; British-born Jewish parents)
• Alicia Silverstone, actress (U.S. born; British-born Jewish parents)
• Ione Skye, actress (UK-born; Jewish mother)
• Jane Seymour, (Jewish father)
• Dame Elizabeth Taylor, actress (convert to Judaism; parents were American)
• Rachel Weisz, actress
• Sam Wanamaker, actor
• Zoe Wanamaker, actress
• Naomi Westerman, actress

TV actors

• Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian, notable for his highly successful comedy character Ali G.
• Dani Behr, tv presenter
• Lionel Blair, tv entertainer
• Joan Collins, Alexis Carrington in Dynasty (Jewish father)
• Vanessa Feltz, tv presenter
• Stephen Fry, comedian & actor (Jewish mother)
• Lesley Joseph, Dorian in Birds of a Feather
• Natasha Kaplinsky, tv presenter (Jewish father)
• Felicity Kendal, Barbara Good in The Good Life (convert to Judaism)
• Maureen Lipman, tv actress
• Kay Mellor, actress & scriptwriter
• Warren Mitchell, Alf Garnett in Til Death Us Do Part
• Sharon Osbourne, herself in The Osbournes (Jewish father)
• Esther Rantzen, presenter of That's Life!, founder of ChildLine
• Gaby Roslin, tv presenter
• Andrew Sachs, Manuel in Fawlty Towers (Jewish father)
• Emma Samms, tv actress
• Jane Seymour, lead in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (Jewish father)
• Jerry Springer, tv presenter (UK-born)
• David Suchet, lead in Hercule Poirot (Jewish father; raised Christian)
• Clive Swift, Richard Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances
• David Swift, Henry from Drop the Dead Donkey

Directors/producers/executives

• Jenny Abramsky, BBC executive
• Sir Michael Balcon, producer
• Bernard Delfont, executive
• Oscar Deutsch, founder of Odeon Cinemas
• Stephen Frears, director (Jewish mother; Frears only discovered this as an adult)
• Sidney J. Furie, director
• Jonathan Glazer, director
• Leslie Grade, executive
• Lew Grade, executive
• Michael Grade, BBC executive
• Henry Jaglom, director (UK-born)
• Sir Alexander Korda, director & producer
• Zoltan Korda, director
• Mike Leigh, director
• Richard Lester, director
• Jonathan Lynn, director
• Sam Mendes, director (Jewish mother)
• Emeric Pressburger, director
• Irving Rapper, director (UK-born)
• Karel Reisz, director
• John Schlesinger, director
• Michael Winner, director
• Alan Yentob, BBC executive

Comedians

• Ronni Ancona, impressionist
• David Baddiel, comedian
• Sacha Baron Cohen, impressionist, Ali G
• Arnold Brown, comedian
• Ben Elton, comedian & writer
• Marty Feldman, comedian and actor
• Bud Flanagan, comedian & actor
• Stephen Fry, comedian & actor (Jewish mother)
• Paul Kaye, comedian & actor, Dennis Pennis
• Matt Lucas, comedian
• Denis Norden, scriptwriter and radio & TV personality
• Jerry Sadowitz, comedian
• Alexei Sayle, comedian & communist
• Peter Sellers, comedian & actor (Jewish mother; raised Jewish)
• Ruby Wax, comedian (UK-based)

Theatre

• Peter Brook, director
• Georgia Brown, musical theatre actress
• Maria Friedman, musical theatre actress
• Stephen Fry, comedian & actor (Jewish mother)
• Hermione Gingold, actress
• Henry Goodman, actor
• Nicholas Hytner, director
• Jonathan Miller, director
• Robert Rietti, actor
• Anthony Sher, actor
• Janet Suzman, actress
• Sam Wanamaker, the Globe Theatre project
• Zoe Wanamaker, actress

Radio

• Rabbi Lionel Blue, radio broadcaster
• Jono Coleman, radio broadcaster
• Sir Clement Freud, radio broadcaster
• Emma Freud, radio broadcaster (Jewish father)
• Alan Keith, radio broadcaster
• Charlie Wolf, TalkSport Radio
• Mike Mendoza, TalkSport Radio

Other

• Caprice Bourret, model
• Alicia Markova, dancer