This Is Tees Valley This Is Tees Valley - Issue 1 2020 | Page 19

Sir Ridley Scott
English filmmaker famed for movies such as Alien, Blade
Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and The Martian. Scott
lived much of his early life in Stockton-on-Tees and it was the
dramatic landscape of the local chemical plant at Billingham
that inspired scenes in Blade Runner.
Ridley Scott.
Bob Champion
Bob Champion.
Guisborough-born Champion was a jump jockey who won the
1981 Grand National on Aldaniti while recovering from cancer – a
story made into a film starring John Hurt.
Nicholas Patrick
Born in the Teesside coastal town of Saltburn and later living in
Great Ayton, Patrick is a former NASA astronaut. His flight on
the Discovery STS-116 mission in 2006 made him only the fourth
person born in the UK to go into space.
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer
Darlington-born Reeves and Middlesbrough’s Mortimer came to
fame with a comedy double act, becoming TV regulars through
their shows The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars and
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
Nicholas Patrick.
Paul Rodgers
A singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Middlesbrough-
born Rodgers hit the heights as lead singer of Free, Bad Company
Paul Rodgers.
and Queen. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him as one of the
greatest singers of all-time, while he received the British Academy’s
Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music in 2011.
Chris Rea
Rock and blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, Middlesbrough-born Rea –
known for his husky, gravelly voice – has sold more than 30 million albums
worldwide, while two of his studio albums topped the UK charts in the late
1980s/early 1990s.
Chris Rea.
Andy Green OBE
Green has travelled faster than a speeding bullet. The RAF fighter pilot not
only holds the world land speed record – and was the first person to break the
sound barrier on land – but is aiming to smash it again. The record was set in
1997 when Marske-born Green reached 763mph in the Thrust supersonic car.
He is now the driver of Bloodhound in which he hopes to attempt to break
the 1,000mph mark.
Andy Green.
Jamie Bell.
Rory Underwood MBE
Middlesbrough-born Underwood is the all-time leading try scorer for
England’s rugby team in international matches. He won a then-record
85 England caps between 1984 and 1996, scoring a record 49 tries.
Rory
Underwood.
Jamie Bell
Hollywood actor Bell got his acting breakthrough in the leading role of film
Billy Elliot when he was just 13 years old. The Billingham-born star has gone on
to play leading roles in King Kong, Defiance and The Adventures of Tin Tin.
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