Famous Bevin Boys
| Sir Jimmy Savile | DJ and charity worker | "I went down as a boy and came up a man." "If that's what we were told to do by the country to save the country, that's what we did." |
| Jock Purdon | Folk singer/poet | Purdon stayed on in the Durham coal mines after the war. "For me there's three great generals – Geronimo, Alexander the Great and Arthur Scargill". |
| John Comer | English Actor | Comer began his career as a Bevin Boy, before gaining an engineering apprenticeship with Metropolitan-Vickers. Later to become well known for his roles as Les Brandon in I Didn't Know You Cared and, from 1973 until his death in 1984, as cafe owner Sid during the first 10 years of the long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. |
| Dickson Mabon | Former Labour MP | On his discharge in 1948 he went to the University of Glasgow to study Medicine. |
| Brian, Lord Rix, CBE, DL | Actor/manager, and president of Mencap | Rix volunteered to leave the RAF to join the Bevin Boy Scheme. "I have never regretted the decision," he says. |
| Eric Morecambe | Comedian | Half of the British comedy double act Morecambe and Wise, Morecambe worked at a mine in Accrington for 11 months, which may have affected his health and led to heart attacks later in life. |
| Peter Shaffer | Dramatist | The author of Equus and Amadeus, he graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge. |
| Alf Sherwood | Footballer | Went on to win 41 caps for Wales |
| Gerald Smithson | Cricketer | While serving as a Bevin Boy, Smithson was called into the Test cricket team for a tour of the West Indies. |
| Peter Alan Rayner | Numismatic Author | Rayner was conscripted into the mines during World War II. |
| Peter, Lord Archer of Sandwell | Former Labour MP | Represented both Rowley Regis and Tipton; and latterly for Warley West. Solicitor General for England and Wales from March 1974 to May 1979. Also chaired the Enemy Property Claims Assessment panel. |
| Sir Stanley Bailey | Police officer | Former chief constable of Northumbria Police |
| (Lord) Paul Hamlyn | Founder of the Hamlyn group of publishers and Music for Pleasure (record label) | Worked as a Bevin Boy at Oakdale Colliery |
| Nat Lofthouse | Footballer | Went on to win 33 caps for England |
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Famous quotes containing the words famous, bevin and/or boys:
“Those famous men of old, the Ogres—
They had long beards and stinking arm-pits,
They were wide-mouthed, long-yarded and great-bellied
Yet not of taller stature, Sirs, than you.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“The most conservative man in the world is the British Trade Unionist when you want to change him.”
—Ernest Bevin (1881–1951)
“Tell the boys to follow, to be faithful, to take me seriously.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)