Arlene Phillips, Jonathan Pryce and Prue Leith on Queen's Birthday Honours list
- Published
Prue Leith, Arlene Phillips and Jonathan Pryce are among the stars of stage and screen who have been named in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Great British Bake Off judge Leith has been made a dame for services to food, broadcasting and charity.
Choreographer and former Strictly Come Dancing judge Phillips also becomes a dame for services to dance and charity.
And Oscar-nominated actor Pryce has been knighted for services to drama and charity.
Although best-known as a celebrity cook and Bake Off judge, Prue Leith has also had a long career in catering, restaurants and teaching. She has written many cookery books and newspaper columns plus several novels, as well as being involved in charity work.
She has also acted as an adviser on nutrition, most recently for Prime Minister Boris Johnson on how to make hospital food more healthy.
"To be honoured for doing something that you love doing is just the icing on cake, isn't it," she said in a statement.
Arlene Phillips rose to fame in the 1970s as the director of dance troupe Hot Gossip before going on to choreograph West End and Broadway productions such as Flashdance, Grease and We Will Rock You.
She sat at the Strictly judges' desk between 2004-08, and last month joined forces with Strictly dancer Oti Mabuse to stage the European premiere of the musical The Cher Show.
"It's crazy," she said of becoming a dame. "It's wonderful. It has been recognised how important dance is to people. And dance and creating dance is one of the most empowering careers you can have."
Jonathan Pryce was nominated for best actor at last year's Oscars for his role in The Two Popes opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins.
He has also been cast to take over as Prince Philip in the forthcoming final two series of Netflix's The Crown, and played the High Sparrow in the fifth and sixth seasons of Game of Thrones.
Reacting to his knighthood, the actor said: "That the UK continues to honour those that work in the arts acknowledges the great contribution artists make to the way we live our lives."
The arts "remind people to be kinder, more understanding, questioning and to be more empathetic", he said in a statement.
"It shows people the importance of debate and tolerance and these last few divisive years have shown the need for that more than ever. After almost 50 years as an actor I am proud to think that the work and ideals that I have shared with my friends and colleagues is being honoured in this way."
Other entertainment and arts stars honoured
Charlie and Lola author Lauren Child has been made a CBE for services to children's literature, while novelist Philippa Gregory and singer Lulu have received the same title.
Former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross has also been made a CBE for services to broadcasting, and dedicated the honour to the crime science institute founded in memory of his late colleague Jill Dando.
Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman said he was "stunned and genuinely very proud" to be made a CBE for services to music and broadcasting.
Elsewhere, BBC Sport presenter Sue Barker has been made a CBE for services to sport, broadcasting and charity. "Myself and all my family are thrilled, especially my mum, who turns 100 next week," she said.
Barker is joined by last year's Booker Prize chair Margaret Busby, who is made a CBE for services to publishing.
Skunk Anansie singer and author Skin - real name Deborah Dyer - has been made an OBE for services to music, as has cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.
Also receiving OBEs are actress and writer Lolita Chakrabarti and poet and author Lemn Sissay, who reacted by urging people who have grown up in the care system like him to "reach for the stars".
MBEs have also been bestowed upon singer-songwriter Alison Moyet and fellow singer Engelbert Humperdinck for services to music.
"I am so thrilled to be included in The Queen's Birthday Honours list 2021," Humperdinck said in a statement. "What a poignant Moment In Time for me," he added, referring to one of his most famous songs.
The Please Release Me singer described the honour as a "dream come true" and paid tribute to his late wife, adding that he wished she could have shared it with him.
The Repair Shop star Jay Blades has been made an MBE, as have radio presenter Simon Mayo and Luther actress Ruth Wilson.
Robert Rinder - aka TV's Judge Rinder - has been similarly honoured for services to Holocaust education and awareness.
The barrister helped the second and third generations of families who experienced the Holocaust to retrace their relatives' footsteps in the show My Family, The Holocaust and Me.
He said being made an MBE on the same day as his mother Angela Cohen - chairwoman of the '45 Aid Society, a charity set up by a group of child Holocaust survivors in 1963 - made the experience "all the richer and frankly the more beautiful".
Follow us on Facebook, external or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, external. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk, external.
- Published11 June 2021
- Published11 June 2021
- Attribution
- Published11 June 2021
- Published9 October 2020