New Year’s Honours List: James Bond team, Joanna Lumley and Vanessa Redgrave all named
02 January, 2022
The team behind the James Bond franchise were only some of the public figures from the arts to be named in this year's New Year’s Honours List.
Barbara Broccoli, daughter of Albert Broccoli who first brought the James Bond films to life, and who is now the producer and guardian of the series, as well as Michael Wilson, who works alongside her, were both named Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Daniel Craig, the most recent actor to play the role of the fictional spy, received the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, the same award given to Ian Fleming's character.
In the 1957 tale From Russia with Love, Fleming described the awards as usually given "on retirement from the Secret Service", while in real life it is normally reserved for professional diplomats and intelligence officers.
Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, 84, was made a dame for her services to drama, as was Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley, who received the same honour for her services to drama, entertainment and charity.
The film director John Boorman, who made Hope and Glory and Deliverance was knighted, as was Horace Ove, the first black Briton to direct a feature film. Paul Greengrassm who is behind the Bourne series of films and Bloody Sunday, was also knighted.
From UK television, veteran soap opera stars June Brown and William Roache both received Officer of the Order of the British Empire awards (OBE), while actress Cherylee Houston earned a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to drama and to people with disabilities.
Activist and Loose Women star Katie Piper, who was the victim of an acid attack in 2008, was awarded an OBE for her services to charity and victims of burns and other disfiguring injuries.
The songwriter Bernie Taupin, who is best known for his longtime working relationship with Sir Elton John, has been awarded a CBE. Melanie Brown, better known as Mel B of the Spice Girls, has been made an MBE for her work with the domestic violence charity Women’s Aid.
Meanwhile, Moira Stuart, the veteran broadcaster and first African-Caribbean woman to read the news on British television has received a CBE for her services to media. Speaking of her career, she said “it hasn’t been easy” but she was “moved and lifted” by the award.
Elsewhere, topping off a momentous 2021 for the teenager, tennis star Emma Raducanu, 19, is to be awarded an MBE, after her US Open win and being named the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com