A search on the internet for "What is Brighton famous for?" brings up loads
of results for famous people of all types who were born, lived and died in
Brighton, a trendy seaside resort on England’s south coast. Here's a few noteworthy examples ...
Located on England's southern coast, Brighton is known for its remarkably "eclectic" population. The resort is chock full of celebs and always has been.
Any holidaymaker walking around hotels in Brighton, may rub shoullders with X-Factor finalists or Strictly Come Dancing hopefuls, but many more A-Listers -- as well as the great and the good -- have chosen to make their home there by the sea, just an hour or so from London's glitzy West End.
The list of famous Brightonians -- past and present -- includes ...
George IV: Often credited with beginning the "Brighton craze," the resort’s popularity soared in popularity after George -- the flambouyant Prince Regent who built Brighton Pavilion as his seaside retreat-- decided to make his home in Brighton. Locals capitalized on the new popularity by building "bathing machines" to carry fully-clothed bathers into the sea.
Sir David Attenborough: Officially a "National Treasure", the naturalist and younger brother of stage and screen legend Lord "Dickie" Attenborough is a long-time Brighton resident. While largely retired from exploring the world for TV wildlife programmes, "Dave" was recently seen playing the floor polisher on the BBC's Last Night of the Proms.
Max Miller, variety entertainer: Miller, a well-known wartime-era stand-up comic with bawdy routines that often ended in BBC bans, spent his entire life in Brighton. Even after achieving tremendous fame, Miller eschewed London society, preferring to live with "his own people".
Simon Cowell: the record boss and X-Factor supremo has a home in Brighton -- one of many around the world.
Charles II: After escaping from the Roundheads in the English Civil War, the beleaguered Charles -- then Prince of Wales -- stayed in Brighton, disguised as a servant, before fleeing to France. His flight is commemorated in an annual race.
Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator. If you’ve ever read -- or even thumbed through -- the marvelously illustrated "Le Morte d’Arthur" by Thomas Mallory, you’ve undoubtedly been transfixed by the flowing, sensual drawings of this famous Art Nouveau illustrator. Beardsley was born in Brighton and lived at 31 Buckingham Road. Even as a young student at the grammar school, Beardsley showed natural aptitude for art -- but was noted as "poor with sums"
Katie Price: Glamour model Katie aka Jordan lived with her husband Peter Andre before the couple's acrimonious split in May 2009. Katie still occupies the family home with her children.
Laurence Olivier: Lord Olivier of Brighton lived at Royal Crescent at a time when he was at the pinnacle of his career and the leading light of British theatre and holywood movies. In Brighton he is perhaps best known for a successful campaign to have kippers restored to the menu of the London-Brighton train service.
Lewis Carroll: The Rev. Charles Dodgson was author of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass." While not a permanent resident, The Oxford academic spent many of his summers at Brighton hotels, or with friends, visiting frequently between 1864 and 1887. In fact, he was so taken with the seaside town that he is said to have modeled the famous "rabbit hole" after a small tunnel running down to the sea. In 1885, Carroll watched the stage play version of Alice in Wonderland at the Theatre Royal.
Edward VII: Following an illness in 1908, King Edward joined the list of Royal residents when he convalesced at Fife House in 1908. During his time there the ornate and extensive gardens of the Kemp Town Enclosure were set aside exclusively for his use.
Zoe Ball and Norman Cooke (aka Fatboy Slim): The celeb couple have lived in Hove -- the other half of the city of Brighton and Hove -- all their married life. Despite a wobble in 2003 when the couple temporarily split over an affair Ball had with close friend of Cook and fellow DJ Dan Peppe, they have a nine-year-old son, Woody, and are expecting another child in February 2010.
Vita Sackville West, author. While workmen transformed her seaside home, Sussex Mansions, for the then-princely sum of £50,000, Vita -- author of The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931) --stayed in local hotels. Brighton was Vita's home for much of her life.
Henry Allingham: You’ve not heard of him? World War One veteran and the last surviving member of the original Royal Flying Corps was the world’s oldest man when he moved to Brighton shortly before his death in July 2009.
Max is an author, writer and editor. He is married with two children and an ungrateful cat and lives in south east London, not Brighton. He is also not famous.
