•
Sacha Bennett, actor, writer, director and producer was born and raised in Harpenden, attending St. George's School •
Julian Bliss, international clarinettist and child prodigy was born and raised in Harpenden •
Steve Borthwick, former England and
Saracens rugby captain lives in Harpenden •
Steve Bould, former professional footballer and current Arsenal assistant manager •
Ken Brown, who played in the
Ryder Cup and is now a commentator for major golf competitions, such as the
Open, grew up and still lives in Harpenden and is a member of
Harpenden Common Golf Club •
Craig Charles, comedian and actor in
Red Dwarf and
Coronation Street and host of the
Funk and Soul Show and
Robot Wars lived in Harpenden. •
Ralph Chubb, poet, artist and printer was born here in 1892 •
Dave Clarke, visually impaired Paralympic GB football captain. •
George W. Cooke, deputy director of
Rothamsted Experimental Station •
Donald Coxeter, 20th century geometer attended
St George's School • Joanna Dennehy, serial killer responsible for the
Peterborough ditch murders, grew up in Harpenden. •
Elaine Delmar, singer and actress, born in Harpenden •
Matt Dickinson, Everest mountaineer, author, scriptwriter and director •
Lee Dixon, former
Arsenal footballer •
Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, a spy for the
German Empire, at the heart of the
Dreyfus affair, fled from France in 1898 and lived in Milton Road until his death in 1923. He is buried in St Nicholas' churchyard under the false name of Jean de Voilemont. •
Siobhan Fahey, singer in
Bananarama lived in Harpenden while she was aged 14 to 16. She attended
Sir John Lawes School for those two years. •
Andy Farrell,
Saracens and England rugby player •
Owen Farrell, rugby player for Saracens and a former member of
St George's School •
Ronald Fisher, a statistician "who almost single-handedly created the foundations for modern statistical science". worked at
Rothamsted Experimental Station •
Ben Foden, Northampton Saints and England International Rugby Union player •
Charles Henry Gimingham (1923–2018), botanist, was born in Harpenden •
Miles Golding, classical musician and violinist of
Split Enz •
Martin Gore from the band
Depeche Mode •
Laura Haddock, actress who appeared in
Guardians of the Galaxy and other films, went to school in Harpenden •
Mick Harford, former England international footballer and manager. Currently working for
Luton Town Football Club, whom he has previously managed. •
Una Healy, singer from
The Saturdays •
Steve Hewlett, (1958–2017), former presenter of
The Media Show on
BBC Radio 4 •
George Hogg, British journalist who rescued 50 orphaned children in China during the Japanese occupation •
Charlie Hutchison, British communist, liberator of
Belsen concentration camp, and only black British
International Brigades volunteer. Spent several years in an orphanage in Harpenden. •
Frank Ifield, Australian singer and yodeller lived in Harpenden •
Guy Johnston, cello soloist and winner of
BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2000 •
Caroline Jones, fundraiser and
Cancer Research UK volunteer who received the
Points of Light in 2015 •
John Keane, artist, was born here and grew up in Wordsworth Road. •
Stanley Kubrick, filmmaker, lived and died in nearby
Childwickbury Manor •
Henry Lawson, Australian writer, lived in 'Spring Villa', Cowper Rd, Harpenden from July to September 1900 •
Joe Lenzie, music producer and DJ, was born in Harpenden and attended
Sir John Lawes School •
Terry Lightfoot, jazz clarinettist, ran the Three Horseshoes pub for five years during the late 1970s •
Andy Linighan, former
Arsenal footballer lived in Bewdley Close, Southdown •
James Mardall (1899–1988), first-class cricketer and British Army officer •
Doug McAvoy, former General Secretary of the
National Union of Teachers lived in Harpenden between 1975 and 1990 •
Joan Moore, botanist (1920–1986) •
Eric Morecambe, comedian, lived in Harpenden, close to his beloved
Luton Town FC. His funeral and burial took place in
St Nicholas Church. The Eric Morecambe Centre public entertainment facility is named after him •
Albert Moses, an actor who starred in
Mind Your Language playing
Punjabi student Ranjeet Singh and a number of
James Bond films •
John Motson, Football commentator •
Spencer Pickering (1858–1920), chemist, retired to Harpenden following a chemical accident, one of five
Royal Society Fellows in the town at that time. •
Tim Rice, the composer, attended
Aldwickbury School •
David Richardson, music producer, audio engineer, musician and founder of Sound Recording Technology, was born and lives in Harpenden •
David Roberts (born 1942), cricketer • Sir
E. John Russell (1872–1965), soil chemist, agriculture scientist, director of
Rothamsted Experimental Station 1912-1943. •
David Sharp, mountaineer who died near the summit of
Mount Everest •
Tim Sherwood, former
Tottenham Hotspur and
Blackburn Rovers player who lived in Harpenden during his coaching days at Tottenham •
Christopher Smith (MP) (d. 1589), owner of Annables Manor in Harpenden. • Sir
Robert Stephen John Sparks, eminent volcanologist, was born in Harpenden. His former PhD student Prof
Claire Horwell also grew up in Harpenden. •
Christopher Strauli, actor, who starred in
Only When I Laugh and
Full House was born in Harpenden • Dame
Ellen Terry, actress (1847–1928), lived in Harpenden from 1868 to 1874 •
Camilla Tominey, journalist •
Katherine Warington, research botanist (1897–1993), born and lived in Harpenden; worked at
Rothamsted Experimental Station •
Jack Wilshere, West Ham and England international footballer •
Sir John Wittewronge, owned and lived at
Rothamsted Manor, where in the seventeenth century he kept a weather and gardening diary which has very early records of rain, temperature and winds •
Ashley Young, former Manchester United and England international footballer •
Richard Youngs alternative musician, grew up in the town and recorded several albums there, especially
Lake and
Advent •
Marc Aspland, photographer == Culture ==