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5 Celebrities with Yorkshire Connections

While Yorkshire boasts many celebrities, who are born and bred in the county there are others which manage to slip through the net. Below is a run down of five celebrities who have their roots in God’s own county, even if they have made their fame and fortune elsewhere. 

1. Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran was born in Hebden Bridge, despite finding his fortune in London. Picture credit: Eva Rinaldi wikipedia creative commons
Ed Sheeran was born in Hebden Bridge, despite finding his fortune in London. Picture credit: Eva Rinaldi wikipedia creative commons

The singer-songwriter may have become famous for busking on the streets of London before hitting the big time, but perhaps it is less known that the ginger one is also a Yorkshireman. He was actually born in Hebden Bridge before moving darn sarf to Framlington in Suffolk and then to London to seek his musical fortune. One farmer in Thirsk reported that his hens laid more eggs while Ed Sheeran music was played in the coup. It must be the Yorkshire accent…

2. Lena Heady

Actress Lena Heady partly grew up in Huddersfield before riding to King's Landing. Picture credit: Denny Harrison wikipedia creative commons.
Actress Lena Heady partly grew up in Huddersfield before riding to King’s Landing. Picture credit: Denny Harrison wikipedia creative commons.

Cersei, the Wicked Queen from Game of Thrones was born in Bermuda, but before hitting the big time lived and attended school in Huddersfield. Her Yorkshire parents brought her back home when she was eleven and spent much of her teenage years in West Yorkshire. Heady even got the acting bug while attending Shelley College, before being scouted and moved to the big wide world aged seventeen to pursue a career which would eventually see her on GoT.

3. Radamel Falcao

Surprisingly, Colombian footballer, Radamel Falcao has some Yorkshire blood in his veins. Picture credit: Amarhgil wikipedia creative commons.
Surprisingly, Colombian footballer, Radamel Falcao has some Yorkshire blood in his veins. Picture credit: Amarhgil wikipedia creative commons.

Perhaps the most surprising person on this list is Colombian footballer, Radamel Falcao. The striker has a Yorkshire Great- Grandfather, called George King, who emigrated to Colombia from the village of Burn near Selby in 1932. He worked for the United Fruit company as an accountant and settled in the country for 28 years, before being brutally murdered by robbers in 1960.

4. David Bowie

David Bowie's paternal family have strong Yorkshire roots. Picture credit: Aureola wikipedia creative commons.
David Bowie’s paternal family have strong Yorkshire roots. Picture credit: Aureola wikipedia creative commons.

The late, great pop star may have been known for his southern drawls, but his Dad was a Donny lad through and through. The Jones family in Doncaster used to own a boot and shoe company on St Sepulchre in the 1900s, but David’s branch of the family moved to London in the 1960s. During the Ziggy Stardust era, Bowie’s backing musicians, the Spiders from Mars hailed from Hull.

5. Jeremy Paxman

The famous Paxman stare has its origins in Leeds. Picture credit: Duncan Hull wikipedia creative commons.
The famous Paxman stare has its origins in Leeds. Picture credit: Duncan Hull wikipedia creative commons.

Once the BBC’s main attack dog on Newsnight, it is unsurprising that his Yorkshire terrier-like interviewing style had many a slippery southern politician in knots. The Paxman was born in Leeds in 1950 before moving down south to Pershore and studied at Cambridge, before making it on TV with the BBC. An episode of “Who Do you Think You Are,” revealed that his ancestors had moved from Suffolk during the Victorian Times to work in the West Yorkshire cotton mills.