Did you know that Bournemouth has been home to a whole stream of successful, and famous, actors, musicians, sportspeople and lots more? Below is a hotlist of the town’s hall of fame.. Can you add any more names to it? If so, email us at info@eliteliving.club..

1. Christian Bale
The Oscar winning actor and star of The Dark Knight and American Psycho attended Bournemouth School until the age of 16. He earned a reputation as a method actor after he lost 63 pounds for his role in The Machinist and has been recently nominated for his second Oscar for his leading role in American Hustle.

2. Tony Hancock
One of Britain’s best-known comedians and actors was brought up in Bournemouth where his father worked as an entertainer at the Railway Hotel in Holdenhurst Road. He was educated at Durlston Court, but left school at 15. His popular show Hancock’s Half Hour is now a British comedy classic.

3. Alex James
Best known for playing the bass with the band Blur and claims to have spent more than a million pounds on champagne and cocaine. He attended Bournemouth School, before going to Goldsmiths College in London where he met Graham Coxon, who was a fellow founding member of Blur.

4. J.R.R Tolkien
The legendary creator of Middle Earth spent the final part of his life in Bournemouth accompanied by his wife Edith. He had previously come on holiday to the seaside town every summer for 30 years, always staying at the same room in Hotel Miramar. He lived in a house off Branksome Chine from the 1960s until his death in 1973.

5. Jane Goodall
World-renowned primatologist and conservationist Dr Jane Goodall grew up in a Bournemouth before starting her 45-year study of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Her passion for the world sprouted in the backyard of her childhood home where she climbed her beech tree and made elderberry wine with her grandmother.

6. Tony Blackburn
The Radio One legend is perhaps best-known for broadcasting on the “pirate” stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first DJ to broadcast on BBC Radio One in 1967. His family moved to Bournemouth when he was three-years-old and he spent several years living in Lilliput.

7. Bill Bryson
The best-selling American author spent two-years working as a sub-editor for the Bournemouth Echo and wrote about his experiences in Notes from a Small Island. In 2005 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University and has taken an active role in the Streets of Bournemouth project.

8. Jamie Redknapp
Retired midfielder and Sky Sports pundit, Jamie started his professional career at the age of 16 at AFC Bournemouth and made 13 appearances for the club before attracting the attention of Liverpool. He gained 17 England caps between and has a house in Branksome Park which he shares with his wife Louise.

9. Gareth Malone
Presenter of the BAFTA-award-winning TV series The Choir, the musically-gifted Gareth Malone was educated at Bournemouth School and sang with the Symphony Chorus of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He was given an OBE in the 2012 Birthday Honours list for his services to music.

10. Freddie Mills
World light heavyweight champion Freddie Mills was described as Britain’s biggest boxing idol in the post-war period. Born in 1919 as the youngest of four children, he attended St Michael’s School in Bournemouth and spent much of his earlier life in the area.

11. Max Bygraves
The comedian, singer and actor made twenty Royal Variety Performances and presented numerous programmes including Family Fortunes. He lived in Alum Chine in Bournemouth for many years before retiring to Australia in 2008, but sadly passed away in 2012.

12. Amanda Holden
Now famous for her role as a judge on the ITV talent show, Britain’s Got Talent, Amanda has also starred in Wild at Heart and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her title performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie. She moved to Bournemouth at the age of 16 and studied drama at Bournemouth and Poole College.

13. Janet Montgomery
A native of Bournemouth, Janet Montgomery moved to London when she received a scholarship at a dance school. One of her first acting jobs was a guest star role on the critically-acclaimed UK teen drama series Skins as Nicholas Hoult’s love interest. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Montgomery recurred on the HBO series Entourage as E’s assistant and Drama’s girlfriend.
She played one of the dancers opposite Natalie Portman in Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar-nominated psychological thriller Black Swan. She has also starred in Jesse Peretz’s Our Idiot Brother opposite Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks.

14. Adam Lallana
Lallana was born in St Albans in Hertfordshire but moved to the Iford area of Bournemouth when he was five years old. He attended Corpus Christi School followed by St Peter’s Catholic Comprehensive School. As a child, Lallana supported Everton, like his father.

15. Gordon The Tramp
Gordon Roberts (born 1928), better known as Gordon the Tramp, is a resident of Bournemouth who is famous for always knowing the correct time even though he does not own a watch. He is a well known character in Bournemouth with his large beard and Manchester United scarf, which he wears to all the AFC Bournemouth games. Despite his nickname, Roberts is not actually a homeless man as he owns a house in Charminster, Bournemouth. Roberts became an internet phenomenon when Chris Kimber, a Bournemouth University student, created a Facebook page on his behalf. As of January 2010 he has gathered an appreciative collection of 14,685 friends on this site.

16. Wendy Richard
Richard, famous for her role as Pauline Fowler in Eastender, was an only child, born in Middlesbrough in 1943. Her parents, Henry and Beatrice Reay Emerton, were publicans and ran the Corporation Hotel in the town. Emerton and Cutter married in Paddington in 1939. While Richard was a baby, her family moved to Bournemouth. They later moved to the Isle of Wight and then to London, where acting eventually became her living.

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Main picture: Janet Montgomery
Source: various (including Bournemouth Echo, IMDb and more)