Our county is full of a wide range of talent, boasting well-known actresses, performers and athletes.
Here's a list of some of our famous faces.
Dame Helen Mirren
National treasure Dame Helen Mirren DBE was brought up in Leigh.
The award-winning actress is one of only a few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting in America.
She was also won the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen.
Maisie Smith
Maisie Smith is best known for her role as Tiffany Butcher in Eastenders. Maisie joined the soap in 2008 to 2014. She made a guest appearance in 2016 before making a full-time return to the role in 2018.
Most recently Maisie took part in Strictly Come Dancing last year where she finished as a runner-up.
Denise Van Outen
Denise Van Outen was born and Basildon and is a well known actress, singer, dancer and presenter.
She played Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago in both the West End and Broadway shows.
She also presented The Big Breakfast and finished as a runner-up on Strictly Come Dancing.
She currently narrates The Only Way Is Essex and has appeared as judge on Any Dream Will do, Born to Shine and Ireland’s Got Talent.
She recently pulled out of Dancing On Ice after facing an injury.
Mark Foster
Mark Foster is s a former world champion swimmer from Billericay.
He's won multiple medals at international competitions throughout his career.
In terms of medals and longevity, Mark is amongst the most successful British swimmers of all time.
He was the fastest swimmer in the country by the age of 15.
He has six world championship titles, two commonwealth titles and eleven European titles to his name.
He retired for the second time after the 2008 Olympics.
Lee Mead
Lee Mead, from Southend, is best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBCs show Any Dream Will Do.
He also landed roles in Wicked, Legally Blond: The Musical and The West End Men.
He has also pursued a music career, releasing four solo albums and doing concert tours in the UK and Japan.
After joining the cast of Casualty, Lee made a return to the theatre stage where he played Caractacus Potts in the UK tour of Chitty Chatty Bang Bang.
He later returned to his role of Lofty, but in Casualty’s sister series Holby City.
In November 2019, he sang Morning Has Broken at the Annual Remembrance Day service at the Royal Albert Hall.
Lee Evans
Lee Evans attended the Billericay school.
Lee became one of Britain’s most popular stand-up comedians with his Roadrunner tour grossing £12.9million.
He is also an established actor, appearing in The Fifth Element, Mouse Hunt, There’s Something About Mary and The Ladies Man.
He was awarded Best Actor at the Paris Film Festival for his debut in Funny Bones.
Lee Evans officially announced retirement in 2014 but briefly came out of it in 2017 to star in a one-act play Monologue.
Richard Osman
Richard Osman was born in Billericay and is best known for creating and co-presenting Pointless.
He has also presented Two Tribes and Richard Osman’s House of Games and has been a team captain on Insert Name Here and The Fake News Show.
He also wrote the novel The Thursday Murder Club in 2020.
Kara Tointon
Kara Tointon was born in Southend and is best known for her role as Dawn Swann in Eastenders.
In 2010 she won Strictly Come Dancing. In 2015 she starred as Maria in the ITV live production of The Sound of Music Live.
David Gandy
David Gandy, from Billericay, was entered into a modelling competition on This Morning which he won, aged 21.
David spent several years as the lead male model for Dolce & Gabanna, where he featured on their fashion shows and ad campaigns.
Dom Littlewood
Dom Littlewood is best known for his roles with BBC and Channel 5 presenting programmes such as Fake Britain, Cowboy Builders, Saints and Scroungers and Don’t Get Done, Get Dom.
Dom also took part in Celebrity Masterchef 2020.
Rachel Riley
Rachel Riley is a British television presenter. She’s known for co-presenting Countdown and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
She has since co-presented The Gadget Show and It’s Not Rocket Science.
She also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2013.
Nathalie Emmanuel
Nathalie was born in Southend and is best known for her role as Missandei in Game of Thrones and Ramsey in Fast & Furious 7.
At the age of 10 she played Young Nala in the West End production of the Lion King.
She also starred in Hollyoaks as Sasha Valentine and in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials as Harriet.
Katie Amess
Katie Amess is the second child of Sir David Amess.
She is a recipient of the Helen Mirren acting award and was selected for two consecutive years as one of BAFTAs top British Newcomers.
She’s known for featuring in Captain America: Civil War and playing the role of Sandy Weeks in Criminal Minds Beyond Borders.
She also won the title of Miss Essex in 2009 for the Miss earth Contest.
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