Crawley - Notable People

Notable People

• Patrick Allen (music educator), an award-winning author and teacher, lives and works in the town.
• Tony Barrell, a journalist for The Sunday Times and other publications, was born in the town.
• Jerzy Braun, a Polish rower who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics and in the 1936 Summer Olympics, died in Crawley.
• Simon Calder, a journalist for The Independent, was born in the town.
• Rebecca Cooke, freestyle swimmer and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was born in Crawley.
• Sir Charles Court, the 21st Premier of Western Australia, was born in Crawley, but migrated to Australia with his family before his first birthday.
• John George Haigh, the "Acid Bath Murderer", carried out some of his murders at a workshop in the West Green area.
• Simon Jeffes, classically-trained guitarist, composer, arranger and founder of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, was born here.
• Philip Lawson, first baritone with The King's Singers was born and raised in Crawley.
• Mark Lemon, first editor of Punch, lived on the High Street from 1858 until his death in 1870. A blue plaque outside the George Hotel commemorates his time in the town.
• Alan Minter, who won bronze at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the light middleweight boxing category and in 1980 became the WBC world middleweight champion, was born in the town in 1951.
• Kevin Muscat, a footballer who has played for Australia since 1994 and had a nine-year spell in Britain, playing for four different clubs, was born in the town.
• Craig Pickering, an Olympic sprinter, was born in the town.
• Gareth Southgate (who was manager of Middlesbrough F.C. and a former England international) attended the town's Hazelwick School.
• Daley Thompson used facilities in Crawley to train for the Olympics in 1980 and 1984.
• Peter Vaughan, the actor, who starred in the TV show Porridge, used to live in the town.
• Faye White, the Arsenal and England women's team captain, was born in the town.
• Tom Wort, sophomore All-American linebacker with the Oklahoma Sooners, lived in Crawley until age 14.
• The Cure were formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey and Lol Tolhurst, all of whom attended St Wilfrid's RC School.
• The Feeling's drummer Paul Stewart, guitarist Kevin Jeremiah and keyboard player Ciaran Jeremiah were also at St Wilfrids.
• 2D, the fictional character from Damon Albarn's virtual band Gorillaz, comes from Crawley, according to the back-story created for them.