This is a list of people from Sussex, a historic county in southern England. The following are people who were either born, brought up or have lived for a significant period of time in Sussex, or for whom Sussex is a significant part of their identity. Only those meeting notability criteria are included. A few people appear in more than one section of the list.
Arts Actors
George K. Arthur (1899–1985) Alexandra Bastedo (1946–2014) Daniel Betts (born 1971) Amanda Burton (born 1956) Gwendoline Christie (born 1978) Sophie Cookson (born 1990) Michael Elphick (1946–2002) Tara Fitzgerald (born 1967) Philip Friend (born 1915–1987) Judy Geeson (born 1948) Nigel Humphreys (born 1951) Katie Johnson (born 1878–1957) Jane Leeves (born 1961) ('Frasier') Lesley Manville (born 1956) Charlotte Mardyn (1789–1844) Anna Massey (1937–2011) Tamzin Merchant (born 1987) Cecil Parker (1897–1971) Amanda Redman (born 1957) Dakota Blue Richards (born 1994) David Ryall (1935–2014) Greta Scacchi (born 1960) Nicollette Sheridan (born 1963) Hugh Williams (1904–1969)
Architects
Robert Knott Blessley (1833–1923), architect Charles Busby (1786–1834), architect Somers Clarke (1841–1926), architect Ernest Coxhead (1863–1933), Sussex-born American architect John Leopold Denman (1882–1975), architect George Devey (1820–1886), architect Frederick Charles Eden (1864–1944), architect Walter Godfrey (1881–1961), architect Piers Gough (born 1946), architect Nicholas Grimshaw (born 1939), architect Thomas Lainson (1825–1898), architect Harvey Lonsdale Elmes (1814–1847), architect Hugh May (1621–1684), architect John Rebecca (died 1847), architect Ian Ritchie (born 1947), architect Edward Sargent (1842–1914), Sussex-born American architect Henry Bingham Towner (1909–1997), architect Randall Wells (1877–1942), architect Amon Henry Wilds (1784 or 1790–1857), architect Amon Wilds (1762–1833), architect
Artists
Helen Cordelia Angell (1847–1884), watercolour painter Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898), illustrator Raymond Briggs (1934–2022), illustrator, cartoonist and graphic novelist Edward Burra (1905–1976), painter Russell Drysdale (1912–1981), Sussex-born Australian artist Clifford Ellis (1907–1985), printmaker, painter and designer Ralph Ellis (1885–1963), painter and designer of inn signs Eric Gill (1882–1940), sculptor, typeface designer and printmaker Gluck (1895–1978), painter Patricia Goldsmith (1929–2017), painter and printmaker Captain Thomas Honywood (1819–1888), photographer Jamie Hewlett (born 1968), comic creator, animator and designer Edward Johnston (1872–1944), Uruguayan-born craftsman and calligrapher Alison Lapper (born 1965), artist Raoul Millais (1901–1999), portrait painter and equestrian artist Lee Miller (1907–1977), American-born photographer Marianne North (1830–1890), botanical artist Paul Pagk (born 1962), painter Roland Penrose (1900–1984), artist and collector of modern art Eric Ravilious (1903–1942), painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver George Smith (1713/14-1776), landscape painter Hilary Stratton (1906–1985), sculptor Paddy Summerfield (born 1929), artist Paul Tanqueray (1905–1991), photographer Alan Thornhill (1921–2020), sculptor Alfred Tidey (1808–1892), miniature-painter
Broadcasters
Zoe Ball (born 1970), television and radio presenter Hermione Cockburn (born 1973), television and radio presenter Simon Fuller (born 1960), television producer Sarah Kennedy (born 1950), television and radio presenter Des Lynam (born 1942), television presenter Piers Morgan (born 1965), broadcaster and journalist Richard Osman (born 1970), television presenter Jon Snow (born 1947), television presenter and journalist Jamie Theakston (born 1970), television and radio presenter Dan Walker (born 1977), television presenter, journalist and newsreader Holly Willoughby (born 1981), television presenter
Comedians
James Bachman (born 1972), comedian Jo Brand (born 1957), comedian Harry Enfield (born 1961), comedian Stephen Grant (born 1973), comedian Tony Hawks (born 1960), comedian Alex Horne (born 1978), comedian Zoe Lyons (born 1971), comedian Max Miller (1894–1963), comedian Simon Nye (born 1958), comic television writer Paul Putner (born 1966), comedian Romesh Ranganathan (born 1978), comedian
Dancers
Francesca Hayward (born 1992), ballet dancer Nancy Osbaldeston (born 1989), ballet dancer
Fashion designers
Stella McCartney (born 1971) Ted Tinling (1910–1990)
Filmmakers
Adrian Brunel (1892–1958), film director and screenwriter Charles Bennett (1899–1995), film director and screenwriter Don Chaffey (1917–1990), film director, screenwriter and producer Matt Charman (born 1979), screenwriter and producer Jack Clayton (1921–1995), film director and producer Graham Cutts (1884–1958), film director Brian Eastman (born 1949), film producer Sean Ellis (born 1970), film director, screenwriter and producer Robert Fox (born 1952), film producer Charles Frend (1909–1977), film director Manning Haynes (1889–1957), film director Adam Stephen Kelly (born 1990), film director, screenwriter and producer Pete Walker (born 1939), film director, screenwriter and producer
Musicians
Charlesia Alexis (1934–2012), Chagossian singer Anohni (born 1971), singer Brett Anderson (born 1967), singer (Suede, The Tears) Florence Aylward (1862–1950), composer Tony Banks (born 1950), keyboardist Natasha Bedingfield (born 1981), singer-songwriter Wilfred Brown (1921–1971), tenor Henry Burstow (1826–1916), folk singer and bellringer Clara Butt (1872–1936), contralto Nick Cave (born 1957), Australian-born singer, songwriter Celeste (born 1994), singer and songwriter Tom Chaplin (born 1979), singer-songwriter and musician (Keane) Shirley Collins (born 1935), folk singer Ms. Dynamite (born 1981), singer Keith Emerson (1944–2016), keyboardist, songwriter and composer Gary Farr (born 1944), folk/blues singer Ruth Gipps (1921–1999), composer Dominic Glynn (born 1960), electronic composer Harry Gregson-Williams (born 1961), composer Mike Hazlewood (1941–2001), singer, composer and songwriter Nigel Kennedy (born 1956), violinist and violist William Henry Kerridge (1881–1940), organist Pete Kirtley (born 1972), songwriter Vera Lynn (1917–2020), singer and songwriter Conor Maynard (born 1992), singer-songwriter James McCartney (born 1977), musician and songwriter Paul McCartney (born 1942), singer-songwriter, has lived near Rye since the late 1970s Isolde Menges (1893–1976), violinist Tom Odell (born 1990), singer-songwriter Ray Noble (1903–1978), bandleader Passenger (born 1984), singer-songwriter, musician Maisie Peters (born 2000), singer-songwriter Luke Pritchard (born 1985), lead-singer of The Kooks Rag'n'Bone Man (born 1985), singer and songwriter Leslie Rands (1900–1972), opera singer Tim Rice-Oxley (born 1976), musician and singer (Keane) Leo Sayer (born 1948), singer-songwriter Robert Smith (born 1959), singer, songwriter, musician (The Cure) Spider Stacy (born 1958), musician, singer, songwriter (The Pogues) Suggs (born 1961), singer-songwriter, musician (Madness) Nick Van Eede (born 1958), musician, producer, songwriter Thomas Weelkes (1576–1623), composer and organist Bruce Welch (born 1941), guitarist Wreckless Eric (born 1954), singer-songwriter Nicholas Yonge (c.1560–1619), singer
Writers
Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), American-born writer and poet Joan Aiken (1924–2004), novelist Jane Aiken Hodge (1917–2009), American-born writer John Agard (born 1949), Guyanese-born poet Vivien Alcock (1924–2003), writer of children's books Val Andrews (1926–2006), prolific writer on magic Attila the Stockbroker (born 1957), punk poet David Bangs, writer and conservationist Elizabeth Bartlett (1924–2008), poet Viola Bayley (1911–1997), children's author Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898), author Grey Owl (Archibald Stansfield Belaney; 1888–1938) Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), poet and writer Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868–1947), novelist E. F. Benson (1867–1940), writer Clementina Black (1853–1922), writer William Blake (1757–1827), poet Wilfrid Scawffen Blunt (1840–1922), poet and writer Andrew Boorde (c.1490–1549) Joyce Lankester Brisley (1896–1978), writer Arabella Buckley (1840–1929), writer Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), novelist, wrote A Clockwork Orange in Etchingham Anna Burns (born 1962), novelist Edward Carpenter (1844–1929), poet John Caryll (senior) (1625–1711), poet and dramatist William Collins (1721–1759), poet Eliza Cook (1818–1889), writer and Chartist Catherine Cookson (1906–1998), author E.M. Delafield (1890–1943), author Alice Dudeney (1866–1945), author and short story writer Henry Dudeney (1857–1930), author Maureen Duffy (1933–2026), poet, novelist, non-fiction author Anne Francis (1738–1800), author John Fletcher (1579–1625), playwright Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), novelist and poet John Galsworthy (1867–1933), novelist and playwright Neil Gaiman (born 1960), fantasy writer Leon Garfield (1921–1996), writer of children's fiction Angelica Garnett (1918–2012), writer and artist David Garnett (1892–1981), writer Rumer Godden (1907–1998), writer Leon Gordon (1891–1960), playwright Elly Griffiths (born 1963), crime novelist Patrick Hamilton (1904–1962), playwright and novelist David Hare (born 1947), playwright and screenwriter William Hay (1695–1755), writer William Hayley (1745–1820), writer Ralph Hammond Innes (1913–1998), novelist Edward James (1907–1984), poet Henry James (1843–1916), American author Peter James (born 1948), writer of crime fiction P.J. Kavanagh (1931–2015), poet Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887–1956), novelist Grace Kimmins (1870–1954) Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), poet and novelist Damian Le Bas (born 1985), writer Theodora Elizabeth Lynch (1812–1885), poet and novelist Peter Marshall (born 1946), biographer, travel writer and poet Thomas May (1594/5-1650), poet and dramatist Thomas Medwin (1788–1869), writer and poet A. A. Milne (1882–1956), author, best known for his Winnie-the-Pooh books Kate Mosse (born 1961), novelist Grace Nichols (born 1950), Guyanese-born poet William Nicholson (born 1948), screenwriter, novelist and playwright Thomas Otway (1652–1685), dramatist Hilary Douglas Clark Pepler (1878–1951), writer and poet Roland Penrose (1900–1984), poet and artist Valentine Penrose (1898–1978), French-born surrealist poet and author Alex Preston (born 1979), author and journalist Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829–1925), writer Richard Realf (1832–1878), poet Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536–1608), poet and dramatist Malcolm Saville (1901–1982), author Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), Romantic poet Chris Simms (born 1969), author of crime novels George Smith (1713/14-1776), poet Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986), author Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), poet Isabella Tree (born 1964), writer and conservationist Robert Tressell (1870–1911), novelist, The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists Frank Tuohy (1925–1999), writer Charles Webb (1939–2020), American novelist, The Graduate H. G. Wells (1866–1946), writer Barbara Willard (1909–1994), novelist Angus Wilson (1913–1991), novelist and short-story writer Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), writer
Astronauts
Sultan Al Neyadi (born 1981), United Arab Emirates-born astronaut Rosemary Coogan (born 1991), Northern Ireland-born astronaut Tim Peake (born 1972) Piers Sellers (1955–2016)
Explorers
Thomas Bannister (1799–1874), explorer of Western Australia Victor L. A. Campbell (1875–1956), Antarctic explorer Isabella Charlet-Straton (1838–1918), mountaineer, made first winter ascent of Mont Blanc Charles Cooke Hunt (1833–1868), explorer of interior of Western Australia Nicholas Crane (born 1954), explorer and television presenter Ernest Joyce (1875–1940), Antarctic explorer Cecil Pashley (1891–1961), aviation pioneer