List of British Jewish entertainers

This list of British Jewish entertainers includes Jewish entertainers (actors, musicians and comedians) from the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. Listed entertainers are ones who embrace Jewish culture or Judaism rather than simply having Jewish ancestry.

The number of Jews contributing to British cinema increased after 1933, when Jews were prohibited from working in Nazi Germany. In the early 1930s, the Imperial Fascist League's anti-semitic newspaper The Fascist sought to isolate the Jews in British cinema.

Stephen Brook wrote in The Club in 1989 that while there had been Jewish actors in British theatre, Jews had been more prominent as producers or agents. The Independent observed that British-Jewish comedians had taken the lead from American-Jewish comedian Jackie Mason by laughing at their own Jewish neuroses, Jewish mothers, and their leaning towards chicken soup and chopped liver, which they would not have done a decade prior. By the year 2000, British-Jewish comics may have reached their largest numbers.

Actors

• Rodney Ackland ( 1908 - 1991) was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter; born Norman Ackland Bernstein in Southend, Essex, to a Polish Jewish father from Warsaw and a non-Jewish mother
• Bennett Arron Jewish and Welsh actor (born 1973)
• Jacob Adler (1855–1926), Yiddish actor
• Peggy Ashcroft (1907–1991)
• Sacha Baron Cohen (born 1971), was a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, where he performed in shows such as Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as in Habonim Dror, a Labour Zionist youth movement; comedian and actor known for playing the comedic characters Ali G, Brüno, and Borat, the latter of whom is portrayed as extremely antisemitic
• Alfie Bass (1916–1987), actor
• Gina Bellman (born 1966), actress
• John Bennett (1928–2005), actor
• Inez Bensusan (1871–1967), Jewish actress, playwright and suffragette in the UK. She was a leader of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage.
• Harold Berens (born Isadore Harold Berenbaum; 4 March 1903 – 10 May 1995); British comedian and character actor who appeared in St Trinian's School, The Pink Panther and Carry On (franchise) films.
• Elisabeth Bergner (22 August 1897 – 12 May 1986) was an Austrian Jewish British actress.
• Steven Berkoff (born 1937), actor, writer, and director
• Ivan Berlyn (1867 – 11 December 1934); English actor of stage and silent film whose career spanned four decades.
• Peter Birrel (born Cohen; 19 July 1935 – 23 June 2004); English actor who played numerous parts on British television for nearly forty years; appeared in the Doctor Who.
• Lionel Blair (1928–2021), TV entertainer
• John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-Jewish -born Australian actor, moved to the United Kingdom permanently in 1960, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• Josh Bowman (born 1988), actor
• Bernard Bresslaw (1934–1993), actor and comedian
• Eleanor Bron (born 1938), actress and writer
• Katrin Cartlidge (1961–2002), actress
• Debbie Chazen (born 1971)
• Sir Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957); Day-Lewis's maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, head of Ealing Studios, helping develop the British film industry. The BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award is presented every year in honour of Balcon's memory
• Fenella Fielding (1927–2018); born on 17 November 1927 in Hackney, London, to a Romanian Jewish mother, Tilly (née Katz; 1902–1977), and a Lithuanian Jewish father, Philip Feldman.; starred in The Avengers (TV series), Danger Man, Carry On Screaming!
• Carole Ann Ford (born 16 June 1940) best known for her roles in Doctor Who, and as Bettina in the 1962 film adaptation of The Day of the Triffids.
• Maria Friedman (born 1960), musical theatre actress
• Rebecca Front (born 1964), comedy actress
• Stephen Fry (born 1957), comedian and actor
• Andrew Garfield (born 1983)
• Rafi Gavron (born 1989), actor
• Leo Genn (9 August 1905 – 26 January 1978); prolific English actor and barrister; appeared in well over one hundred films, radio dramas, television shows and classical theatre plays; awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1945; was part of British unit that investigated war crimes at Belsen concentration camp and was an assistant prosecutor at Belsen war crimes trials in Lüneburg, Germany
• Joshua Ginsberg (born 1998), Training: The Oxford School of Drama (known for): ‘Cable Street - a new musical’
• Iddo Goldberg (born 1975)
• Brett Goldstein (born 1980), actor and comedian
• Henry Goodman (b.1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre.
• Laurence Harvey (1928–1973), actor
• Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor.
• Leslie Howard (1893–1943), actor
• Jason Isaacs (born 1963), actor
• Sid James (1913–1976), actor
• Tony Jay (1933–2006), actor
• Lesley Joseph (born 1945), actor
• Miriam Karlin (1925–2011), actress
• Robert Kazinsky (born 1983), actor
• Barbara Kellerman (born 1949), actress
• Felicity Kendal (born 1946), actress
• David Kossoff (1919–2005), actor
• Harry Landis (1931–2022)
• Bettina Le Beau, (23 March 1932 – 8 September 2015), also known as Bettine Le Beau, was a Belgian Jewish actress.
• Benny Lee (11 August 1916 – 9 December 1995) was a Scottish Jewish comedy actor and singer; he portrayed Mr. Klein in the British sitcom, Are You Being Served? (1981).
• Anton Lesser (born 1952), actor
• Mark Lester (born 1958), actor
• Dame Maureen Lipman (born 1946), actress
• Leon Lissek, (19 January 1939 – 13 June 2022) appeared in The Professionals (TV series), Journey to the Unknown, Hammer Film Productions, EastEnders and Franz Kafka's The Trial (1993 film).
• Herbert Lom (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), a Czech Jewish-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939; noted for precise, elegant enunciation of English. He is best known for his roles in The Ladykillers, The Pink Panther film series, War and Peace and the television series The Human Jungle.
• Ferdy Mayne (11 March 1916 – 30 January 1998); German Jewish British actor known as versatile character actor, often playing suave villains and aristocratic eccentrics in films like The Fearless Vampire Killers, Where Eagles Dare, Barry Lyndon, and Benefit of the Doubt. Mayne worked for MI5 during WW2.
• Miriam Margolyes (born 1941), actress
• Kay Mellor (1951–2022), actress and screenwriter
• Warren Mitchell (1926–2015), actor
• Julian Morris (born 1983), actor
• Amanda Noar (born 14 October 1962) is a British actress and the former wife of actor Neil Morrissey.
• Tracy-Ann Oberman (born 1966), actress
• Sophie Okonedo (born 1969), actress
• Eric Pohlmann (born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) best known for his work in the James Bond films From Russia with Love (film) and Thunderball (film).
• Ruth Posner (née Wajsberg; born 20 April 1933) is a Polish Jewish born British dancer, choreographer, actress former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• Hana Maria Pravda (née Becková; after first marriage, Munk; after second marriage, Pravda; 29 January 1916, Prague − 22 May 2008, Oxford) was a Czech Jewish actress. Featured in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film) and Dracula (1974). Other TV credits include: Danger Man, Department S, Callan, Z-Cars, Dad's Army and Tales of the Unexpected.
• Natalie Press (born 1980), actress
• Lara Pulver (born 1980), actress
• Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989), actor
• David Rappaport (1951–1990), actor
• Robert Rietti, OMRI (8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015), of Italian-Jewish descent; over 200 film credits to his name, prominent in post-production work in the James Bond series, Lawrence of Arabia, Once Upon a Time in America, and The Guns of Navarone.
• Andrew Sachs (1930–2016), actor
• Emma Samms (born 1960)
• Danny Schwarz (born 1986), actor, model
• Jane Seymour (actress) (born 1951), actress
• Georgia Slowe (born 1966), actress
• Samantha Spiro, actress
• Sheila Steafel (26 May 1935 – 23 August 2019); South African Jewish, appeared in The Frost Report, Z-Cars, Sykes, Dave Allen at Large, The Kenny Everett Television Show, Minder, The Ghosts of Motley Hall, Oh Brother! and The Laughter of a Fool.
• Ed Stoppard (born 1974)
• Gregg Sulkin (born 1992), actor
• Janet Suzman, DBE (born 1939) South African British actress of Lithuanian ancestry who had successful career in Royal Shakespeare Company; was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama; Honorary Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute; was awarded Pragnell Award for lifetime services to Shakespeare and is a patron of the London International Festival of Theatre.
• Clive Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019), worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company; best known as Richard Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. He played many other television and film roles.
• Sydney Tafler (31 July 1916 – 8 November 1979); acted in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s including Dixon of Dock Green, The Lavender Hill Mob, Alfie (1966 film) and The Spy Who Loved Me (film).
• Dame Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011), actress
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson (born 1990), actor
• Harriet Thorpe (born 1957), actress
• Meier Tzelniker, actor
• Sam Wanamaker (1919–1993), actor
• Rachel Weisz (born 1970), actress
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (born 1987), model, actress, and designer
• Sophie Winkleman (born 5 August 1980); English actress; member of the extended British royal family; married to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael of Kent, a paternal cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
• Henry Woolf (1930–2021), actor; worked with Harold Pinter and acted in Doctor Who, Steptoe and Son and numerous William Shakespeare plays

Film, Television and Theatre Directors and Producers

• Stephen Frears (born 1941), director and producer of film and television; has received three BAFTA Awards, Primetime Emmy Award; nominated for two Academy Awards; The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture; in 2009, he received the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and received knighthood in 2023 for his contributions to film and television industries.
• Alexander Korda ( 1893 – 1956); Hungarian–bBritish film director, producer, and screenwriter. From 1930, Korda was active in British film industry, and soon became one of its leading figures; was founder of London Films and owner of British Lion Films ; produced many outstanding classics of British film industry, including The Private Life of Henry VIII, Rembrandt, Things To Come, The Thief of Baghdad and The Third Man; became first filmmaker to receive knighthood.; was born Sándor László Kellner into a Jewish family in Pusztatúrpásztó, Austria-Hungary; his two younger brothers, Zoltan and Vincent also had careers in the film industry.
• Vincent Korda (22 June 1897 – 4 January 1979) was a Hungarian Jewish art director, later settling in Britain, and he was the younger brother of Alexander and Zoltan Korda.
• David Lan CBE, South African British playwright, theatre producer and director and a social anthropologist; was the writer in residence at the Royal Court Theatre from 1995 to 1997 and was the artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London from 2000 until 2018. He has produced more than 200 shows.
• Sam Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) stage director, producer, screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was knighted in the 2020 New Years Honours List. In 2000, Mendes was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg, Germany. In 2005, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of Great Britain. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 15 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture".
• Emeric Pressburger ( 1902-1988), Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer; best known for film collaborations with Michael Powell, a partnership known as the Archers; produced 49th Parallel (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (US: Stairway to Heaven, 1946), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951); was born in Miskolc, in the Kingdom of Hungary, of Jewish heritage. His grandsons are Andrew Macdonald (producer) and Kevin Macdonald (director)
• Stephen Poliakoff CBE, FRSL (born 1952), playwright, director and screenwriter described as UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" who had "inherited Dennis Potter's crown"; maternal great-grandfather was Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling.
• Walter Stern (b. 1965) music video film director, worked with The Prodigy, Massive Attack, David Bowie, Madonna, Volkswagen Golf, collecting Golden Lion for Volkswagen "Heaven" at Cannes; has created advertisements, film and video for Coca-Cola, Caffreys, BBC, Orange, Adidas and Diet Coke; his work for the Department for Transport, won him award at BTAA Craft for Best Video Post Production; other advertising work includes "Bubbles" for Vodafone, a Transport for London spot for M&C Saatchi and Johnnie Walker film for BBH.
• John Sutro ( 1903 - 1985); film producer ; member of the jury at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival; was close friend of Mitford sisters and was part of group of artists and intellectuals with whom they regularly associated in 1920s and 1930s. Sutro was Jewish.

Broadcasters

• Emma Barnett (born 5 February 1985); broadcaster and journalist; main presenter of Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 from 2021 to 2024.
• Dani Behr (born 1971), TV presenter, actress and singer
• Rabbi Lionel Blue (1930–2016), radio broadcaster
• Danny Cohen (media executive) (b. 1974) television executive; President of Access Entertainment; previously Director of BBC Television; was Controller of BBC One; worked at Channel 4 and its youth service E4; roles there included Head of Documentaries for Channel 4 and Head of E4;;was Controller of BBC Three;The Times newspaper described Cohen as "the boy wonder of British television". In 2016, Cohen launched Access Entertainment with the businessman Len Blavatnik. Access Entertainment invests in content for theatre, film, television, gaming, the creator economy and the visual arts."Cohen is married to economist and author Noreena Hertz. Cohen has been a regular contributor to The Telegraph, writing on antisemitism in the UK;he has criticised BBC's coverage of the war, accusing the broadcaster of anti-Israel bias.
• Jonathan Coleman (born 1956), radio broadcaster
• Mark Damazer (born 1955), Controller, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7; in 2011 New Year Honours, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to broadcasting, is Senior Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, chair of the Booker Prize Foundation, and on boards of trustees of the Institute of Contemporary British History.
• Vanessa Feltz (born 1962), TV presenter
• Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009)
• Loyd Grossman;(born 16 September 1950) TV am and BBC presenter; Rolling Stone journalist and guest musician with Jethro Tull (band); cousin of Ram Dass.
• Gerard Hoffnung (1925–1959), frequent guest appearances as humorous personality
• David Jacobs (1926–2013), TV and radio presenter
• Natasha Kaplinsky (born 1972), TV presenter, newsreader
• Ian Katz (born 9 February 1968); British journalist and broadcasting executive; Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, overseeing all editorial decision making and commissioning across Channel 4, streaming services and social media.; was a deputy editor of The Guardian.; also the editor of the Newsnight current affairs programme on BBC Two, a role which he left in late 2017 to join Channel 4.
• Jacky Klein (born 28 January 1977) art historian, broadcaster, author; co-presented Britain's Lost Masterpieces for BBC4; co-authored book with sister, Suzy Klein, What is Contemporary Art? A Children's Guide, commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, published by Thames & Hudson; has also authored works on Wyndham Lewis and Grayson Perry; in 2015, was Executive Editor at Tate Publishing
• Suzy Klein (born 1 April 1975) author and radio and television presenter; Head of Arts and Classical Music TV for the BBC; winner of William Hardcastle Award for Journalism; was assistant producer at BBC Radio 4 on programmes including Start the Week; then moved to BBC Television, working as director and producer on arts and music films; listed in The Guardian's "25 up-and-coming cultural figures". In 2008, she presented the Proms season on BBC Two; has also presented The Culture Show, BBC Young Musician of the Year and The Review Show; For Sky Arts, hosted programmes on Sky Arts 2; also presented Aida from Royal Albert Hall (March 2012) for The Rosenblatt Recitals; was named Music Broadcaster of the Year, winning the Silver Prize at the Sony Awards; has presented global opera broadcasts for Royal Opera, London, and hosted broadcasts of the Royal Shakespeare Company; in 2021, appointed Head of Arts and Classical Music TV.
• Nigella Lawson (born 1960), celebrity chef
• Olly Mann (born 1981), radio presenter
• James Max (born 1970), radio presenter
• Mike Mendoza (born 1948), Talksport Radio
• Robert Peston (born 1960), BBC news business correspondent; author of Who Runs Britain? How the Super-Rich are Changing our Lives; son of Maurice Peston, Baron Peston (1931–2016), an economist and Labour life peer who had worked on the Lords Constitution Committee and on committee reviewing the BBC Charter and was chairman of the Pools Panel.
• Jay Rayner (born 1966), broadcaster and food writer
• Jim Rosenthal (born 6 November 1947), sports presenter and commentator who has covered eight FIFA World Cups, three Rugby World Cups, two Olympic Games and 150 Formula One races. His paternal great-grandfather, Leo Olschki, founded Leo S. Olschki Editore publishing house, and his maternal grandfather was German Jewish physician and scholar of Friedrich Nietzsche, Oscar Levy.
• Gaby Roslin (born 1964), TV presenter
• Jason Solomons (b. 1969), film critic, journalist, broadcaster and author; has appeared on BBC News, Sky News and BBC Radio and is former chairman of the London Film Critics' Circle; He hosted Movie Talk in 2016, an interview series on Sky Arts has presented film slot on BBC Radio London's Robert Elms show for more than 15 years; is regular reporter on red carpets, has presented Virgin Atlantic's in-flight entertainment show and has attended every Cannes Film Festival since 1997, when he began first dedicated film diary and gossip column in British newspapers, for The Observer newspaper.
• Jerry Springer (born 13 February 1944) British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician who hosted the tabloid talk show Jerry Springer; also known as political campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy; hosted America's Got Talent, Miss World, Miss Universe, WWE Raw and covered the 2016 United States presidential election for ITV's Good Morning Britain.
• Claudia Winkleman (born 1972), daughter of Lady Lloyd (née Pollard), presented Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, twice nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance, presenter of Film... (TV programme), Fame Academy, hosted Eurovision Dance Contest 2007, co-presented Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and Sky Movie Premiere's coverage of 79th and 80th Academy Awards; journalist for Tatler, Cosmopolitan (magazine), The Sunday Times and The Independent; judge and the host at the British Film Institute.
• Robert Winston, Baron Winston (born 15 July 1940) is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and Labour peer;has received at least twenty three honorary degrees; author of over twenty five books. He is a member of Labour Friends of Israel; father of Ben Winston, renowned for producing a number of the annual Brit Awards from 2011 to 2014 and more recently he was a co-producer of US Grammy Awards and Tony Awards.
• Charlie Wolf (born 1959), TalkSport Radio
• Helen Zaltzman, broadcaster and podcaster

Comedians

• Bennett Arron Jewish and Welsh Comedian (born 1973)
• Simon Amstell, comedian, TV presenter and actor
• Ronni Ancona, impressionist
• David Baddiel ( born 28 May 1964); comedian, op-ed writer, broadcaster and author of over ten books(11?), his latest being the critically acclaimed and well received Jews Don't Count, which is about antisemitism, double standards against, exclusion of, and racial prejudice against Jews in Britain.
• Barney Barnato (born Barnet Isaacs; 1851 – 1897); Randlord and diamond magnate; entrepreneur who gained control of diamond mining, and gold mining in South Africa from the 1870s up to World War I; was known as rival of Cecil Rhodes; prior to mining success, was a music hall entertainer and prizefighter; performed on stage in the music halls with partner Harry, introduced as the Great Henry Isaacs and Barney; became known as Bar-na-to, or the Barnato Brothers.
• Sacha Baron Cohen (born 1971), was a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, where he performed in shows such as Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as in Habonim Dror, a Labour Zionist youth movement; comedian and actor known for playing the comedic characters Ali G, Brüno, and Borat, the latter of whom is portrayed as extremely antisemitic
• Ashley Blaker, comedian and television producer; writer for TV and radio and longtime collaborator with Matt Lucas: was producer of Little Britain and Rock Profile. Lucas described Blaker as "the UK's only Orthodox comedian". Blaker's Off-Broadway show, Strictly Unorthodox, opened in 2017 at The Theater Center. and his second Off-Broadway show, Goy Friendly opened in February 2020, at SoHo Playhouse.
• Issy Bonn, radio, film, and music hall comedian and singer
• Simon Brodkin (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Brodki)
• Arnold Brown
• Sam Costa, comedian
• Bud Flanagan, comedian and actor
• Adam Kay (writer) (born 12 June 1980) comedy writer, author, comedian and former doctor. His television writing credits include Crims, Mrs. Brown's Boys and Mitchell and Webb. He is best known as author of the number-one bestselling book This Is Going to Hurt.
• Paul Kaye (born 1965), comedian, writer and actor (Dennis Pennis)
• Konstantin Kisin ( b. 1982); comedian, satirist, author, conservative pundit, and co-host (with Francis Foster) of the Triggernometry podcast; has written for Quillette, The Spectator, The Daily Telegraph and Standpoint; appeared on the panel of the BBC political programme Question Time, and been interviewed on TV media such as the BBC, Sky News and GB News; speaks and writes on current affairs, censorship, comedy and culture war; Kisin is of Russian Jewish ancestry.
• Matt Lucas (born 5 March 1974), actor, comedian, screenwriter and television presenter best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006, 2020), though in 2020, show removed from various UK streaming services due to its use of blackface
• Robert Popper (born 23 November 1967); comedy producer, writer, actor, and author; credits include The Comic Strip; the Channel 4 show,The Big Breakfast, Bo' Selecta!, Black Books, Spaced and Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
• Jess Robinson (born 1993), impressionist, comedian, singer and podcaster
• Tony Robinson, actor and comedian.
• Ray Martine (1928–2002), comedian
• Peter Sellers, comedian and actor; descendant of renowned Sephardi Jewish pugilist, Daniel Mendoza.
• Ruby Wax (née Wachs; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, author of popular self-help books, comedian, television personality, and popular mental health campaigner, of Austrian Jewish descent; appointed Chancellor of the University of Southampton; Wax also teaches business communication in the public and private sectors. Clients include Deutsche Bank, the UK Home Office and Skype.
• Bernie Winters
• Mike Winters
• Andy Zaltzman (born 1974), comedian

Musicians and singers

• Larry Adler, harmonica player (American-born; naturalised British)
• Ambrose, bandleader
• Howie B, sound engineer, mixer and producer, worked with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Creatures, Steve Reich, The Royal Ballet's Carlos Acosta and dub music pioneers, Sly and Robbie, contributed to Jamaican movie soundtrack for Third World Cop.
• Gilad Atzmon, right-wing Israeli agent provocateur, activist and saxophonist for the Blockheads and Pink Floyd; Holocaust denier, anti-Semite, campaigner, author, writer, prolific blogger and bebop jazz musician of Israeli birth and Ashkenazi origin
• Beardyman, beatboxing artist
• Stanley Black, pianist, composer and bandleader
• Elkie Brooks, singer
• Ian Broudie, of The Lightning Seeds
• Pete Brown (born 1940) is an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.
• Pete Burns, of Dead or Alive
• Tito Burns, bandleader
• Nicky Chinn (born 16 May 1945); songwriter and record producer, together with Mike Chapman had string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s with The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud and Tina Turner.
• Alex Clare, singer
• Johnny Clegg, UK-born South African musician
• Alma Cogan (born Alma Angela Cohen Cogan, 1932–1966) was a Russian Jewish-Romanian Jewish singer in the 1950s and early 1960s; the highest paid British female entertainer of her era.
• Erran Baron Cohen (born May 1968); composer and trumpet player known for collaborations with his younger brother, Sacha Baron Cohen; member of the world music group Zohar who are signed to Ark 21 label, a label owned by Miles Copeland, son of CIA Officer, Miles Copeland Jr.
• Steph Cohen, bass guitarist for anarchist punk rock band, Hagar the Womb.
• Antony Costa (born 1981), member of Blue
• Tony Crombie (1925–1999), jazz drummer and bandleader (Tony Crombie and his Rockets)
• Clifford Curzon, classical pianist
• Ivor Cutler (1923–2006), singer-songwriter, poet and humourist
• Craig David, singer
• Lynsey de Paul, singer-songwriter
• Manny Elias (born 21 February 1953), Indian-born British drummer and record producer, notable for being the original drummer with Tears for Fears during the 1980s; also played with Peter Gabriel and Adam and the Ants and Roxy Music bassist, Gary Tibbs.
• Barry Fantoni, jazz musician
• Mick Farren,(3 September 1943 – 27 July 2013)Proto-punk musician, anarchist, political activist, anti-fascist agent provocateur and author; foundation figure in the growth of the British Underground press; co-wrote songs with Lemmy Kilmister for Hawkwind and Motörhead was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground.
• Nick Feldman, musician in new wave pop band, Wang Chung (band), his father was Basil Feldman, Baron Feldman, a Conservative member of the House of Lords, and his aunt was the actress Fenella Fielding.
• Justine Frischmann, of Elastica; daughter of Wilem Frischmann who is considered amongst foremost engineers of his generation due to his work on Centre Point, Tower 42 (formerly National Westminster Tower) and Drapers Gardens.
• Ray Gelato (b. 1961), jazz, swing and jump blues saxophonist, singer and bandleader.; known as major force in the revival of swing music. Gelato has performed in a private capacity for Richard Branson, Paul McCartney and Elizabeth II amongst others.
• Jess Glynne, singer
• Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley, members of 10cc
• Benny Green, saxophonist and broadcaster
• Mick Green (1944–2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates.
• Peter Green, founding member of Fleetwood Mac
• Adrian Gurvitz, of The Gun & Baker Gurvitz Army
• Paul Gurvitz, of The Gun & Baker Gurvitz Army
• Steffan Halperin, drummer for The Chavs
• Dick James singer, music publisher
• Chaz Jankel, of The Blockheads and Ian Dury's proto punk and pub rock band, Kilburn and the High Roads, as well as having recorded with Sly and Robbie at the roots reggae and pioneering avant-garde Compass Point Studios.
• Laurence Juber, guitarist
• Paul Kossoff ( 1950 – 1976), of Russian Jewish ancestry; co-founder and guitarist of blues rock band Free; ranked number 51 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"; son of actor David Kossoff; nephew of Alan Keith; cousin of the judge Brian Keith and model Linda Keith.
• Keith Levene (18 July 1957 – 11 November 2022), musician, founding member of The Flowers of Romance (British band) with Sid Vicious, the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL), also appearing on records with Dub Syndicate, Style Scott and Singers and Players, his work with Bim Sherman featuring in Richard Hell’s Smithereens (film). While Levene was in PiL, their 1978 debut album Public Image: First Issue reached No 22 in the UK album charts, and its lead track "Public Image" broke the top 10 UK singles chart.
• Harry Lewis (musician), (born Harris Copperman; 11 January 1915 – 29 April 1998), saxophonist and clarinettist, best known as the husband of singer Vera Lynn.
• Daniel Miller (music producer) (b. 1951), music producer, electronic musician, founder of Mute Records; son of two Austrian-Jewish refugees from Nazism, Martin Miller and Hannah Norbert-Miller, born into a family of actors. Besides founding Mute Records, Miller recorded profoundly influential songs under the name The Normal, "T.V.O.D." and "Warm Leatherette", both of which were groundbreaking in the evolution of post punk electronic music
• Crispian Mills, singer of Kula Shaker
• Anthony Newley, singer-songwriter and actor; wrote "Feeling Good", which was covered by Nina Simone, as well as the lyrics for title song in film Goldfinger
• Colin Newman(born 16 September 1954), guitarist for early punk rock outfit, Wire (band) who were from the first wave of British punk rock and whose debut album Pink Flag, with its breakneck speed one-minute compositions, was highly influential on later incarnations of thrash and hardcore punk.
• Passenger, stage name of singer-songwriter Michael David Rosenberg
• Sid Phillips, jazz clarinetist
• Simon Phillips, drummer for The Who, 801 (band), Judas Priest, Brian Eno, The Michael Schenker Group and Toto; son of Sid Phillips. Simon Phillips is credited with introducing the combination of the double bass drumming that would come to define heavy metal in later years, particularly the ultra fast thrash metal sub-genre which emerged in the 1980s.
• Lou Preager (1906–1978), bandleader and pianist.
• Keith Reid (born 1946), lyricist for Procol Harum
• Mark Ronson (born 1975), musician, DJ and producer
• Samantha Ronson (born 1977), singer-songwriter
• Leon Rosselson (born 1934), singer-songwriter.
• Dan Rothman, guitarist in London Grammar
• Rowetta
• Helen Shapiro, singer
• Peter Solley (1947-2023), keyboardist of Procol Harum
• Rachel Stevens (born 1978), singer-songwriter, actress, TV presenter
• Vi Subversa (20 June 1935 – 19 February 2016), was lead singer, lyricist and guitarist of anarcho-punk band Poison Girls; lived in Israel in late 1950s working in ceramic pottery in Beersheba under Nehemia Azaz, had two children, Pete Fender and Gem Stone who both became members of the Anarchist punk rock bands Fatal Microbes and Rubella Ballet.
• Yevgeny Sudbin, concert pianist
• Lewis Taylor, singer/songwriter
• Nat Temple (1913–2008) was an English big band leader, and a clarinet and saxophone player.
• Jessie Ware, singer-songwriter, musician
• Louise Wener of Sleeper
• Amy Winehouse, (1983–2011), singer-songwriter
• Eric Woolfson (18 March 1945 – 2 December 2009) was a Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and co-creator of the band the Alan Parsons Project, who sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Woolfson also pursued a career in musical theatre.

Writers

• Bennett Arron (born 1973) Welsh writer, comedian and actor
• Gilad Atzmon, be bop saxophonist, anti Israeli, pro Palestinian activist, dissident social critic of Israel, agent provocateur, satirist and author.
• Victoria Coren Mitchell (born 1972)
• Mick Farren, Proto-punk musician, anarchist, activist, agent provocateur and author, contributed to the UK Underground press, the International Times, New Musical Express, as well as writing 23 novels and eleven works of non-fiction and was columnist for Los Angeles CityBeat.
• Claire Rayner (1931–2010), agony aunt and broadcaster
• Emma Richler (born 1961) is a British actress and author.
• Will Self (born 26 September 1961); author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster; regular contributor to The Guardian, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, London Review of Books and New Statesman; regular contributor to Have I Got News for You, Shooting Stars for two series; also appears on Newsnight ,Question Time, BBC Radio 4 programme A Point of View.
• Arnold Wesker (1932–2016), dramatist.
• Rosie Whitehouse, journalist and author. Wife of Tim Judah and mother of Ben Judah; of Iraqi Jewish ancestry. Her historical research and profiles of Holocaust Survivors have been published by The Observer, The Jewish Chronicle, BBC News and Tablet magazine. Meanwhile, her writing about British government policy toward victims after the Holocaust and contemporary British antisemitism has appeared in The Independent and Haaretz.

Classical musicians

• John Barnett, composer
• Julius Benedict, composer
• Maria Bland, singer
• John Braham (tenor)(circa|1774 – 17 February 1856) tenor opera singer born in London; one of Europe's leading opera stars. His success, and that of his offspring in marrying into the British aristocracy, are also notable examples of Jewish social mobility in the early 19th century.
• Giacobbe Cervetto, popularised the cello in England, born in Italy to Italian Jewish parents
• Israel Citkowitz (6 February 1909 – 4 May 1974); composer and pianist.
• Harriet Cohen, pianist
• Frederic Hymen Cowen, composer
• Isidore de Lara, composer
• Jacqueline du Pré, cellist
• Gerald Finzi, composer
• Norma Fisher, pianist
• Benjamin Frankel ( 1906 – 1973) was a British composer of Polish Jewish ancestry. His best known pieces include a cycle of five string quartets, eight symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores and working as a big band arranger in the 1930s. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition which retained contact with tonality.
• Alexander Goehr, composer; son of Walter Goehr
• Walter Goehr, composer
• Berthold Goldschmidt, composer
• Livia Ruth Gollancz, (25 May 1920 − 28 March 2018) was the daughter of Socialist humanitarian publisher, Victor Gollancz and was the first female principal horn of a major UK symphony orchestra.
• Mark Hambourg (Russian: Марк Михайлович Гамбург, 1 June 1879 – 26 August 1960) was a Russian British concert pianist.
• Myra Hess, pianist, best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann.
• Alice Herz-Sommer (1903–2014), Czech-born Israeli-British pianist, music teacher, and supercentenarian)
• Gerard Hoffnung, tubist, illustrator and cartoonist, impresario, humorist
• Steven Isserlis, cellist
• Hans Keller, musicologist
• Evgeny Kissin (Russian: Евге́ний И́горевич Ки́син, romanized: Evgénij Ígorevič Kísin; born 10 October 1971) is a Russian Jewish concert pianist and composer.
• Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke d'Abernon; conductor and violinist (American/UK-based), son of anti-Zionist campaigner Moshe Menuhin, father of author Gerard Menuhin (born 1948 in Scotland) and pianist and composer Jeremy Menuhin, descendant of Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי, 4 September 1745 – 15 December 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573), rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism.
• Benno Moiseiwitsch, pianist (Russian-born; naturalized 1937)
• Ignaz Moscheles (23 May 1794 – 10 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer, based in London and Leipzig. Tutor to Felix Mendelssohn.
• Michael Nyman, composer
• Murray Perahia, American pianist (UK-based)
• James Rhodes, pianist
• Landon Ronald, conductor and composer
• Robert Saxton, composer
• Rudolf Schwarz, conductor
• Solomon, professional name of the pianist Solomon Cutner
• Sir Georg Solti, conductor
• Anna Steiger (born 13 February 1960 is a British and American opera singer who has sung leading soprano and mezzo-soprano roles in British, European and North American opera houses; daughter of Rod Steiger and Clare Bloom
• Walter Susskind (1913–1980), conductor
• Richard Tauber, Jewish-born Roman Catholic singer and composer (naturalised British citizen, 1940)
• Lionel Tertis, violist
• Simon Waley Waley, musician
• Egon Wellesz, composer
• Benjamin Zander, music director

Ballet dancers

• Celia Franca, ballerina
• Diana Gould (dancer), wife of Yehudi Menuhin.

Other

• Simon Cowell, English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive.
• Carl Davis, (28 October 1936 – 3 August 2023) was an American-born conductor and composer who has written music for more than 100 television programmes; collaborated with Paul McCartney in the creation of the Liverpool Oratorio. Composed music for The World at War, British documentary television series chronicling the events of the Second World War
• Uri Geller (Hebrew: אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946 in British Mandate of Palestine Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic.
• Walter Goehr (28 May 1903 – 4 December 1960) was a German Jewish composer and conductor and descendant of Felix Mendelssohn and Moses Mendelssohn.
• Giorgio Gomelsky (28 February 1934 – 13 January 2016) filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter; owned Crawdaddy Club where the Rolling Stones were house band, and he was involved with their early management; also managed The Yardbirds and Soft Machine; ran Marmalade Records.
• Lucian Grainge CBE (born 29 February 1960) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group.
• Nigel Grainge (4 October 1946 – 11 June 2017) was a British music executive, and the founder of Ensign Records in 1976; brother of Lucian Grainge.
• Peter Grant (music manager) (5 April 1935 – 21 November 1995); best known as the manager of Led Zeppelin.
• Derek Green, management, Public Relations and promotion for A&M Records.
• Arnold Haskell (19 July 1903, London – 14 November 1980, Bath) was a British dance critic who founded the Camargo Society in 1930. With Ninette de Valois, he was influential in the development of the Royal Ballet School.
• Jonty Hurwitz(born 2 September 1969 ) British South African artist, engineer and entrepreneur. Hurwitz creates scientifically inspired artworks and anamorphic sculptures; recognised for the smallest human form ever created using nano technology. Also founder (with Errol Damelin) of Wonga.com, also known as Wonga, a payday loan firm.
• Nathan Joseph (23 July 1939 – 30 August 2005) was a British record company founder, theatrical producer and talent agent; pioneer in the development of independent record companies in the 1960s and 1970s; founder of Transatlantic Records, an independent British record company that flourished between 1961 and 1977.
• Hans Keller (11 March 1919 – 6 November 1985) was a Viennese Jewish British musician and writer, who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism; best known for his appearance on TV show The Look of the Week in which he interviewed Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. Keller was generally puzzled by, or even contemptuous of, the group and its music, opening with the comment "why has it all got to be so terribly loud?"
• Jacob Kramer (26 December 1892 – 4 February 1962) was a Ukrainian Jewish born painter who spent all of his working life in England
• Philip de László (born Fülöp Laub; Hungarian: László Fülöp Elek; 30 April 1869 – 22 November 1937) was an Anglo- Hungarian Jewish painter known particularly for his portraits of royal and aristocratic personages.
• David Morris Levy and Jacques Levy; founders of Embassy Records; later taken over by Columbia Records; also founders of Oriole Records (UK).
• Michael Levy, Baron Levy, (born 11 July 1944), Labour Party peer, was chairman and CEO of group of music companies, founded Magnet Records, now consultant for a number of companies and is chairman of finance company, spent nine years as Tony Blair's special envoy to Middle East
• Flora Lion (3 December 1878 – 15 May 1958), English portrait painter, known for her portraits of society figures and murals
• Romek Marber (25 November 1925 – 30 March 2020) was a Polish Jewish British graphic designer and academic known for his work illustrating the covers of Penguin Books, The Economist, New Society, Town and Queen magazines, Nicholson's London Guides, BBC Television, Columbia Pictures, the London Planetarium and others.
• Albert Marchinsky, (1875 – July 1930) was a Polish Jewish stage magician.
• Laura Marks (born 26 April 1960); inter-faith social activist, policy adviser, writer and media commentator; sits on the board of the Jewish News. She is a regular media commentator, contributing to platforms including BBC Radio 2 Pause for Thought, BBC Breakfast, BBC London News, HuffPost, Evening Standard, The Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News, The Times of Israel and the Ham & High.
• Enid Marx, distant cousin of Karl Marx, RDI (20 October 1902 – 18 May 1998), was an English painter and designer, best known for her industrial textile designs for the London Transport Board and the Utility furniture Scheme. Marx was the first female engraver to be designated as a Royal Designer for Industry.
• Isabel Maxwell, (born 16 August 1950, daughter of Robert Maxwell) film maker for Southern Television in the UK; in 1973, Maxwell made her first film, an adaptation of the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull, entrepreneur and the co-founder of Magellan, an early search engine, listed as a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum, She served as the President of Commtouch, an Israeliinternet company that became CYREN. She was a Director of Israel Venture Network and built up their Social Entrepreneur program in Israel from 2004 to 2010.
• Jonathan Mendelsohn, Baron Mendelsohn; spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company PartyGaming which merged with bwin Interactive Entertainment and Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment; former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.
• Nicola Mendelsohn (née Clyne; born 29 August 1971) vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Facebook; co-chair of the Creative Industries Council; director of the Bailey's Prize for Women's Fiction.; first female president of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising; chairman of the corporate board of Women's Aid, president of the Women's Advertising Club of London.; serves on the UK government's Digital Economy Council, the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board, and is co-president of the charity Norwood
• Maurice Oberstein (26 September 1928—13 August 2001) was a British American music business executive; credited as "one of the chief architects of the modern UK record industry"; instrumental figure in early UK punk rock; promoted the Clash and Adam and the Ants.
• Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) British Australian record producer, talent manager, impresario and author; manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967; also worked with Jimmy Page and Nico.
• Sharon Osbourne née Levy, daughter of Don Arden of Ashkenazi descent, music manager and wife of Black Sabbath vocalist, Ozzy Osbourne.
• Larry Parnes (3 September 1929 – 4 August 1989); music manager and impresario; seen as the first major British rock manager, and managed the most successful British rock and roll singers of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
• Ian Saville (born 1953), magician
• Oda Slobodskaya (28 November/10 December 1888 – 30 July 1970) was a Russian Jewish soprano who became a British citizen.
• Geoff Travis (b. 1952), founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops; former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1978;his ancestors emigrated from Romania and Ukraine.
• Monica van der Zyl (27 April 1935 – 6 March 2021) was a German Jewish actress based in the United Kingdom, known for her dubbing work on the James Bond film franchise; mother of Marie van der Zyl (née Kaye; born November 1965), who is the 48th President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
• John Woolf, rap and Grime (music genre) CEO, promotor and founder of "A-List Management", the record label that Wiley (musician) released his music on.

See also

• Lists of Jews
• List of British Jews

References

• JYB = Jewish Year Book
• TimesAd: The Times, 6/7/06 p34: "A Call by Jews in Britain" (advert signed by 300 British Jews)

External links

• Jinfo