In pictures: 15 famous people who have lived in or were born in Adur and Arun

By Elaine Hammond

Communities Champion

Published 5th Jan 2023, 15:16 GMT

Updated 5th Apr 2023, 09:20 GMT

When it comes to famous people in Adur and Arun, there are some really interesting connections with Littlehampton and Shoreham in particular, through entertainment, music, sport and politics.

There are some really interesting connections with Littlehampton and Shoreham in particular, through entertainment, music, sport and politics.

There are some really interesting connections with Littlehampton and Shoreham in particular, through entertainment, music, sport and politics

. Famous people in Adur and Arun

There are some really interesting connections with Littlehampton and Shoreham in particular, through entertainment, music, sport and politics Photo: Eddie Mitchell main picture and Getty Images

Founder of The Body Shop, Anita Roddick, grew up in Littlehampton. Like Ronnie Barker, she shopped at Cooper’s Stores and when she set up her first shop in Brighton, it regularly supplied fresh produce to use as raw ingredients for her products, made in her kitchen in Littlehampton. She was named top British businesswoman of all time in 2010.

. Anita Roddick

Founder of The Body Shop, Anita Roddick, grew up in Littlehampton. Like Ronnie Barker, she shopped at Cooper’s Stores and when she set up her first shop in Brighton, it regularly supplied fresh produce to use as raw ingredients for her products, made in her kitchen in Littlehampton. She was named top British businesswoman of all time in 2010. Photo: Louise Adams

Actor and comedian Stanley Holloway lived in East Preston. A blue plaque in his honour was placed on his home at the junction of Tamarisk Way and Angmering Lane by East Preston Parish Council in December 2020. Among his best-known work was his role as Alfred Doolittle, both on stage and in the 1964 film of My Fair Lady. He died of a stroke at Nightingale Nursing Home in Littlehampton in January 1982, aged 91, and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary the Virgin in East Preston.

. Stanley Holloway

Actor and comedian Stanley Holloway lived in East Preston. A blue plaque in his honour was placed on his home at the junction of Tamarisk Way and Angmering Lane by East Preston Parish Council in December 2020. Among his best-known work was his role as Alfred Doolittle, both on stage and in the 1964 film of My Fair Lady. He died of a stroke at Nightingale Nursing Home in Littlehampton in January 1982, aged 91, and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary the Virgin in East Preston. Photo: Sasha/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher grew up in Rustington and began developing his skills as a toddler, when he would played on pots and pans. He attended Rustington Community Primary School and Littlehampton Community School. Ben comes from a musical family and thrived while playing countless gigs across Sussex, as well as teaching the drums to schoolchildren. He and Mike Kerr won a Brit Award in 2015.

. Ben Thatcher

Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher grew up in Rustington and began developing his skills as a toddler, when he would played on pots and pans. He attended Rustington Community Primary School and Littlehampton Community School. Ben comes from a musical family and thrived while playing countless gigs across Sussex, as well as teaching the drums to schoolchildren. He and Mike Kerr won a Brit Award in 2015. Photo: Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images

Pioneer Benjamin Gray left Littlehampton to build a new life in Australia, setting sail with his wife Eliza and son Guildford on October 7, 1838. With other settlers, he founded a new community, named Littlehampton, and added the skills of brewing beer and surveying to his original trade of carpenter. In 2015, a road on the Kingley Gate estate was named after Benjamin Gray as a lasting memorial in his home town and mayor Alan Gammon, pictured, wrote a book about him.

. Benjamin Gray

Pioneer Benjamin Gray left Littlehampton to build a new life in Australia, setting sail with his wife Eliza and son Guildford on October 7, 1838. With other settlers, he founded a new community, named Littlehampton, and added the skills of brewing beer and surveying to his original trade of carpenter. In 2015, a road on the Kingley Gate estate was named after Benjamin Gray as a lasting memorial in his home town and mayor Alan Gammon, pictured, wrote a book about him. Photo: Derek Martin

Suffragette Cicely Hale loved Littlehampton and said she never wanted to live anywhere else. She joined the Suffragettes after seeing Emmeline Pankhurst talk at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. She trained as a midwife and helped mothers in the slums of London before moving to Littlehampton in 1934. She became a Girl Guide leader and was a columnist for Woman’s Own, as well as writing books on child rearing. A plaque and tree in her honour were unveiled in Marina Gardens in June 2018.

. Cicely Hale

Suffragette Cicely Hale loved Littlehampton and said she never wanted to live anywhere else. She joined the Suffragettes after seeing Emmeline Pankhurst talk at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. She trained as a midwife and helped mothers in the slums of London before moving to Littlehampton in 1934. She became a Girl Guide leader and was a columnist for Woman’s Own, as well as writing books on child rearing. A plaque and tree in her honour were unveiled in Marina Gardens in June 2018. Photo: Derek Martin

Music icon Leo Sayer was born in Shoreham and went to school and college in Goring and Worthing. His childhood home in Upper Shoreham Road has since been demolished but he still remembers watching a plane departing Shoreham Airport, which provided the inspiration for his debut solo studio album, Silverbird. He wrote his hit song Moonlighting while he was at a Mexican restaurant in Montague Street.

. Leo Sayer

Music icon Leo Sayer was born in Shoreham and went to school and college in Goring and Worthing. His childhood home in Upper Shoreham Road has since been demolished but he still remembers watching a plane departing Shoreham Airport, which provided the inspiration for his debut solo studio album, Silverbird. He wrote his hit song Moonlighting while he was at a Mexican restaurant in Montague Street. Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

There are some really interesting connections with Littlehampton and Shoreham in particular, through entertainment, music, sport and politics

1. Famous people in Adur and Arun

There are some really interesting connections with Littlehampton and Shoreham in particular, through entertainment, music, sport and politics Photo: Eddie Mitchell main picture and Getty Images

Founder of The Body Shop, Anita Roddick, grew up in Littlehampton. Like Ronnie Barker, she shopped at Cooper’s Stores and when she set up her first shop in Brighton, it regularly supplied fresh produce to use as raw ingredients for her products, made in her kitchen in Littlehampton. She was named top British businesswoman of all time in 2010.

2. Anita Roddick

Founder of The Body Shop, Anita Roddick, grew up in Littlehampton. Like Ronnie Barker, she shopped at Cooper’s Stores and when she set up her first shop in Brighton, it regularly supplied fresh produce to use as raw ingredients for her products, made in her kitchen in Littlehampton. She was named top British businesswoman of all time in 2010. Photo: Louise Adams

Actor and comedian Stanley Holloway lived in East Preston. A blue plaque in his honour was placed on his home at the junction of Tamarisk Way and Angmering Lane by East Preston Parish Council in December 2020. Among his best-known work was his role as Alfred Doolittle, both on stage and in the 1964 film of My Fair Lady. He died of a stroke at Nightingale Nursing Home in Littlehampton in January 1982, aged 91, and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary the Virgin in East Preston.

3. Stanley Holloway

Actor and comedian Stanley Holloway lived in East Preston. A blue plaque in his honour was placed on his home at the junction of Tamarisk Way and Angmering Lane by East Preston Parish Council in December 2020. Among his best-known work was his role as Alfred Doolittle, both on stage and in the 1964 film of My Fair Lady. He died of a stroke at Nightingale Nursing Home in Littlehampton in January 1982, aged 91, and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary the Virgin in East Preston. Photo: Sasha/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher grew up in Rustington and began developing his skills as a toddler, when he would played on pots and pans. He attended Rustington Community Primary School and Littlehampton Community School. Ben comes from a musical family and thrived while playing countless gigs across Sussex, as well as teaching the drums to schoolchildren. He and Mike Kerr won a Brit Award in 2015.

4. Ben Thatcher

Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher grew up in Rustington and began developing his skills as a toddler, when he would played on pots and pans. He attended Rustington Community Primary School and Littlehampton Community School. Ben comes from a musical family and thrived while playing countless gigs across Sussex, as well as teaching the drums to schoolchildren. He and Mike Kerr won a Brit Award in 2015. Photo: Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images