© JEP Celebrity Photos / Alamy Stock Photo

Cornwall is best-known for its beautiful beaches, tasty cream teas and traditional Cornish pasties - but aside from its obvious attractions, a large number of celebrities hail from the famous county on the south-west coast of England. Known as the Cornish Riviera, the region boasts picturesque harbour villages, such as Falmouth and Fowey, magnificent towering cliffs and popular seaside resorts, including Newquay, which are renowned as a surfers' paradise. Read on to find out how many talented Cornish celebrities have emerged from the small but perfectly-formed county...
  1. Thandie Newton
Famous actress Thandie Newton (star of the recent American TV series Westworld) was brought up in Penzance. The 46-year-old, who was awarded an OBE for services to acting and her charity work, was born in London, but moved to Penzance with her family as a youngster. She trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, before embarking on her globally-successful career. She has starred in blockbuster films, such as The Chronicles of Riddick and Mission Impossible 2.
  1. Mick Fleetwood
Everyone’s heard of Fleetwood Mac, but did you know the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, was born in Redruth in 1947? His father, John, was a pilot in the RAF. Now aged 71, Mick has enjoyed a hugely successful career, playing his first gig with Fleetwood Mac in 1967. He remained a constant presence in the band, despite its continually changing line-up, for more than four decades. He is also a film and TV actor, starring as a resistance leader in the cult sci-fi film, The Running Man.
  1. Helen Glover
The Olympic rower Helen Glover was born in 1986 in Truro and grew up in Penzance. Now aged 32, the British rowing team member is a double Olympic champion, quintuple World Cup champion, triple World champion and triple European champion. As a member of Minerva Bath Rowing Club, she enjoyed an unrivalled women’s pairs partnership with Heather Stanning. They were the first British female rowers to successfully defended their Olympic title by winning gold at Rio in 2016.
  1. Roger Taylor
Another iconic drummer, Roger Taylor, of the rock band Queen, was raised and educated in Truro. He attended Truro Cathedral School, followed by Truro School. When he was 15, he became the drummer in his first band - a rock group called The Reaction, formed with other boys from Truro School. Taylor, now aged 69, joined the legendary Queen in 1970. Today, he still has a house in Helford, near Falmouth.
  1. Robert Shaw
The actor Robert Shaw, famous for his role as the shark hunter, Quint, in Jaws in 1975, lived in Cornwall as a child and attended Truro School. He was born in West Houghton, Lancashire, but moved to Cornwall with his mother after his father's untimely death when Shaw was only 12. He was a theatrical actor in his youth and won his first film role in the classic British comedy drama, The Lavender Hill Mob, in 1951.
  1. Ben Ainslie
The British sailor Ben Ainslie, 42, won medals at five consecutive Olympic Games, beginning in 1996. His tally included gold medals at the four Olympics between 2000 and 2012. He went to Truro School, learning to sail as a child from the age of eight at Restronguet Creek near Falmouth, Cornwall. He began sailing competitively at the age of 10. Ben Ainslie © Will Frost / Alamy Stock Photo
  1. Susan Penhaligon
The British actress Susan Penhaligon lived in both Penzance and St Ives as a child. Her family moved to Cornwall when she was six. The 69-year-old shot to fame in the gritty TV drama series, Bouquet of Barbed Wire, in 1976. She also starred as Helen Barker in the sitcom A Fine Romance, the detective series Remington Steele and the period drama Upstairs Downstairs.
  1. John Nettles
The actor and writer John Nettles, 75, was born in St Austell, Cornwall, in 1943. He attended St Austell Grammar School and went on to study history and philosophy in 1962, at the University of Southampton. He is famous for his role in the long-running murder-mystery series, Midsomer Murders. After starring in 81 episodes, his final appearance in the TV drama was on 2nd February 2011. John Nettles © dpa picture alliance archive / Alamy Stock Photo
  1. Nick Darke
The playwright Nick Darke was born in Wadebridge in Cornwall in 1948. For most of his life, he lived in the coastal village of Porthcothan. As the fourth generation of his family to live in Cornwall, he embraced the local lifestyle and was a fisherman and environmentalist. He wrote many popular plays and wrote television films, such as The Cornish Farmer, in 2004. After a lifetime of work inspired by his native Cornwall, he died in 2005.
  1. Kristin Scott-Thomas
Starring in movies such as Four Weddings and a Funeral (for which she won a BAFTA award) and Mission Impossible, actress Kristin Scott-Thomas was born in Redruth in 1960. She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. The 58-year-old has appeared in a multitude of classic films since 1984, including The Horse Whisperer in 1998, Gosford Park in 2001 and the award-winning Nowhere Boy in 2010, for which she won another BAFTA. As well as being famous for its celebrity residents, beautiful Cornwall is also home to one of the county's best retail stores: MA Griggs country store. Stocking leading brands such as Hunter and Joules, we are renowned for our high-quality range of outdoor clothing – fit for a celebrity!