Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. The following is a list of those people who were either born or live in Beckenham, or else had important connections to make to the town.

A Raymond Adamson (1920–2002), television actor Rory Allen (born 1977), football player Julie Andrews (born 1935), actress, singer, author Claude Ashton (1901–1942), football player, cricketer, hockey player Gerald Aste (1900–1961), cricketer

B A.L. Barker (1918–2002), novelist, short story writer Django Bates (born 1960), composer; multi-instrumentalist, band leader Hugh Bean (1929–2003), violinist Floella Benjamin (born 1949), actress, singer and TV presenter John Bennett (1928–2005), actor Enid Blyton (1897–1968), children’s writer Frank Bourne (1855–1945), Anglo-Zulu War veteran David Bowie (1947–2016), musician, actor, producer, arranger Zowie Bowie (born 1971), film director (and son of David Bowie) Betty Box (1915–1999), film producer and screenwriter Sydney Box (1907–1983), film producer and screenwriter Tony Bradman (born 1954), children’s author Peircy Brett (1709–1781), admiral in Royal Navy; politician Bob Broadbent (1924–1993), cricketer Ali Brown (born 1970), cricketer Godfrey Bryan (1902–1991), cricketer Jack Bryan (1896–1985), cricketer Ronnie Bryan (1898–1970), cricketer Stuart Bunce (born 1971), actor Arthur Gardiner Butler (1844–1925), entomologist

C Pat Coombs (1926–2002), actress James Cossins (1933–1997), actor

D Richard Daintree (1831–1878), geologist and photographer T. Pelham Dale (1821–1892), Anglo-Catholic ritualist clergyman Samuel Daukes (1811–1880), architect Maurice Denham (1909–2002), actor

E George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland (1784–1849), politician and colonial administrator William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland (1745–1814), politician and diplomat Philip Ensor (1920–1941), British flying ace of the Second World War Carl Erhardt (1897–1988), ice hockey player

F Mary Farmer (1940–2021), textile artist and designer Liam Fontaine (born 1986), football player Philip Fotheringham-Parker (1907–1981), racing driver Peter Frampton (born 1950), singer-songwriter and musician

H Haircut 100, New wave/Jazz-funk band formed in 1980 by Nick Heyward John Pennington Harman (1914–1944), recipient of the Victoria Cross David Haye, boxer Alec Hearne (1863–1952), cricketer Nick Heyward (born 1961), singer, guitarist Leigh Hinds (born 1978), football player C. Walter Hodges (1909–2004), illustrator and author Elizabeth Hope (1842–1922), evangelist; temperance movement Charles Howard (1904–1982), cricketer

J Steve Jansen (born 1959), musician Graham Johnson (born 1946), cricketer

K Georgina Kennedy (born 1997), professional squash player (Commonwealth Games champion 2022) Rob Key (born 1979), cricketer Daniel King (born 1963), chess player; writer and journalist John Kingman (born 1939), mathematician

L Kate Lawler (born 1980), TV presenter, disc jockey, winner of Big Brother UK Alfred Layman (1858–1940), cricketer Mark Lovell (born 1983), football player

M Andrew Manze (born 1965), baroque violinist and conductor Piers Merchant (1951–2009), politician Bob Monkhouse (1928–2003), entertainer Ivor Moreton (1908–1984), singer and pianist, lived in Beckenham during World War IIThe National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/1215E

O John Orchard (1928–1995), film actor (M*A*S*H) Jonathan Orders (born 1957), cricketer

P Arthur Beresford Pite (1861–1934), architect Mary Potter (1900–1981), painter James Pigott Pritchett (1789–1868), architect Frank Pullen (1915–1992), businessman and builder

R Cornthwaite Rason (1858–1927), Premier of Western Australia Dorothy Richardson (1873–1957), novelist Christopher Ricks (born 1933), literary critic Ken Ritchie (born 1946), psephologist Ritchie (vocalist) (born 1952), British-Brazilian musician

S Stanley Scott (1854–1933), cricketer Richard Smith (born 1971), fingerstyle guitarist Wende Snijders (born 1978), Dutch singer Frank Spenlove-Spenlove (1868–1933), painter; founder of "Yellow Door School of Art" in Beckenham David Sylvian (born 1958), singer, musician, composer

T Richard Thorpe (born 1984), rugby union player

V Paul Volley (born 1975), rugby union player

W Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (1898–1983), rugby union player and politician Bill Wyman, bass guitarist, member of the Rolling Stones, lived at 44 Birkbeck Road, Beckenham in the 1960s

References