Cringing Cult of Celebrity in Bognor Regis, West Sussex*

Famous residents and ex-residents.

You can tell us more about Bognor Regis.

• Ollie hight used to live in Bognor Regis when he was with Auburn swallow
• Russell Hastings can be seen in Bognor Regis ,I dont know if he still fits double glazing as well as do the band
• Charlie Kunz, painist and entertainer, lived in Middleton. His house, Kunz Cottage, was in Sea Lane. Petula Clark also had a home in Middleton. Incidentally, she sahres a birthday with Agnetha from Abba as well as Mantovani. And me. I vaguely remember something about Telly Savalas being marreid to somebody from Felpham. Penelope Thingy from The Goode Life married a policemen from hereabouts. Dante Gabrielle Rossetti, pre-raphaelite daubster, clogged up the place. Let's not forget one of Britain's finest jazz musicians, saxophonist Bobby Wellins. He's on the legendary 'Under Milk Wood' suite by Stan Tracey amongst piles of other excellent stuff.
• The Bowes-Lyons (the Queen Mum's family) had a long association with Bognor, living somewhere around the top of Gloucester Rd. at the turn of the last century - another nice building that's been knocked down to make way for an atrocity. Not to mention Beryl Kingston, author and former English and drama teacher at Felpham Community College (nee Felpham Comp). The late Eric Huntingdon, former proprietor of the Felpham Bazaar, had a bit of tabloid notoriety in the 70s as 'Mr Whacko' - he also ran a mail order cane company.
• The Bowes-Lyons (the Queen Mum's family) had a long association with Bognor, living somewhere around the top of Gloucester Rd. at the turn of the last century - another nice building that's been knocked down to make way for an atrocity. Not to mention Beryl Kingston, author and former English and drama teacher at Felpham Community College (nee Felpham Comp). The late Eric Huntingdon, former proprietor of the Felpham Bazaar, had a bit of tabloid notoriety in the 70s as 'Mr Whacko' - he also ran a mail order cane company. Oh, and some bloke who calls himself Jaspar Carrott started a folk club sometime in the 60s to relieve the boredom of working at Butlin's. From little acorns great oaks grow. I don't know where the folk club was held.
• The only man to sink more ships than Uncle Albert, Admiral Oliver Chasteauneuf comes from Bognor
• BBC Radio Sports Dean Addams lives in the town, rubbish commentator
• wales keeper Paul Jones lives in bersted...
• THAT BLOND BIRD OUT OF DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES WENT TO FELPHAM SCHOOL
• Jonathan Ansell of G4
• Porn star Oliver Chasteauneuf is from Bognor
• Erratum: I would like to correct certain details pertaining to Jake Netherclift. He dwells in the unmitigated tide of tosserdom. Yes, I have every right to say this. Signed Jake.
• Russell Hastings lives in Bognor Regis and has for years
• Russell Hastings can be seen often walking around Bognor Regis
• Zak Hanson, David Hasselhoff
• Coral Beed, formerly Coral Evans (used to go to Felpham Community College)has been cast in a starring role in the epic war drama 1857 The Rising, she is currently filming on location in India along side Toby Stephens of Die Another Day.
• Henry the 5th! wahoo were not called bognor REGIS for nothing u kno.
• Coral Evans (now Coral Beed) - Yes that beautiful girl (& my best friend) from Felpham Community College, now 30. Recently stared as Elaine Robinson in The Graduate at the Sir John Gielgud Theatre in Londons West End, along side Jerry Hall, Amanda Donohoe and Anne Archer. Also recently stared in two episodes of The Bill. Hopefully, she'll go on to be a Super Star and will bring a bit of much needed glamour to Bognor Regis.
• Beckham was rumoured to be looking at houses on Aldwick Bay
• queen victoria, H from steps(butlins)
• How could you forget Leslie Crowther. Helived in Felpham for many years. I delivered a telegram to him once when I worked at Felpham Post office on week-ends. The other famous person I remember was Paul Mundt, the English teacher at Boggie Comp. in the early 70's. It's obvious from some of these messages that he is no longer teaching. We also had a dancer from Pan's People, the dance group on Top of the Pops. Can't remember his name, but he taught Go-Go dancing at school on Wednesday evenings, the winter of 71-72.
• George V did NOT say 'Book at Bognor'as some claim, surely? Hewas just fed up with a load of fussers who kept poking at him when he felt like death. He probably did say Bugger Bognor, we love his memory for it .... But why has this been taken to be a Royal Command to those who govern the place, or who obstruct perfectly good ideas and activities for selfish sectional (but not sexual) reasons. [Well, none we know of.] Someone, by the way, should make more of the life of Richard Marsh, 18thC composer, who often came to Bognor and whose Diaries ought to be published; you know, "Went in Ye bathin' machine with Mrs Miggins. Not very good at it, nearly fell and drowned, but Mrs Miggins being good at it dabbled around like a flounder. But she caught a flux of this and died of its a year later." Something similar to that - Marsh's 200th Anniversary this year, 2002.
• Patrick Moore- yes the old man who looks at the sky to yell us about the stars, with a glass in his eye that crunches up his face
• the very dead james joyce and a few other chaps
• im certain rob smith from the cure lives here....
• Robert Smith, yes that chubby faced microwave meal chomping (seen him in Tesco's) songster of 'The Cure' fame (no Arabs to kill in Bognor.....sniff!)
• The Mayor is not Roger Nash, and he's not a weirdo, but we do have our own supply, like most places.
• Robert Smith of the cure ,wow an amazing underated songwriter like him in our town 20 years in the business ,he has a song called from the edge of the deep green sea possibly about bognor,apparantly a nice bloke ,Disintergration is the best album ever i think give it a try.
• Carlo Griggs (ex-bmx world champion) , Derek Bell (throw bricks at his house in Pagham please do it)
• robert smith (the cure)
• Julian Rathbone - novelist and one time head of english at Bognor Comp
• William Smith - Holder of the record for building the world's smallest submarine (see Guiness Book of World Records, 1996)
• the lead singer of Hepburn
• Jake Netherclift: well known avant-garde Dublin based writer,peripetetic musician, and the only fifteen-year-old to have worn chiffon. David F. Turner: harmonica player with Bad Manners and historian.
• Robert smith (the Cure lived on aldwick bay for ages )
• Well theres the whole of the Bognor Regis Football Team, The Rocks. Most especially Simon Rodger who signed for Crystal Palace following a friendly against them. A certain Mr Stan Collymore was playing and was indeed only at that point a reserve for the Palace team.
• The great thing about William Blake is that he lived at Felpham (now a bloody parish and "we're not part of Bognor Regis" - but Blake knew Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man, French and American Revolutions etc) - and was tried for Sedition at Chichester ?1803 (and the upper crust of Chi would still like to be able to do that...) So, how about A Blake Bi-Centennial and ... read (not sing) Jersualem? It's not the patriotic hymn that the music of Parry made it into, it's a bloody angry denunciation of oppression and a pledge to do what it took to build that vision.
• John Mason astrologer (been on Blue Peter twice!)
• elaine paige used to live in bognor, so did Cynthia Payne (Madam Sin) - is there anything else to say !
• Fred Emney, who used to be a famous comedy actor, lived in Queensway, and was on my paper round.
• Derek Bell-racing driver

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Last updated: 2009-01-16