Dacorum's film stars, past and future

For many he is the quintessential Englishman, James Bond incarnate.

Mind you he's also a tax exile living in Monaco, who occasionally moans about all the Russian tourists coming to the principality. But hey, that at least makes a change from fighting against Russian spies, which even the most distinguished of 89-year-olds may want to take a break from.

His movie career didn't end with after his 12 years as Bond of course. He was later cast as The Chief in Spice World.

Sir Roger lived in Tile Kiln Close, Leverstock Green during the 1960s, when he was making his name as Simon Templar in The Saint.

UPDATE: Despite there being several sources stating that Sir Roger lived here, the man himself has got in touch to say that it's not true. Disappointing perhaps, but the fact that James Bond was sending Tweets to the Gazette on Tuesday evening when this was published has actually made our week. Thank you 007!

There was a ten-year period in the history of film-making when just about every British actor seemed to pop up in a Harry Potter film (they've started letting Americans in the new ones of course, but those movies are apparently set over there too so we'll let them off).

One such thespian was Frances de la Tour - born in Bovingdon in 1944 as Frances de Lautour. Frances played Madame Olympe, the half-giant headteacher of French wizarding school Beauxbatons.

To an older generation she will always be Miss Jones from the classic sitcom Rising Damp however. And did you know she was one of three women who were in the frame to become the first female Doctor Who back in the late 1980s, along with Dawn French and Joanna Lumley? Eventually Sylvester McCoy got the job though.

The term 'Renaissance Man' refers to a polymath - someone whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.

And weird though it might seem to those of us of a certain age, it's difficult to deny that Vinne Jones does kinda fit the bill here. A Premier League footballer (who event captained Wales), a builder, a businessman, and yes - a bona fide Hollywood star.

We last wrote about Vinnie earlier this year when he set up a carpet business based in Hemel Hempstead. How much his experience of starring in films such as Snatch, Gone In 60 Seconds and X-Men: The Last Stand helped him with this is not clear.

His iconic role is surely Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. But here at the Gazette we'll always remember him first and foremost for grabbing Paul Gascoigne by the dangly bits.

The former student of Tring Park School for the Performing Arts has said this about her youth: "From about the age of five, I was aware that I didn't fit. I was the black, atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school run by nuns. I was an anomaly."

Ironic really, as she has very much fit in during her career with all kinds of roles. For many she first shot to prominence in Interview With The Vampire 23 years ago, before appearing in everything from comedy (How To Lose Friends & Alienate People), to historical drama (W), to action (Mission: Impossible 2).

Nowadays she's virtually inescapable - if you didn't see her on television in Westworld then you'll have caught her in Line Of Duty, and if you haven't readied yourself for The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan then surely you'll see her in the upcoming Han Solo film that's due to come out next year.

Ah, one of those actor whose voice, face and manner are all instantly familiar - but who you never fully recognise.

Sir Michael Hordern was a classic Shakespearean actor, despite being born in Berkhamsted in 1911 to a family with no theatrical connections. Over many years he went from minor parts to title roles such as Macbeth and King Lear with the Old Vic Company.

When he graduated to films Sir Michael was a reassuring presence, even if he was never an A-lister. He brought a certain gravitas to Sink The Bismarck! having served as a lieutenant commander on the HMS Illustrious during the war. Slightly less gravitas was needed when he played Ludicrus Sextus in Up Pompeii, a film which had a slightly looser relation to actual historical events.

In later years Sir Michael increasingly established himself as a reassuring voice actor in children's favourites such as Watership Down, The Wind In The Willows, and Labyrinth.

There was a time - many years ago - when the British film industry was synonymous with a particular type of film. And those productions were Carry On films.

Berkhamsted-born Valerie was something of a staple, appearing in Carry On Cabby, Carry On Don't Lose Your Head, Carry On Doctor, and Carry On Again Doctor.

The Carry On films still carry some degree of nostalgic cachet today, even if some of Valerie's appearances were in other sexploitation films that are largely forgotten in the 21st century. That said, The Smashing Bird I Used to Know was re-titled as School For Unclaimed Girls in the US where it had a truly brilliant poster.

Valerie also branched out into horror, with flicks such as Incense For The Damned, Corruption, and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula. And in her mid-30s she retired from performing to form a casting company with her husband - clearly a lady with her eye on the wider picture.

One of the greatest comedians of all time? Living in Berkhamsted? Well, yes.

John Cleese was at the height of his fame when he lived locally some years ago. Of course "height of his fame" is all relative for Cleese, who first appeared on Broadway in the 1960s, before becoming a renowned TV comic actor and writer, a founding member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, creating Fawlty Towers, and then turning his hand to film. It's all been pretty stratospheric really, hasn't it?

Nowadays his best-known movies are likely the Python films, his recurrent role as Q in the Bond franchise, two appearances as Nearly Headless Nick in the early Harry Potter films, and as the voice of King Harold in the Shrek series.

Another graduate of Tring Park School For The Performing Arts, Daisy is perhaps THE face of the re-launched Star Wars franchise.

An unknown when she got the role, Daisy had previously been cast in The Inbetweeners 2 only to have her scenes removed in the final cut, As a result her screen debut was in the little-seen but well-reviewed indie horror film Scrawl.

A few months after Scrawl's release Daisy began filming as Rey and her face became famous around the world. She already has roles lined up in other moves such as a Kenneth Branagh adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express, and an animated version of Peter Rabbit which will sadly also star James Corden.

She has even appeared on Barbra Streisand's last record Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway with the likes of Anne Hathway and Hugh Jackman.

She is a Bond girl, an OBE, and a charity ambassador - and she still looks pretty darned good at the age of 66.

Once upon time though, she was a teenage Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg at the Arts Educational School in Tring. However it was in her mid-20s that she achieved worldwide fame, as one of the all-time classic Bond girl Solitaire in Live And Let Die.

Truth be told, much of Jane's subsequent career was split between long-forgotten cinema outings and made-for-TV movies. She still had enough presence to play the title role of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman for the better part of a decade, and she was still famous enough to play herself on Dharma & Greg. We'll always love her for her performance in Wedding Crashers, and one day we'll forgive her for appearing in Fifth Shades Of Black.

A woman who is simultaneously Mary Poppins, Maria von Trapp and Queen Lillian from the Shrek films. Yes, Julie Andrews is film royalty.

Born Julia Wells, she was educated at The Cone-Ripman School in Tring and it's no exaggeration to say that she was marked for stardom from the start. At just 13 years old she became the youngest solo performer ever to be seen in a Royal Command Variety Performance, and she made her Broadway debut when she was still 18.

Julie's career might be best summed up by her most famous role as Mary Poppins, the woman who was "practically perfect in every way!" Initially she turned down the role because of her pregnancy, but Walt Disney himself politely insisted with the words "We'll wait for you."