Salford has probably had more than its fair share of celebrities over the years.
All kinds of well known people are associated with the city. Here's a selection of our famous sons and daughters:
- Adam Thomas
Actor.
- Adrian Morley
Rugby League player.
- Albert Finney
Actor, born in Gore Crescent, Weaste.
- Albert Leslie Yoxall
Codebreaker, he worked alongside Alan Turing at Bletchley Park during Word War II.
- Albert Scanlon
Manchester United footballer and survivor of the Munich air disaster
- Alfred Darbyshire
Architect.
- Alistair Cooke
Radio journalist - 'Letter from America, Radio 4', born in Isaac Street, Salford in 1908.
- Allan Clarke
Musician, member of the Hollies.
- Alliott Verdon Roe
Pilot and aircraft manufacturer.
- Andrew Knott
Actor.
- Andrew Whyment
Actor
- Andy Crane
Television and radio presenter.
- Al Read
Popular radio comedian active throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
- Arthur Thomas Doodson
Oceanographer.
- Arthur Wooliscroft
Footballer.
- Ayub Khan Din
Actor.
- Benedict Wong
Actor.
- Sir Ben Kingsley
Oscar-winning actor, grew up in Pendlebury.
- Bernard Sumner
Musician, member of Joy Division and New Order.
- Billy Garton
Footballer.
- Billy, Albert and Jack Marchant
Boxers.
- Bob Valentine
Swinton rugby league and Manchester United goalkeeper.
- Brenda De Banzie
Actress.
- Charlie Pawsey
Rugby league footballer in the 1950s.
- Christopher Eccleston
Actor - 'Cracker', 'Shallow Grave', the former 'Doctor Who'.
- Clinton Ford
Singer.
- Danielle Nicholls
Television and radio presenter.
- David Bamber
Actor.
- David Watson
Professor of Zoology and Anatomy.
- Dean Holden
Footballer.
- Denis Betts
Rugby player.
- Don Whillans
Rock climber and mountaineer.
- Doris Butterworth
Dancer and tiller girl.
- Eddie Colman
Manchester United footballer who died in the Munich air disaster.
- Edward Watkin
British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur.
- Edwin Alliot Verdon Roe
British pilot and aircraft manufacturer, and founder in 1910 of A. V. Roe and Co.
- Emmeline Pankhurst
'Mrs Pankhurst' was one of the founders of the British suffragette movement.
- Elkie Brooks
Singer/songwriter.
- Ewan MacColl
Singer, songwriter, actor, playwright, radio broadcaster and socialist. Born in Broughton, Salford.
- Franki Raffles
Photographer and feminist.
- Frances Eliza Hodgson
Author, lived in Salford and her stays at the grand house in Buile Hill influenced The Secret Garden
- Fred and Peter Done
Businessmen
- Freddie 'Parrot Face' Davies
Comedian.
- Gary Whelan
Drummer with the Happy Mondays.
- Geoff Bent
MUFC footballer who died in the Munich air disaster.
- Geoffrey Howard
Clergyman and author, he famously walked across the Saraha carrying all his gear in a wheelbarrow.
- George Bradshaw
Printer and publisher.
- George Costigan
Actor, although not born in Salford George went to school in Salford
- George Keeling
Swam in the 1912 Olympics. Killed in the trenches in 1916.
- George Switzer
Footballer.
- Ghislaine Howard
Artist.
- Giant Haystacks (Martin Ruane)
Wrestler, although not born in Salford Martin lived in Broughton from the age of three.
- Gordon Wharmby
Actor - Last of the Summer Wine, Poirot.
- Graham Nash
Songwriter - Crosby, Stills and...
- Gus Aubrey
Actor.
- Harold Bratt
Footballer for Manchester United from 1955 to 1961.
- Harold Brighouse
Playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice.
- Sir Harold Evans
Journalist and writer who was editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981.
- Harold Riley
Artist.
- Harold Williams
Ice skater.
- Harry Dagnan
Rugby player for Salford RLFC in the 1940s.
- Harvey Jacobson
Businessman and entrepreneur.
- Hazel Blears
Politician.
- Ian Blease
Rugby League player
- Ian Watson
Salford Rugby League coach and former player.
- Isabel Hodgins
Actress.
- James Fearnley
Musician with the Pogues.
- James Hazeldine
Actor.
- James Peters
Rugby player, the first black man to play rugby union for England.
- James Prescott Joule
Physicist, known for his research in electricity and thermodynamics.
- James W Gibson
Businessman who was the owner of Manchester United.
- Jamie Moore
Professional boxer.
- Jan Johnston
Singer.
- Jane Robinson
Costume designer
- Jason Done
Actor.
- Jason Manford
Comedian, actor and television presenter.
- Jim Ramsbottom
Regeneration expert who transformed the Castlefield area of Manchester
- Jim Valentine
Rugby Union and Swinton Rugby League legend.
- Joanne Whalley
Actress.
- Joe Bowker
Professional boxer.
- Joe Gladwin
Actor - 'Last of the Summer Wine'.
- Joe Riley
Footballer
- John Cooper Clarke
Inventor of punk poetry.
- John Henry Poynting
Physicist.
- John Motson
Football commentator.
- John Thomson
Actor and comedian.
- John Virgo
Snooker player and presenter.
- Sir John Moores
Businessman, born in Eccles on 25 January 1896. Founder of the Littlewoods empire (football pools and retail company). Liverpool Polytechnic took the name Liverpool John Moores University in his honour upon being granted University status in 1992.
- John Wilkinson
Businessman and former chairman of Salford RLFC
- Jon Christos
Singer.
- Joseph Brotherton
Salford's first member of parliament - largely responsible for the opening of Peel Park, Salford and Weaste Cemetery.
- Joseph Kay
Economist.
- Josie Rourke
Theatre and film director.
- Justin Chadwick
Actor and director.
- Kallum Higginbotham
Footballer.
- Kate Ford
Actress.
- Ken Reid
Cartoonist, creator of Fudge the Elf and Roger the Dodger.
- Kenneth Wolstenholme
Football commentator - 1966 World Cup.
- Laura McLaren, Baroness Aberconway
Suffragette, author and horticulture expert.
- Laurence Stephen Lowry
World famous artist, he lived in Station Road, Pendlebury.
- Leslie Cussons
Chairman of Cussons Sons & Co.
- Lilias Armstrong
Phonetic expert.
- Marc Tierney
Footballer, part of the Norwich City team that were promoted to the Premiership in 2011.
- Mark Addy
Hero - renowned for saving over 50 people from drowning in the River Irwell, at a time when it was at its most polluted.
- Mark Ashworth
Actor.
- Mark 'Bez' Berry
Dancer with the Happy Mondays.
- Mark Day
Guitarist with the Happy Mondays.
- Mark E. Smith
Long-time member of 'The Fall', an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in 1976.
- Michael Vaughan
England cricket captain, born in Eccles.
- Michelle Keegan
Actress, although not born in Salford Michelle went to school in Salford
- Mike Leigh
Writer and director.
- Mike Sweeney
Broadcaster and DJ.
- Mike Walker
Jazz guitarist.
- Mike Walling
Comic actor and screenwriter.
- Nigel Pivaro
Actor and journalist.
- Sir Norman Moore
Doctor and medical historian.
- Pat Kirkwood
Actress.
- Paul Scholes
Footballer, born in Salford.
- Paul Tierney
Ex Manchester United player who was awarded the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the year 2001-02.
- Pearce Quigley
Actor.
- Peter Hook
Musician.
- Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Classical music composer, appointed Master of the Queen's Music in March 2004.
- Pete Travis
Television and film director.
- Phil Power
Footballer.
- Randolph Schwabe
Artist and professor of fine art.
- Rebecca Atkinson
Actress.
- Ren Harvieu
Musician.
- Richard Cobden
Salford's apostle of free trade.
- Richard Wright Procter
Barber, poet and author.
- Rob James-Collier
Actor.
- Robert Powell
Actor - 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', 'Jesus of Nazareth'.
- Robert Roberts
Author.
- Russell Watson
Opera singer.
- Ryan Giggs
The Manchester United star has been a Salford resident since he was six years old.
- Sacha Parkinson
Actress.
- Samia Ghadie
Actress.
- Shaun Ryder
Singer with The Happy Mondays.
- Shelagh Delaney
Playwright and screenwriter, best known for her debut work, 'A Taste of Honey'.
- Shelley Holroyd
Javelin thrower.
- Sinéad Moynihan
Model and actress.
- Sir Simon Gerard McDonald
British diplomat.
- Stan Pearson
Footballer between 1936 and 1959.
- Stephen Foster
Boxer.
- Stephen Lord
Actor.
- Steve Evets
Actor.
- Syd Walker
Actor and comedian.
- Sydney Chapman
Mathmatician.
- Terry Eagleton
Literary Theorist.
- The Ting Tings
The indie pop duo formed in 2007 at Islington Mill studios in Salford.
- Thomas Worthington
Architect.
- Tim Burgess
Singer songwriter (Charlatans).
- Tom Brown
Artist.
- Tom Dodson
Artist.
- Tom Hudson
Actor.
- Tommy Fury
Boxer and Love Island contestant.
- Tony Neary
Rugby Union player.
- Anthony 'Doc' Shiels
Artist, writer, magician.
- Tony Warren
Creator of TV's 'Coronation Street'.
- Tony Wilson
Record label owner, radio and TV presenter and journalist.
- Victoria Armstrong
Dancer.
- Walter Greenwood
Author - 'Love on the Dole'.
- William Cooke
Clergyman and hymn writer.
- William Crabtree
Predicted and recorded a transit of Venus in 1639.
- William Lockett
First Mayor of Salford, 1844 to 1845.
- William Renshaw
Seven time Wimbledon winner between 1881 and 1889, including six consecutive titles.
- William Webb Ellis
Inventor of rugby.
- William Worrall Mayo
Doctor and founder of the Mayo Clinic.
- Winifred Mary Letts
Writer.
- Yousaf Ali Khan
Film director.
Is somebody missing from this list?
If you know a famous Salfordian who isn't listed on this page, please email public.relations@salford.gov.uk with details. Please note this email cannot pick up customer service or council tax queries. For help, please go to our how to contact us page.