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Arts & Media

ACTORS & THEATRE

Burgess, John C
1964
Literary Manager of the National Theatre, the post first held by Kenneth Tynan (1945).

Carey, John
1996
Five times World Irish Dance Champion who starred in Riverdance whilst still at KES. He was chosen as the understudy for Michael Flatley in the famous Lord of the Dance tour before taking the lead role himself in Lord of the Dance 2.

Cooper, George Melville
1913
Actor on stage and screen.

French, Robin
1997
Writer in Residence, Birmingham Repertory Theatre (2013- ); co-creator of BBC series, Cuckoo, with fellow Old Ed Kieron Quirke (1997).

Huntley, Raymond
1922
Actor on stage, in films and television.

Jackson, Angus
1991
Season Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company

Joseph, Nathan
1957
Entrepreneur; founder of Transatlantic Records, and later a theatrical producer and agent; member of the Council of the Theatrical Managers' Association, and of the Theatre Advisory Council.

Lee, Kevin (Kevin Elyot)
1970
Actor in theatre and on television; writer of plays, television adaptations of Agatha Christie and other works; winner of the Writers Guild Award (1991).

Natkiel, Alastair M H 
1999
Television and stage actor, appeared in West End productions Shrek the Musical and Strangers on a Train

Oddie, William E (Bill)
1960
Humorist, entertainer and actor, becoming famous as one of The Goodies; scriptwriter, TV presenter, bird watcher. Winner of the Silver Rose Award at the Montreux Festival.

Quirke, Kieron
1997
Co-creator of BBC series, Cuckoo, with fellow Old Ed Robin French (1997).

Rees, Walter Llewellyn
1920
Actor; general secretary of British Actors Equity (1940-1946); administrator of the Old Vic (1949-1951) and other theatres

Spicer, Charles
1973
Actor.

Wattis, Richard
1926
Actor on stage, in films and television.


ARTISTS

Burne-Jones, Edward Coley
1852
Kt; Artist, one of the leading members of the pre-Raphaelite movement; friend of Dixon (1852).

Cox, David
1795
Artist; according to The Dictionary of National Biography, attended the grammar school in Birmingham "for a short time".

Harvey, Neil
1978
Artist.

Jacot, Emile Wilkinson
1914
Sculptor, won British School at Rome Scholarship in Sculpture 1925; left KES 1914, commissioned in Royal Warwickshire Regiment, wounded on the Somme 1916

Watts, James Thomas
c 1870
Artist, disciple of the pre-Raphaelites, first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878


DESIGNERS

Gerrard, David
1961
FCSD ASTD; after working as a designer in Pakistan and Canada formed a design consultancy in Edinburgh, Gerrard & Medd; Design Council Scottish Designer of the Year in 1980; Vice president of the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) 1990-93 and Chairman of the CSD in Scotland.


MUSICIANS

Deathridge, John William
1963
Musician, FRCO; Wagner buff; Fellow of King's College, Cambridge (1983-1995); Professor of Music, King's College, London (1996-)

Downes, Edward
1939
Conductor. Associate Music Director, Covent Garden, from 1991.  Director of the Australian Opera, Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and the Netherlands Radio Orchestra. Kt (1991).

Foxley, Ray G
1947
Jazz Musician

Goulding, Fraser J
1966
Director of Music and permanent conductor, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1979 until its closure in 1982; since then, a freelance conductor.

Gray, Jeremy
1972
Founder of the Bampton Classical Opera.

Jordan, John
1959
FRCO; Master of Music, Chelmsford Cathedral (1965-1981); President of the Incorporated Association of Organists (1975-1977); Director of Music Studies, Yamaha School of Music, Kuching, Sarawak (1988-1991).

Lawrence, Tim
2007
Tenor with the Bergen Opera Company, died in a skiing accident in December 2015

Long, David E
1964
Hon Secretary of the Royal Philharmonic Society (2012-)

Lowe, David
1975
Master of the Music of Norwich Cathedral (2007-2011). Conductor of many choirs and director of choral workshops in the UK and Europe.

Miller, Alan
1860s
D Mus, organist, scholar and journalist; organist of Brisbane Catholic Cathedral and conductor of Brisbane Musical Union; later, in South Africa, organist at Pietermaritzburg Catholic Church, Conductor of Pietermaritzburg Orchestral Society, Professor at University College, Natal.

Munrow, David B
1960
Musician extraordinary; a dynamic pioneer in the performance and dissemination of medieval music; a brilliant deviser of radio programmes about music.

Myers, Stanley
1947
Composer of Cavatina for guitarist John Williams (theme of movie The Deer Hunter) and much other music for film and television.

Oxley, T Frederick Harrison
1951
FRCO; organist and Master of the Choristers, St Edmundsbury Cathedral (1958-1984); conductor of the St Edmundsbury Bach Choir and Orchestra (1958-2001); recitalist.


MEDIA

Anderson, Ben
2006
Breakfast show producer, Capital FM Radio (and now running an online marketing business)

Andrews, John
1964
Journalist: 6 years with The Guardian, then 24 years with The Economist; author of The World in Conflict: Understanding the World's Troublespots (2016)

Austin, Timothy D
1961
Chief Revise Editor of The Times.

Barber, John Herbert
1929 (c)
Theatre critic on the Daily Express and Daily Telegraph; script editor for BBC Television.

Carlish, Max
1985
British documentary film-maker, won a BAFTA award for a series on the Royal Opera House.

Cleary, Michael J
1974
Rugby Correspondent, Daily Telegraph

Condé-Williams, Frederic
1864
Editor of the Birmingham Daily Gazette from 1869; on Paris staff of The Times in 1875; barrister, appointed District Judge in Jamaica 1876, Puisne judge in Natal 1881, Puisne Judge in Mauritius 1884

Duval, Robin
1960
Director of the British Board of Film Classification.

Edwards, Ernest G
1900
Sporting journalist and broadcaster in Liverpool, Sports Editor of the Liverpool Echo (1902- ), responsible for naming ‘Spion Kop' at Anfield

Evans, Chris
1986
Editor of The Daily Telegraph 2014, after being News Editor since 2007

Ferns, W Paterson
1963
C.M. (2005); President of Ferns Productions Inc., Canada. Produced some of Canada's finest award-winning programming and the world's leading media events. Presents signature pitching sessions worldwide. Awarded The Order of Canada in 2005 for his services to the industry.

Filkin, David
1961
BBC TV producer; became editor of Tomorrow's World, thereafter concentrating on science television; produced TV series Stephen Hawking's Universe and wrote a best-selling book of the same name.

Franks, Tim
1986
Presenter of ‘Newshour' on BBC World Service radio; formerly BBC Sports News Correspondent and then BBC Middle East Correspondent on events in China 1989

Gibbs, Jonathan
1975
Head of editing and post-production sound at the BBC Television Centre.

Grant, Jim (aka Lee Child)
1973
Novelist, famous for the Jack Reacher novels. First novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and 13th novel, Gone Tomorrow, published in 2009, reached Number One in the US book charts. Previously presentation director at Granada TV for 18 years, involved (inter alia) in the making of Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown.

Hadley, L P
Date unknown
Editor of The Birmingham Post (1943-1945)

Hall, Tony
1965
Lord Hall of Birkenhead; CEO Royal Opera House (2000-2013); Director-General of the BBC (2013-)

Handcock, Scott
2003
Producer with BBC (including seven years working on Dr Who) and then with independent company Big Finish Productions; now writing radio dramas.

Hands, Charles
1875
War correspondent for the Daily Mail, wounded while with the relieving forces on the way to Mafeking; on the staff of the Daily Mail from 1896 to 1921

Harvey, Brian
1933
Features editor of the Daily Telegraph.

Henshaw, F H
1883
Sports journalist with the Birmingham Post and then with the Birmingham Mail

Heron, Robert
1946
Head of Educational Broadcasting, ATV; Director of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme; CVO.

Hoggart, Paul
1970
Journalist for The Times, The Observer

Holland, Julian
1943
Journalist and broadcaster, ultimately editor of BBC Radio Today program.

Hutton, Thomas W
1907
Editor of the Birmingham Post; historian of the school and governor.

Inglis, Simon
1973
Journalist, author and lecturer, best known for his work on football history and stadiums, and as editor of the Played in Britain series for English Heritage (Historic England).

Kemp, Thomas Charles
1909
Drama critic of the Birmingham Post (1935-1956), in succession to another OE, Raymond Crompton Rhodes; author

King, Paul
1986
Maker of science and arts documentaries at the BBC 

Knox, Edmund George Valpy
c 1900
Poet and satirist who wrote under pseudonym ‘Evoe'; Editor of ‘Punch' (1932-1949)

Miles, James
1979
BBC journalist, won the Sony Radio Journalist of the Year Award for his coverage of events in China 1989; appointed China Editor of The Economist in 2014.

Millar, Gavin
1956
For many years film correspondent of the Listener; broadcaster and film director; author of books on film.

Moxley, Neil
1987
Chief sports writer, 'Sunday People'.

Munrow, David B
1960
Musician extraordinary: a brilliant deviser of radio programmes about music; a dynamic career in the performance and dissemination of medieval music.

Oddie, William E (Bill)
1960
Humorist, entertainer, scriptwriter, television performer, bird-watcher. Winner of the Silver Rose Award at the Montreux Festival.

Redpath, William
1909
Newspaper editor, United Newspapers

Rhodes, Raymond Crompton
c 1905
Drama critic of the Birmingham Post; author of books on Shakespeare, Sheridan and other subjects; collector of fashion plates now in Birmingham Library

Sells, David J G
1947
Journalist with Reuters, subsequently covered foreign news for the BBC

Speight, Joe
2004
TV association football commentator, worked in Rio for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Steyn, Mark
1978
Canadian journalist, broadcaster, theatre and movie critic, current affairs writer, authority on musicals.

Tayar, Graham J
1951
Executive Producer, BBC Schools Radio; Head of Audio/Radio for the SAAG Consortium; Media/Education consultant; poet and jazz pianist

Tynan, Kenneth Peacock
1945
Brilliant drama critic of The Observer newspaper (1954-1963); propagandist for the drama of Bertold Brecht when it was hardly ever seen on the English stage; Literary Adviser to the National Theatre (1963-); one of the authors of the erotic revue Oh! Calcutta! (1969)

Vince, Charles
1906
Journalist and writer.

Wagstyl, Stefan
1975
Financial Times bureau chief, Berlin

Walters, John Cuming
c 1880
Editor of Manchester Evening Chronicle, and later of the Manchester City News; author of books about Dickens, Tennyson and other literary subjects

Winn, Godfrey
1924
Journalist and broadcaster; South of England Junior Lawn Tennis Champion at the age of 13

Witherow, David
1955
Deputy Director, BBC World Service

Wolffe, Richard
1987
US columnist for The Guardian; author of two books about the Presidency of US President Barack Obama

Woodroffe, James
1996
Worked for BBC, now maker of TV documentaries, many with motorcyclist Guy Martin


WRITERS

Adams, Bernard
1955
Translator of Hungarian literature, awarded the 2019 Faludi Ferenc Prize by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Allen, Grant
1867
Scientific writer and novelist.

Baddeley, R W
1858
Novelist and poet

Coe, Jonathan
1979
Novelist and novel reviewer for the Guardian newspaper. Novels include The Rotters' Club and The Closed Circle, featuring characters at a fictional equivalent of KES.

Coney, Michael Greatrex
1949
Science-fiction novelist.

Cooper, Stephen
1976
Author of The Final Whistle: The Great War in Fifteen Players (2013), winner of The Times British Sports Book Award for Rugby 2013

Crigman, David
1963
QC and author of the Naomi Nicholas Trilogy.

Drury, Alan
1968
Radio dramatist

Dunstan, Frederick
1979
Novelist and artist.

Grant, Jim (aka Lee Child)
1972
Novelist, famous for the Jack Reacher novels. First novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and 13th novel, Gone Tomorrow, published in 2009, reached Number One in the US book charts. Was previously presentation director at Granada TV for 18 years, involved (inter alia) in the making of Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown.

Griffiths, Paul A
1965
Music critic of The Times, novelist and opera librettist. Named a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011.

Hayes, Alfred
1876
Poet, writer of two KES school songs

Hingley, David
1996
Novelist: author of the Mercia Blakewood trilogy - three historical novels about Restoration England and America.

Lewis, Roy
1931 (c)
Journalist and writer; his books included a science fiction novel, The Evolution Man, which was a best-seller in its French translation and was made into a film cartoon in Czechoslovakia.

Lyall, Gavin
1951
Journalist, television producer and novelist.

McCarty, Nicholas
1958
Television dramatist and novelist. Award winning writer of radio drama series and serials as well as many original plays.

Mitford, Bertram
1891
CB; Career soldier, ultimately Brigadier-General, serving with distinction in Egypt and South Africa; writer of adventure stories

Morton, Henry Vollam
1909
Author of books largely about places, accompanied Churchill at his Atlantic Charter meeting with Roosevelt, as recorded in his book The Atlantic Meeting

Owen, Andy
1996
Author of novels about the First World War

Rudkin, David
1955
Dramatist and translator.

Ryder, Rowland V
1933
Biographer and cricket writer; biographies include Edith Cavell, Ravenstein and Sir Oliver Leese.

Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel

1911
CBE; celebrated author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; Professor of English Language at Leeds University (1924); Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford (1925-1945); Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford (1945-1959)