Among those who were born in the London Borough of Hackney ( pronunciation ), or have dwelt within the borders of the modern borough are (alphabetical order, within category):
Arts and entertainment
Aba Shanti-I, born Joseph Smith, sound system operator and dub producer
Jamie Adenuga, Grime rapper, known as JME; co-founder of Boy Better Know
Joseph Adenuga, Grime artist, songwriter and record producer. Better known as "Skepta"
Freema Agyeman, actress, born and brought up on the Woodberry Down estate
Eileen Atkins, actress
Derek Bailey, avant-garde guitarist and leading figure in the free improvisation movement
Jeremy Beadle, television presenter
Steven Berkoff, playwright and actor, educated at Hackney Downs School
Marc Bolan, musician, born at Homerton and brought up at Stoke Newington Common
Richard 'Abs' Breen, singer and member of pop band Five; raised in Hackney
Buster Bloodvessel, born Douglas Trendle, singer and frontman of Bad Manners, lived at Clapton Common
Bernard Butler, guitarist, known for his time with Suede; born in Stamford Hill
Michael Caine, actor, educated at Hackney Downs School
Phil Collen, guitarist with Def Leppard
Adam Deacon, actor, brought up in Stoke Newington
Rob Dean, guitarist of new wave band Japan; was associated in his first years with Clapton (probably was born and/or brought up there)
DJ Dextrous, born Errol Francis, Ivor Novello Award- and BAFTA Award-winning producer and DJ known as Dextrous; born in Stoke Newington
DJ Luck, born Joel Samuels, from the garage duo DJ Luck & MC Neat
Pete Doherty, musician, lived in a flat in Hackney which was the site of many after-gig parties for his fans
Idris Elba, actor in television, theatre and film; hip-hop soul musician
Paloma Faith, singer/songwriter, born and lived in Stoke Newington
Michael Fassbender, actor, lives in Hackney
Noel Fielding, comedian, as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh
Colin Firth, actor, lived at Sutton Place, Homerton
Green Gartside, musician and frontman of Scritti Politti; lives in Dalston and formed his band in a Hackney pub
Professor Green, rapper and singer; lived in Stamford Hill and Manor House
Charlie Harper (singer) , British singer and songwriter, lead singer of the punk band U.K. Subs.Born in Hackney.
Carol Harrison, actress, known as Louise Raymond in EastEnders; lives at Victoria Park, South Hackney
Sara Hennell, author
Gwyneth Herbert, singer-songwriter, lives in the borough
Maddy Hill, actress, known for her role as Nancy Carter in EastEnders
Alfred Hitchcock, film director, began his career at the Gainsborough Studios in Shoreditch
Hetty King, male impersonator of the music hall era; born in Shoreditch
Labrinth, singer/songwriter and music producer
Leona Lewis, singer, songwriter, first female winner of The X Factor; lived in Stamford Hill
Marie Lloyd, entertainer, born in Hoxton and lived her later life in Hackney
Lily Loveless, actress from BAFTA Award-winning drama Skins; born in Finsbury Park, London
Peter Lowe, artist, born at Victoria Park, South Hackney
Syrie Maugham, interior decorator
Nicko McBrain, drummer for Iron Maiden
Hoxton Tom McCourt, musician, face, born in Hoxton
Martine McCutcheon, actress and singer
Lenny McLean, bare knuckle/unlicensed boxer, actor, born in Hoxton
Tom McRae, singer and songwriter, lived in Dalston and Hackney
Bill Meyer, printmaker and artist
Dicky Moore, musician
Esau Mwamwaya, Malawian singer
Trevor Nelson, disc jockey for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra
Anthony Newley, actor and singer, born in Homerton
Tom Raworth, poet and visual artist, lived in Amhurst Road in the early1960s
Mike Reid, actor and comedian
Rudimental, drum and bass group
Maverick Sabre, vocalist and rapper
Helen Shapiro, singer, educated at Clapton Park Girls School
Daniel Sharman, actor, known for his roles in Teen Wolf and The Originals
Matt Shultz, co-founder of band Cage the Elephant; lived in Lower Clapton Road in the early 2000s
Anthony Smee, theatre producer, writer, stage, radio, television and film actor
Adrian Smith, guitarist with Iron Maiden
Jessica Tandy, actress, born in Clapton
Sid Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie, musician and singer with the Sex Pistols
Rachel Whiteread, artist, lives and works in Dalston
Barbara Windsor, actress, born in Shoreditch and lived in Stoke Newington
Ray Winstone, actor, born in Homerton
Paigey Cakey, MC, born in Hackney.
John Aikin, physician and author (Evenings at Home), brother of ALB
Silvanus Bevan (1691–1765), apothecary and Fellow of the Royal Society
Edith Cavell, nurse and spy executed in Belgium in 1915, worked at St Leonard's Hospital
John Coakley Lettsome, Quaker physician and abolitionist
James Parkinson, physician and researcher; known for identifying Parkinson's Disease; lived in Hoxton
Hannah Woolley, (1622 – c.1675) writer, amateur physician and advocate for female education; opened a school in Hackney
Politics and government
Henry Allingham, briefly the world's oldest man and World War I veteran
Major John André, soldier, executed as a spy by George Washington, lived with his Huguenot family at Clapton
Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, lived at 59 Mapledene Road in London Fields 1980–86
Paul Boateng, previously High Commissioner to South Africa, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Labour Party Member of Parliament for Brent South; born in Hackney
Harry Cohen, Labour Member of Parliament, born in Hackney
William Randal Cremer, Liberal MP for Haggerston; pacifist; winner of the 1903 Nobel Peace Prize
John Howard, prison reformer, born and raised in Lower Clapton
John Hunter, governor of New South Wales lived and is buried in Hackney
Samuel Morley, philanthropist and abolitionist, born in Homerton and lived in Stamford Hill
Colonel John Okey, regicide of Charles I, lived in Hackney
Nat Wei, youngest Life Peer ever to enter the House of Lords; social entrepreneur and senior advisor to the Cabinet Office on Big Society; currently living in Haggerston
Ife Grillo, Vice Chair of the British Youth Council. He was raised in Hackney and was a former member of the Hackney Youth Parliament and represented them to the UK Youth Parliament
Arguably, all the English Dissenters associated with Newington Green Unitarian Church, as the church itself lies within Hackney, although the rest of the green (and thus most of the houses) belong to Islington. Notable ministers of the church:
Richard Price, political radical who preached on the French and American Revolutions (see Revolution Controversy)
Thomas Rees, a leading authority of the history of Unitarianism, and made connections with the Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Eric Bristow, darts champion
Kieran Dixon, professional Rugby league player for London Broncos, Hull KR
Bert Goodman, professional footballer, born in Dalston
Ron 'Chopper' Harris, footballer for Chelsea F.C., raised in Hackney
Shaka Hislop, former goalkeeper for West Ham United and Trinidad and Tobago, born in Hackney
Phillips Idowu, world champion triple jumper, born and grew up in Hackney
Anne Keothavong, tennis player; grew up in Hackney and learned to play on park courts in the borough; still lives in Hackney
Kevin Lisbie, football player for Charlton Athletic, born in Hackney
Sanchez Watt, professional footballer playing for Arsenal
Kaiyne Woolery, professional footballer for Bolton Wanderers.
List of people from Hackney Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
