In the United Kingdom, people are still knighted every year by the monarchy. Over the years,
several celebrities have been lucky enough to receive this honor. From British icons
to American stars, here are some famous faces you probably didn't realize have been knighted.
One of the biggest film icons of the 20th century, Elizabeth Taylor was awarded with
a damehood in 2000 as part of the Queen's New Years list of honors. During the peak
of her career, she was one of the most prominent figures of the Golden Age of Hollywood, but
interestingly enough, she wasn't originally from the United States. Born in London to
American parents in 1932, she spent part of her childhood in London before moving to Los
Angeles before World War II. Over the course of her career, she won a pair of Oscars, for
1960's BUtterfield 8 and 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Later in life, Taylor committed much of her time to philanthropic efforts, including the
American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. In what
was perhaps a reference to her last major role, These Old Broads, Taylor responded to
receiving her damehood by quipping,
"Well, I've always been a broad. Now it's a great honor to be a dame!"
Grease star Olivia Newton-John was among the thousands recognized in the United Kingdom's
2020 New Year's honors list. In addition to her acting, Newton-John is also famous as
a popular singer, with more than 100 million albums sold and multiple Grammys won over
the course of her decades-long career. When she was honored with her damehood, it was
for more than just her significant contributions to entertainment and culture. She has also
long supported charitable causes, including research for cancer, a disease she's fought
herself multiple times.
The Cambridge, England-born Australian talent expressed much gratitude when she was named
a dame for "her services to charity, cancer research, and entertainment." As she declared
in a statement,
"I am extremely excited, honoured and grateful beyond words to be included with such an esteemed
group of women who have received this distinguished award before me."
English thespian Ben Kingsley is one of the most revered actors of his generation, and
he has the hardware to prove it. He won an Oscar for playing the title character in 1982's
Gandhi , and he's been nominated three more times since then. When he was knighted in
2002, it was around the same time that he was Oscar-nominated for the crime drama Sexy
Beast. But, as Kingsley revealed after the knighthood ceremony,
"I told the Queen that winning an Oscar pales into insignificance — this is insurmountable."
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Kingsley has been making his mark on the entertainment world since 1966, when he debuted on the London
stage as the narrator of A Smashing Day. While he was overjoyed by the knighthood, his mother
responded with a dismissive flick of her hand. In a way, though, it was exactly that cold
reaction that he'd received all his life that made the knighthood all the more meaningful.
He once described the appointment as,
"The sovereign on behalf of the public saying, 'OK, we do love you, very much.'"
And in a 2010 interview with the Daily Mail, Kingsley admitted that it felt like compensation
for the parental love he lacked while growing up.
With an Oscar win for Girl, Interrupted and starring roles in the likes of Tomb Raider
and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Angelina Jolie has long been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
She's also a devoted activist for humanitarian and foreign policy issues. When she was awarded
with an honorary damehood in 2014 as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours, it was in
recognition of the work she's done to raise global awareness of violence against women.
In 2012, she co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, which surely helped her
to be considered for the British honor despite being American.
The honor was fittingly announced the same week that Jolie was co-chairing the End Sexual
Violence in Conflict global summit in London. As an American citizen, she can't be officially
addressed as "Dame," but she nevertheless expressed great appreciation for receiving
the honorary title. As she said in a statement,
"To receive an honor related to foreign policy means a great deal to me, as it is what I
wish to dedicate my working life to. Working on PVSI and with survivors of rape is an honor
in itself. I know that succeeding in our goals will take a lifetime, and I am dedicated to
it for all of mine."
Born in Miami but raised in what was then the British colony of the Bahamas, Sidney
Poiter is a legendary actor, director, and human rights activist. In 1974, he added "Knight
Commander of the Order of the British Empire" to his long list of titles. When he was 16
years old, he made his way from his family farm in the Bahamas to the New York neighborhood
of Harlem with nothing in his pocket but a few dollars. He eventually found his way to
the American Negro Theater, where he volunteered as an unpaid janitor in exchange for acting
classes, while working on the side as a dishwasher. His stint in theater would open the door for
a legendary career on screen.
Poitier developed a reputation for playing strong Black characters that defied stereotypes
and smashed taboos during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He's now widely recognized as essentially
the first Black leading man to earn widespread acceptance in American cinema. He was also
the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Lead Actor, for 1963's Lilies of the Field.
Off-screen, Poitier used his fame and resources to support social justice causes, including
the civil rights movement in the U.S. and the independence movement in the Bahamas.
Returning to the island at the height of that struggle, he saw the Bahamas become an independent
nation and member of the British Commonwealth in 1973. Just a year later, he was knighted
by the queen and officially became Sir Sidney Poitier.
"They call me Mr. Tibbs!"
Known to the world as Twiggy, Lesley Lawson was only 16 years old when she became one
of the most iconic models of the 1960s, thanks especially to her big eyes and androgynous
hairstyles. When the 70s rolled around, she tried her hand at acting and made a bit of
a splash. She won two Golden Globes for her big screen debut, the 1971 musical The Boy
Friend. And then in 1983, she made her way to Broadway with My One and Only, which earned
her a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.
Twiggy became a dame in 2019, as she was recognized for her contribution to the arts, fashion,
and charity, including causes like animal welfare and breast cancer research. She was
reportedly told by Prince Charles,
"About time you got this."
And the new dame spoke for herself as she declared,
"I'm a very proud Brit, I feel I'm an ambassador for Britain, I always have, because I think
it's the best country in the world and I travel the world all the time and I'm known throughout
the world and, you know, being British is one of my things."
Joan Collins played the fictional Grand Duchess of Oxford on the E! series The Royals, but
she received a very real honorific in 2015 when she was promoted from Officer of the
British Empire to Dame Commander of the British Empire by Prince Charles. She was nominated
for the honor by children's hospice charity Shooting Star Chase, of which she is a patron.
She was also being recognized for her charity efforts for breast cancer research and the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Talking to reporters after the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Dynasty actress said
of her honor,
"Not in a billion years did I think I would be made a dame; it never even crossed my mind.
It wasn't anything I ever aspired to. I just wanted to be a jobbing actress, a working
actor and somebody who could still perform."
When Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Lead Actor at the Academy Awards for There Will Be Blood
in 2008, he knelt in front of presenter Helen Mirren, who pretended to tap him on both shoulders
with the trophy. He then joked,
"That is the closest I will ever get to a knighthood, so thank you."
He had no idea that he would be proven wrong just six years later. Day-Lewis would go on
to win a third Oscar for playing a very American icon as the titular president in the 2012
biopic Lincoln. But the actor himself is an English man with dual British and Irish citizenship
who became "Sir Daniel" in 2014. Knighted during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace hosted
by Prince William, the award-winning thespian was recognized for his impressive achievements
in acting, including his three Oscar wins. Reflecting on the knighthood, Day-Lewis said,
"I'm entirely amazed and utterly delighted in equal measure."
"I drink your milkshake!”
“I drink it up!"
Best known for her starring role in Murder, She Wrote, Hollywood legend Angela Lansbury
had a lifetime of iconic films and musicals under her belt when she was awarded with the
title of Dame Commander by the Queen in 2014. Born in the U.K. in 1925, she and her family
moved to the United States during World War II, and she went on to live and work in both
countries for decades.
Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, it took another 20 years of
amazing performances and charity work before Lansbury was promoted to Dame at the age of
88. As the Tony award-winning actress declared,
"It is a very proud day for me to be recognized by the country of my birth, and to meet the
queen under these circumstances is a rare and lovely occasion [...] This is for the
overall accomplishments of my life as an actress. It has afforded me the joy of working in America
and also in England a great deal."
"I had no conception of the length of a career that I would end up having."
Silent film icon Charlie Chaplin received a knighthood in March 1975, just a month before
his 86th birthday, at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace. The London native was praised by the
queen, who reportedly told him about how positively his films had affected her. Rolled into the
palace in a wheelchair and accompanied by his wife and children, Chaplin had been considered
for knighthood for decades, but questions about his morals and loyalties delayed the
honor.
In the 40s and 50s, he was accused of having communist sympathies and was even forced to
move to Switzerland in 1952 after the United States canceled his visa. Concerns about his
marriages to underage girls, particularly two 16-year-olds, also reportedly played a
part in the delay. After the knighting, Chaplin waved to the crowd outside the palace and
expressed how impressed he was with the ceremony. When asked how he would celebrate, he declared,
"Well, I'm going to get drunk!"
London-born American comedian and actor Bob Hope began showing a talent for comedy from
a young age. When he was just 10 years old, he won a Charlie Chaplin imitation contest.
He continued to follow in Chaplin's footsteps several decades later when he received an
honorary knighthood in 1998, 23 years after the silent film star received his. Hope's
knighthood was offered in recognition of his years of service entertaining troops during
several wars, including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War.
Hope had a decades-long career of entertaining the masses on stage, radio, and TV. In addition
to his wartime efforts, he was perhaps most famous for starring in a series of "Road to"
movies alongside Bing Crosby and for hosting the Oscars 19 times. Hope was born in South
London in 1903, and when he was 4, he and his family moved to the U.S. He accepted his
knighthood during a ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington D.C. that happened just
weeks before his 95th birthday.
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