BRUM COCKTAIL

I've only been to Birmingham twice, to give poetry readings, and it seemed like a fine place. However, a familiar cliché has it that, despite being the UK's second largest city after London, no one knows anyone who comes from there. Here is a list of famous Brummies, past and present:

1 Julie Walters - actor
2 George Cadbury – businessman / reformer
3 Ozzy Osbourne – famous Ozzy
4 JRR Tolkein - writer
5 Jonathan Coe - novelist
6 Jamelia – pop singer
7 WH Auden - poet
8 Herbert Austin – car designer
9 Toyah Willcox – actor / singer
10 Enoch Powell - politician
11 Roy Wood – musician with The Move and Wizzard
12 Clare Short - politician
13 John Curry – ice skater
14 Stan Collymore - footballer
15 Roy Fisher - poet
16 Nick Rhodes – Duran Duran musician
17 Edward Burne-Jones – Pre-Raphaelite artist
18 Joan Armatrading - singer
19 Ian Lavender – comic actor
20 Robert Kilroy-Silk – TV presenter and politician
21 David Lodge - novelist
22 Ali Campbell – UB40 musician
23 Barbara Cartland - novelist
24 Nigel Mansell – racing driver
25 Jasper Carrott- comedian
26 John Lodge – Moody Blues musician
27 Benjamin Zephaniah - writer
28 Neville Chamberlain – British prime minister
29 Denise Lewis - athlete
30 John Wyndham - novelist

A list like this is always debatable. I've tended to miss out those (eg Tony Hancock, Phil Lynott, Charles Dance) who spent relatively little time there and 'famous Brummies' who actually come from 'nearby' eg Rik Mayall, Sue Lawley, Frank Skinner and Kevin Rowland.