Top 10 Famous People Who Have Been Knighted

1. Elton John

   

   Sir Elton Hercules John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, is an English singer, pianist, and composer. He has collaborated with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967 on more than 30 albums. John has sold over 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.... read more

   Sir Elton John has just received the highest honour. He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in December 2019.

   He's gay, but he still got knighted. This shows how accepting our world is and should be.

2. Bill Gates

   

   William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, author, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates served as chairman, chief executive officer, president, and chief... read more

   Because Bill Gates doesn't have British citizenship, he received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. That means he can add KBE after his name, but he can't call himself Sir William Gates or Sir Bill Gates.

   Honestly, I never expected Bill to be on this list.

3. Paul McCartney

   

   Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the rock band The Beatles, one of the most popular and influential groups in the history of pop... read more

4. Sean Connery

   

   Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 - October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer. He won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. He was best known for playing James Bond in seven films from 1962 to 1983, as well as for roles such as Jim Malone in The Untouchables and... read more

   James Bond. 007. The first. Contrary to some people's beliefs, not the longest serving.

5. Winston Churchill

   

   Sir Winston Leonard Spencer‑Churchill was a British statesman who led the United Kingdom as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He is renowned for his leadership during World War II and his stirring wartime speeches. Churchill also had a distinguished early career as a British... read more

6. Ronald Reagan

   

   Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and maintained a career as a Hollywood actor and... read more

7. Alfred Hitchcock

   

   Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English-American film director and producer, often referred to as "The Master of Suspense." He directed more than 50 feature films in a career spanning six decades. Hitchcock is best known for classics like Psycho, Rear Window, and Vertigo.

8. Charlie Chaplin

   

   Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (April 16, 1889 - December 25, 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent film era. He is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. Chaplin is best known for his iconic character... read more

   He was the best actor of his time.

9. Patrick Stewart

   

   Sir Patrick Stewart is an English actor whose career has included prominent roles in theatre, television, and film. He is best known for portraying Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series.... read more

10. Michael Caine

    

    Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, March 14, 1933) is an English actor, producer, and author. He has appeared in more than 130 films in a career spanning 70 years and is considered a British film icon. Known for his cockney accent, Caine was born in South London, where during his... read more

The Newcomers
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13. Christopher Lee

    

    Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (1922 to 2015) was an English actor, singer, and author. He gained fame for villainous roles such as Dracula in the Hammer Horror films, Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies... read more

14. Agatha Christie

    

    Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright.

    She is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, with her novels having sold over two billion copies worldwide. Christie also wrote The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running... read more

15. Niels Bohr

    

    Niels Henrik David Bohr (October 7, 1885 - November 18, 1962) was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to atomic structure and quantum theory. His Bohr model of the atom (1913) introduced quantized electron orbits, and he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.... read more

16. Ian McKellen

    

    Sir Ian Murray McKellen is an English actor with a career spanning stage and screen. He has received six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIFA (British Independent Film Award), two Saturn Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and two Critics' Choice... read more

17. Anthony Hopkins

    

    Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. He was born on December 31, 1937 in Margam, Wales. He is known for winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992, and was nominated three additional times. Hopkins has also won three BAFTAs, two Emmys, and the Cecil B. DeMille... read more

18. Steven Spielberg

    

    Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era and is regarded as one of the most popular and influential directors and producers in film history. His notable films include Jaws... read more

    He was one of the best directors of all time.

19. Bernard Montgomery

    

20. Ben Kingsley

    

    Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji on December 31, 1943) is an English actor. He has received numerous accolades throughout a career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award for Best Actor, a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and... read more

21. Mick Jagger

    

    Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the lead vocalist and a co-founder of the Rolling Stones. With a career spanning more than six decades, he has become one of the most influential frontmen in rock music history. Jagger was knighted in 2003 for... read more

22. Maggie Smith

    

    Dame Margaret Natalie "Maggie" Smith CH DBE (28 December 1934 - 27 September 2024) was an English actress known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles. She had an extensive and varied career on stage, film, and television spanning over seven decades. Smith appeared in more than 50 films and was... read more

23. Helen Mirren

    

    Dame Helen Lydia Mirren is an English actress. She began her acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and is one of the few performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2007 for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and... read more

24. Mother Teresa

    

    Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 - 5 September 1997), also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. Although her passport name was Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, she was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Üsküb, now Skopje, capital of North Macedonia. After living... read more

25. Bono

    

    Paul David Hewson (born May 10, 1960), known professionally as Bono, is an Irish singer‑songwriter, musician, philanthropist, and businessman. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2.... read more

26. Nelson Mandela

    

    Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government... read more

27. David Attenborough

    

    Sir David Frederick Attenborough (born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, and writer.

    He is best known for writing and presenting, in collaboration with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature documentary series that comprise the Life collection... read more

    He is such an inspiration. He knows so much, and he's done so much.

    He appreciates the cruelty of nature as well as the fact that it is under threat.

    A great human being. I know and appreciate his work.

    All of it is just daring.