To Sir... With Love & Classy Dames
"Well I still feel I've been slighted. It's not only Alec, it's all the others as well, Sir Lawrence Oliver, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir John Gingold, all that mob. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me." - Hancock
Hancock's Half Hour, 'The Knighthood': Galton and Simpson (1959)
In the wake of the Baftas, the Golden Globes, the Oscars (and even the Razzies), the bfi National Library is proud to present a celebration of our greatest acting talent as recognised by that other bi-annual awards ceremony - the Honours List.
To complement a physical display of current and historical materials in the bfi National Library Reading Room, here is a small selection of the many Knights and Dames, past and present, and some of the films that connect them together.
Ladies first... The Classy Dames
Wendy Hiller (Awarded the DBE in 1975) was in Major Barbara (1941) with...
Sybil Thorndike (Awarded the DBE 1931) who was in The Magic Box (1951) with...
Margaret Rutherford (Awarded the DBE 1967) who was in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) with...
Edith Evans (Awarded the DBE 1946) who was in Young Cassidy (1965) with...
Maggie Smith (Awarded the DBE 1990) who was in Memento Mori: Screen Two (1992) with...
Thora Hird (Awarded the DBE 1993)
To Sir...With Love
The David Lean Connection
Here are 6 Knights who have all starred in films connected with Sir David Lean (Knighted in 1984)
Richard Attenborough (Knighted in 1976, made a Life Peer in 1993) was in In Which We Serve (1942) co-directed by David Lean
Peter Ustinov (Knighted in 1990) was in One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942), edited by David Lean
Alec Guinness (Knighted in 1959) was in (among many others) Great Expectations (1946), directed by David Lean
Ralph Richardson (Knighted in 1947) was in The Sound Barrier (1952), directed by David Lean.
John Mills (Knighted in 1976) was in Hobson's Choice (1953), directed by David Lean
Donald Wolfit (Knighted in 1957) was in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), directed by David Lean
Complete list
Here is our complete list of honoured individuals from the world of film, television and entertainment. Have we missed anyone or are the details incorrect? We want to hear from you.
To Sir, With Love
- George Alexander (1918)
- David Attenborough (1996)
- Richard Attenborough (1993)
- Frank Benson (1916)
- Dirk Bogarde (1992)
- Malcolm Bradbury (2000)
- Michael Caine (2000)
- Charles Chaplin (1974)
- Sean Connery (1999)
- Billy Cotton Jr (2001)
- Gerald Du Maurier (1922)
- Denis Forman
- David Frost (1993)
- John Gielgud (1953)
- Peter Hall (1977)
- John Martin Harvey (1921)
- Charles Hawtrey (silent star) (1922)
- Seymour Hicks (1935)
- Alfred Hitchcock (1980)
- Ian Holm (1998)
- Bob Hope (1998 honorary)
- Anthony Hopkins (1993) (became US citizen 2000)
- Derek Jacobi (1994)
- Ben Kingsley (2002)
- Harry Lauder (1919)
- David Lean (1984)
- Paul McCartney (1997)
- Trevor McDonald (1999)
- Ian McKellen (1991)
- Jonathan Miller (2002)
- John Mills (1976)
- Roger Moore (2003)
- Laurence Olivier (1947)
- Alan Parker (2002)
- Nigel Playfair (1928)
- David Puttnam (1997)
- Michael Redgrave (1959)
- Cliff Richard (1995)
- Ralph Richardson (1947)
- George Robey (1954)
- Ridley Scott (2003)
- Harry Secombe (1981)
- Run Run Shaw (?)
- C. Aubrey Smith (1944)
- Guy Standing (1918)
- John Standing (hereditary)
- Simeon Stuart (192?)
- Peter Ustinov (1990)
- Norman Wisdom (2000)
- Donald Wolfit (1950)
Classy Dames
- Judith Anderson (1960)
- Julie Andrews (2000)
- Peggy Ashcroft (1956)
- Cicely Courtneidge (1972)
- Judi Dench (1988)
- Edith Evans (1946)
- Wendy Hiller (1975)
- Thora Hird (1993)
- Vera Lynn (1975)
- Helen Mirren (2003)
- Anna Neagle (1969)
- Joan Plowright (2004)
- Diana Rigg (1994)
- Margaret Rutherford (1967)
- Maggie Smith (1990)
- Elizabeth Taylor (2000)
- Ellen Terry (1925)
- Sybil Thorndike (1931)
- May Whitty (1918)
