Photo: Freebase/Public domain

READ Famous People From Wakefield

Reference

1.5k views 202 items Follow Embed

List of famous people from Wakefield, including photos when available. The people below are listed by their popularity, so the most recognizable names are at the top of the list. Some of the people below are celebrities born in Wakefield, while others are simply notable locals. If you're from Wakefield you might already know that these prominent figures are also from your hometown, but some of the names below may really surprise you. This list includes people who were born and raised in Wakefield, as well as those who were born there but moved away at a young age.

This list is made up of a variety of people, including Royal Little and Jane Tomlinson.

If you want to answer the questions, "Which famous people are from Wakefield?" or "Which celebrities were born in Wakefield?" then this list is a great resource for you.

1

John W. Mitchell Died at 88 (1917-2005) - John W. Mitchell was a sound mixer and sound recordist.

Celebrities Who Were Once Roommates The Most Beautiful Women in the World

2

George Gissing Died at 46 (1857-1903) - George Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. Gissing also worked as a teacher and tutor throughout his life. He published his first novel, Workers ...more

3

Adele Stevens age 47

4

David Dellinger Died at 89 (1915-2004) - David T. Dellinger was an influential American radical, a pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change.

5

Johnny Longden Died at 96 (1907-2003) - John Eric Longden was an American Hall of Fame jockey who was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. His father emigrated to Canada in 1909, settling in Taber, Alberta. By 1912, Longden Sr. had ...more

6

John A. Volpe Died at 86 (1908-1994) - John Anthony Volpe was an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts from 1961 to 1963 and 1965 to 1969, as the United ...more

7

Carleton S. Coon Died at 77 (1904-1981) - Carleton Stevens Coon was an American physical anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturer and professor at Harvard, and president of the American ...more

8

David Mercer Died at 52 (1928-1980) - David Mercer was an English dramatist.

9

Helen Baxendale age 46 - Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, best known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends, Cardiac Arrest and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.

10

John Travers Wood Died at 76 (1878-1954) - John Travers Wood was a physician and one-term congressman from northern Idaho.

11

Noel Gay Died at 56 (1898-1954) - Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised ...more

12

Reynold C. Fuson Died at 84 (1895-1979) - Reynold Clayton Fuson was an American chemist. Born in Wakefield, Illinois, Fuson attended Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana, where after one year in 1914 he was certified as a ...more

13

Claire Cooper age 36 - Claire Elizabeth Cooper is a British actress, best known for portraying Jacqui McQueen in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a character she had been playing from 2006 to 2013. Cooper co-owns ...more

14

Chris Spence age 45 - Chris Spence is an award winning New Zealand journalist and former political advisor on environmental issues and foreign affairs. He currently has 20 years’ experience working internationally ...more

15

Joseph Bingham Died at 55 (1668-1723) - Joseph Bingham, was an English scholar and divine.

18 Pictures of Taylor Swift Not Wearing Makeup 36 Celebrities Who Were Rich Before They Were Famous

16

John Scott age 59 - John Gavin Scott LVO is an English organist and choirmaster. He directed the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He now directs the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas ...more

17

Tim Booth age 57 - Timothy John Booth is an English singer, dancer and actor best known as the lead singer from the band James.

18

Royal Little Died at 93 (1896-1989) - Royal Little, was the founder and chair of Textron, and is considered to be the Father of Conglomerates. Little graduated from Noble & Greenough School in 1915 and from Harvard University in ...more

19

Luke Burgess age 28 - Luke Burgess is an English professional rugby league footballer for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. He previously played for South Sydney Rabbitohs). A forward like ...more

20

Andy Kelly age 55 - Andy Kelly is a professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and '90s, and rugby league coach, playing at representative level for England, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity, Hull ...more

21

George Burton Died at 35 (1855-1890) - George Burton was a rugby union international who represented England from 1879 to 1881.

22

Thomas Oliver Bennett Died at 53 (1852-1905) - Thomas Oliver Bennett birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English rugby union footballer of the 1870s, playing at representative level for Yorkshire, and at club level for Wakefield ...more

23

Alicia Blagg age 19 - Alicia Blagg is a British diver. In 2010 Blagg became the England's youngest ever double national champion when she won both the 1 metre springboard and 3 metre synchronised titles in the ...more

24

Frederick Lowrie Died at 34 (1868-1902) - Frederick "Fred" William Lowrie born in Wakefield, was a rugby union footballer of the 1880s and '90s, playing at representative level for England, and Yorkshire, and at club level for ...more

25

Geoffrey Clarkson Died at 58 (1943-2001) - Geoffrey "Geoff" Clarkson born in Wakefield, was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, playing representative level rugby union ...more

26

Ian Lyons age 44 - Ian Lyons is an actor.

27

Charles Chester Died at 92 (1919-2011) - Charles T. Chester birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, playing club level rugby union for ...more

28

Leo Douglass Leo Frederick Douglass was a professional football who played in the National Football League in 1926. Douglass split the 1926 season playing for the Brooklyn Lions and the Frankford Yellow ...more

29

Roy Pollard Died at 85 (1927-2012) - Roy Pollard born in Wakefield district, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1940s and '50s, playing at representative level for Great Britain, and England, and at club ...more

Famous Screenwriters from Austria The Worst Things Men Say to Women on Their Period

30

Osbert Mackie Died at 58 (1869-1927) - Osbert Gadesden Mackie was an English rugby union centre and Anglican priest. Mackie played club rugby for Wakefield Trinity and Cambridge University and county rugby for Yorkshire. Mackie ...more

31

Janet Davies Died at 59 (1927-1986) - Janet Kathleen Davies was an English actress best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Pike in the long-running sitcom Dad's Army. Although mainly remembered for her role as Mrs Pike in Dad's ...more

32

Charles Fernandes Died at 87 (1857-1944) - Charles Walker Luis Fernandes born in Wakefield, was a rugby union footballer of the 1880s, playing at representative level for England, and at club level for Leeds, and Yorkshire Wanderers, as ...more

33

Thomas Brackin Died at 65 (1859-1924) - Thomas Brackin was an English first-class cricketer, who played three matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1882. Born in Thornes Common, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, Brackin was a ...more

34

Fairfax Gill Died at 34 (1883-1917) - Fairfax Gill was an English first-class cricketer, who played two matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1906. Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, Gill was a right-handed middle order ...more

35

Terry Caldwell age 77 - Terence "Terry" Caldwell is an English former professional footballer who made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League playing as a defender for Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, ...more

36

Chris Green age 26 - Chris "Greenie" Green is an English professional rugby league footballer, who at club level has played for Hull FC, playing at Prop, or Second-row. He is well known by fans after his ...more

37

Vivian Pitchforth Died at 87 (1895-1982) - Roland Vivian Pitchforth RA ARWS was an English painter, teacher and an official British war artist during World War II. He excelled at watercolours and in later years concentrated on ...more

38

Paul Hicks age 38 - Paul Hicks is a professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s, playing at club level for Normanton, Wakefield Trinity, Batley Bulldogs, and Dewsbury Rams, as a Prop.

39

Bobby Jurasin age 51 - Robert Jurasin is a former defensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1986–1997 and the Toronto Argonauts in 1998. He was a CFL All-Star in 1987, 1988, 1992 and 1997. He was a part ...more

40

Macgraff Leuluai age 25 - Macgraff David E. Leuluai is a New Zealand rugby league player who currently plays for Widnes. His father, James, and his brother, Thomas, have both represented New Zealand and he is part of a ...more

41

Phyllis Katsakiores age 81 - Phyllis M. Katsakiores is an American newspaper reporter and politician who represents the Rockingham 6 district of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She previously served in the House ...more

42

Ernest Bennett Ernest Walter Bennett birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s, playing at club level for Wakefield Trinity, as a Wing, i.e. ...more

43

Geoffrey Oakes age 79 - Geoffrey "Geoff" Oakes born in Belle Vue, Wakefield, is an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1950s and '60s, playing at club level for Wakefield Trinity, and ...more

30 Celebrities Who Have Biracial Children The Best Discovery Channel Shows of All Time

44

Stephen Mumford age 51 - Stephen Dean Mumford is a British philosopher, who is currently Dean of the Faculty of Arts at The University of Nottingham and Professor of Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy. Mumford ...more

45

Clarence Swanson Died at 72 (1898-1970) - Clarence Swanson was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

46

Nealy Crosland Arthur Kenealy "Nealy" Crosland birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s, '10s and '20s, playing at representative level ...more

47

Ray Girardin age 62 - Ray Girardin is an American actor. he studied acting at Boston University on the GI Bill, got his Equity card at the Charles Playhouse, then went off to New York where he did a lot of stage work ...more

48

Lucius Beebe Died at 64 (1902-1966) - Lucius Morris Beebe was an American author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist.

49

Andrew Burt age 70 - Andrew Burt is an English actor, who has appeared in many British TV drama series from the 1970s to the present day. He is perhaps best known as the original Jack Sugden in Emmerdale Farm, a ...more

50

Scott Brown age 57 - Scott Philip Brown is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States Senator from Massachusetts, 2010 to 2013. Prior to his term in the Senate, Brown served as a member of the ...more

1 John W. Mitchell Died at 88 (1917-2005) - John W. Mitchell was a sound mixer and sound recordist.

2 George Gissing Died at 46 (1857-1903) - George Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. Gissing also worked as a teacher and tutor throughout his life. He published his first novel, Workers ...more

3 Adele Stevens age 47

4 David Dellinger Died at 89 (1915-2004) - David T. Dellinger was an influential American radical, a pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change.

5 Johnny Longden Died at 96 (1907-2003) - John Eric Longden was an American Hall of Fame jockey who was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. His father emigrated to Canada in 1909, settling in Taber, Alberta. By 1912, Longden Sr. had ...more

6 John A. Volpe Died at 86 (1908-1994) - John Anthony Volpe was an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts from 1961 to 1963 and 1965 to 1969, as the United ...more

7 Carleton S. Coon Died at 77 (1904-1981) - Carleton Stevens Coon was an American physical anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturer and professor at Harvard, and president of the American ...more

8 David Mercer Died at 52 (1928-1980) - David Mercer was an English dramatist.

9 Helen Baxendale age 46 - Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, best known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends, Cardiac Arrest and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.

10 John Travers Wood Died at 76 (1878-1954) - John Travers Wood was a physician and one-term congressman from northern Idaho.

11 Noel Gay Died at 56 (1898-1954) - Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised ...more

12 Reynold C. Fuson Died at 84 (1895-1979) - Reynold Clayton Fuson was an American chemist. Born in Wakefield, Illinois, Fuson attended Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana, where after one year in 1914 he was certified as a ...more

13 Claire Cooper age 36 - Claire Elizabeth Cooper is a British actress, best known for portraying Jacqui McQueen in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a character she had been playing from 2006 to 2013. Cooper co-owns ...more

14 Chris Spence age 45 - Chris Spence is an award winning New Zealand journalist and former political advisor on environmental issues and foreign affairs. He currently has 20 years’ experience working internationally ...more

15 Joseph Bingham Died at 55 (1668-1723) - Joseph Bingham, was an English scholar and divine.

16 John Scott age 59 - John Gavin Scott LVO is an English organist and choirmaster. He directed the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He now directs the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas ...more

17 Tim Booth age 57 - Timothy John Booth is an English singer, dancer and actor best known as the lead singer from the band James.

18 Royal Little Died at 93 (1896-1989) - Royal Little, was the founder and chair of Textron, and is considered to be the Father of Conglomerates. Little graduated from Noble & Greenough School in 1915 and from Harvard University in ...more

19 Luke Burgess age 28 - Luke Burgess is an English professional rugby league footballer for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. He previously played for South Sydney Rabbitohs). A forward like ...more

20 Andy Kelly age 55 - Andy Kelly is a professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and '90s, and rugby league coach, playing at representative level for England, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity, Hull ...more

21 George Burton Died at 35 (1855-1890) - George Burton was a rugby union international who represented England from 1879 to 1881.

22 Thomas Oliver Bennett Died at 53 (1852-1905) - Thomas Oliver Bennett birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English rugby union footballer of the 1870s, playing at representative level for Yorkshire, and at club level for Wakefield ...more

23 Alicia Blagg age 19 - Alicia Blagg is a British diver. In 2010 Blagg became the England's youngest ever double national champion when she won both the 1 metre springboard and 3 metre synchronised titles in the ...more

24 Frederick Lowrie Died at 34 (1868-1902) - Frederick "Fred" William Lowrie born in Wakefield, was a rugby union footballer of the 1880s and '90s, playing at representative level for England, and Yorkshire, and at club level for ...more

25 Geoffrey Clarkson Died at 58 (1943-2001) - Geoffrey "Geoff" Clarkson born in Wakefield, was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, playing representative level rugby union ...more

26 Ian Lyons age 44 - Ian Lyons is an actor.

27 Charles Chester Died at 92 (1919-2011) - Charles T. Chester birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, playing club level rugby union for ...more

28 Leo Douglass Leo Frederick Douglass was a professional football who played in the National Football League in 1926. Douglass split the 1926 season playing for the Brooklyn Lions and the Frankford Yellow ...more

29 Roy Pollard Died at 85 (1927-2012) - Roy Pollard born in Wakefield district, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1940s and '50s, playing at representative level for Great Britain, and England, and at club ...more

30 Osbert Mackie Died at 58 (1869-1927) - Osbert Gadesden Mackie was an English rugby union centre and Anglican priest. Mackie played club rugby for Wakefield Trinity and Cambridge University and county rugby for Yorkshire. Mackie ...more

31 Janet Davies Died at 59 (1927-1986) - Janet Kathleen Davies was an English actress best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Pike in the long-running sitcom Dad's Army. Although mainly remembered for her role as Mrs Pike in Dad's ...more

32 Charles Fernandes Died at 87 (1857-1944) - Charles Walker Luis Fernandes born in Wakefield, was a rugby union footballer of the 1880s, playing at representative level for England, and at club level for Leeds, and Yorkshire Wanderers, as ...more

33 Thomas Brackin Died at 65 (1859-1924) - Thomas Brackin was an English first-class cricketer, who played three matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1882. Born in Thornes Common, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, Brackin was a ...more

34 Fairfax Gill Died at 34 (1883-1917) - Fairfax Gill was an English first-class cricketer, who played two matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1906. Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, Gill was a right-handed middle order ...more

35 Terry Caldwell age 77 - Terence "Terry" Caldwell is an English former professional footballer who made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League playing as a defender for Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, ...more

36 Chris Green age 26 - Chris "Greenie" Green is an English professional rugby league footballer, who at club level has played for Hull FC, playing at Prop, or Second-row. He is well known by fans after his ...more

37 Vivian Pitchforth Died at 87 (1895-1982) - Roland Vivian Pitchforth RA ARWS was an English painter, teacher and an official British war artist during World War II. He excelled at watercolours and in later years concentrated on ...more

38 Paul Hicks age 38 - Paul Hicks is a professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s, playing at club level for Normanton, Wakefield Trinity, Batley Bulldogs, and Dewsbury Rams, as a Prop.

39 Bobby Jurasin age 51 - Robert Jurasin is a former defensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1986–1997 and the Toronto Argonauts in 1998. He was a CFL All-Star in 1987, 1988, 1992 and 1997. He was a part ...more

40 Macgraff Leuluai age 25 - Macgraff David E. Leuluai is a New Zealand rugby league player who currently plays for Widnes. His father, James, and his brother, Thomas, have both represented New Zealand and he is part of a ...more

41 Phyllis Katsakiores age 81 - Phyllis M. Katsakiores is an American newspaper reporter and politician who represents the Rockingham 6 district of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She previously served in the House ...more

42 Ernest Bennett Ernest Walter Bennett birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s, playing at club level for Wakefield Trinity, as a Wing, i.e. ...more

43 Geoffrey Oakes age 79 - Geoffrey "Geoff" Oakes born in Belle Vue, Wakefield, is an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1950s and '60s, playing at club level for Wakefield Trinity, and ...more

44 Stephen Mumford age 51 - Stephen Dean Mumford is a British philosopher, who is currently Dean of the Faculty of Arts at The University of Nottingham and Professor of Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy. Mumford ...more

45 Clarence Swanson Died at 72 (1898-1970) - Clarence Swanson was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

46 Nealy Crosland Arthur Kenealy "Nealy" Crosland birth registered in Wakefield district, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s, '10s and '20s, playing at representative level ...more

47 Ray Girardin age 62 - Ray Girardin is an American actor. he studied acting at Boston University on the GI Bill, got his Equity card at the Charles Playhouse, then went off to New York where he did a lot of stage work ...more

48 Lucius Beebe Died at 64 (1902-1966) - Lucius Morris Beebe was an American author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist.

49 Andrew Burt age 70 - Andrew Burt is an English actor, who has appeared in many British TV drama series from the 1970s to the present day. He is perhaps best known as the original Jack Sugden in Emmerdale Farm, a ...more

50 Scott Brown age 57 - Scott Philip Brown is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States Senator from Massachusetts, 2010 to 2013. Prior to his term in the Senate, Brown served as a member of the ...more

203