Musicians And Actors Steal The Honours Limelight

He's been tipped to be the first black Bond.
But for now London-born Hollywood star Idris Elba is serving Her Majesty in another way after being awarded an OBE for services to drama.
The 43-year-old, who has impressed audiences with his award-winning role in the hit BBC drama Luther and for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in 2013's Long Walk to Freedom, said he was 'beyond proud' to gain the award.
He is one of a host of showbiz stars recognised in the New Year's honours list, which includes a damehood for Carry On and EastEnders actress Barbara Windsor, 78, and an MBE for drum and bass DJ Goldie.
Meanwhile Blur frontman Damon Albarn has been awarded an OBE for services to music. 
Actress Sian Phillips, 82, will also be made a dame, while choreographer Matthew Bourne, 55, and former BBC news anchorman Martyn Lewis, 70, will both receive knighthoods.
Others to receive an OBE include 39-year-old David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr in 2014's hit Selma, and Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt, 50.

West End star Imelda Staunton, 59, will be upgraded from an OBE to a CBE. 

  IDRIS ELBA
Idris Elba: The actor has received two Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the hit BBC drama Luther (above) and Netflix's Beasts of No Nation
Luther star Idris Elba has described his OBE for services to drama as 'beyond special'.
The actor said: 'Awards and honours come in all shapes and sizes and all as significant as the other.

But this is beyond special as it comes from Queen and country, and I couldn't be more proud for receiving this right now. What a year. On me head son!'
The OBE caps a memorable year for the 43-year-old Londoner, which has seen him receive two Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the hit BBC drama Luther and Netflix's Beasts of No Nation.
Elba has also been the subject of speculation that he is next in line to play James Bond.
Anthony Horowitz, who wrote the latest 007 novel, Trigger Mortis, was quoted in the Daily Mail as describing Elba as 'too street' for Bond.
The author later apologised, writing on Twitter: 'I'm really sorry my comments about Idris Elba have caused offence.

That wasn't my intention.'
Elba posted a screen grab of the corresponding article on his Instagram page, writing: 'Always Keep Smiling!! It takes no energy and never hurts! Learned that from the Street!!
#septemberstillloveyou'
Elba rose to fame for his role as Russell 'Stringer' Bell in HBO's gritty series The Wire. He received praise for his portrayal of former South African president Nelson Mandela in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.
Elba - along with David Oyelowo, David Harewood, Lenny Henry and Meera Syal - has spoken out about the representation of ethnic minorities on television.
Big hit: Elba received praise for his portrayal of former South African president Nelson Mandela in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
He told the Press Association earlier this year the UK was 'moving in the right direction' regarding diversity in TV roles, but said there is still a lot of work to do.
'People are aware of the issues that are faced.

It's one of these problems that won't get fixed overnight but I think it's progressively getting better.'
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He went on to add: 'The BBC and Luther are very supportive of diversity, especially behind and in front of the camera. It's important to keep trying.'
The star spoke recently about becoming a dad for the second time to his son, Winston, who is 20 months old.
Many talents: Elba owns his own production company, and in 2015 launched a clothing range with Superdry
He told The Jonathan Ross Show: 'He's a good boy with me, [but] a really bad boy with his mum because she spoils him.

I don't.
'I am the tough guy... I am actually a doting father, I like pick him up a bit but for some reason he just takes the [mickey] with his mum. That was the same relationship with my dad and my mum, actually.'
Acting aside, Elba has a successful music career and is a well-respected DJ.

He opened for Madonna on her Rebel Heart tour in Germany this year and has performed at the Glastonbury festival.
He also owns his own production company, and in 2015 launched a clothing range with Superdry.
  GOLDIE
DJ: Goldie has said that being awarded an MBE is the beginning, not the end of achievement for him
Musician Goldie has said that being awarded an MBE is the beginning, not the end of achievement for him.
'I turned 50 in September and I've always felt there's more work to do,' he said.
Goldie, whose real name is Clifford Price and also goes by the professional name of The Alchemist, was honoured for his contribution to the music, TV and film industries and his work with a number of charities.
He said: 'From where I've come from, I look back at everything, all these people that influenced my life as a kid growing up in a really bad environment, it just makes it all worthwhile in terms of the recognition.
'We have choices in life when we're young and I think a lot of things were stacked against me.'
Goldie was raised in the care system and grew up around the West Midlands, spending a large part of his youth in the Heath Town neighbourhood of Wolverhampton.
During a BBC Radio 4 programme in 2014, he explained that as a young boy he always carried a suitcase around with him.
'I'd go to one children's home and they'd go 'Ok, you need to leave now'.

So you'd always keep your life in a suitcase.'
He made his name with his record Timeless, which is often described as one of most iconic British albums of the 90s. Hit track Inner City Life is regarded as a seminal dance song of that era.
Inspired initially by a DJ named Kemistry, he is often credited with having introduced new techniques into drum and bass music, and with popularising the genre.
Royal appointment: Goldie, whose real name is Clifford Price and also goes by the professional name of The Alchemist, met Prince Harry at Clarence House in London in 2010 for a BBC interview
Political meeting: Goldie spent a large part of his youth in Wolverhampton, where he is pictured with David Cameron three years before the latter became Prime Minister, during an election walkabout in April 2007
'I've always been a big champion of saying what we do today creates tomorrow.

When you're young, you don't realise all of this stuff, and from an early age I was very conscious of what was going on in my environment,' he said.
'I ran to the arts, because the arts are the one thing that would never abandon me.'
Music aside, he tried his hand at graffiti and went on to exhibit his art at a London gallery.
He has appeared in several TV shows and movies, including roles in James Bond's The World Is Not Enough, as well as having a recurring role in EastEnders as Angel Hudson.
He appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Mastermind, and in 2011 he was on screen in Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment, which saw him meeting Prince Harry.
  BARBARA WINDSOR
Dame: Barbara Windsor, pictured with her husband Scott Mitchell in September, was 'very honoured, proud and extremely humbled' to receive her award
Actress Barbara Windsor described the journey from East End to Damehood in the New Year's honours as 'truly like a dream'.
Joining the ranks of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Helen Mirren, Windsor said she was 'very honoured, proud and extremely humbled' to receive her award for services to charity and entertainment.
Famous for her roles as the buxom blonde in the Carry On! Films and as brassy pub landlady Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, Windsor is an ambassador for Age UK, patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, a lifelong supporter of the NHS, and the face of the British Legion's annual Poppy Appeal.
'I am so very honoured, proud and extremely humbled by this honour,' she said.

'I feel so lucky to live in a country I love, a job I have always adored which has allowed me to be in a position where I am able to help others.
'For a girl from the East End born into a working-class family and an evacuee during World War Two, this is truly like a dream.
I am so happy and blessed to say it's real. God bless you all,' she added.
Windsor stirred up controversy in October when she told those who refused to wear a poppy on Remembrance Day to 'sod off' on live television.
The Shoreditch-born star was awarded an MBE in the 2000 New Year's honours and a spot on the 'cultural icons' float in the Queen's Golden Jubilee parade in 2002.
Born in 1937 as Barbara Ann Deeks, Babs - as she's affectionately known - has been no stranger to the limelight since she made her stage debut at 13 and her West End debut in the chorus of Love From Judy in 1952.
Her real breakthrough came when she starred as Agent Daphne Honeybutt in Carry On Spying, her first of nine films in the comedy franchise that would secure Babs' status as a household name and put her on the path to national treasure.
Meeting the Queen: Windsor and Steve McFadden (who played Phil Mitchell) in the Queen Vic pub during a royal visit to the EastEnders set at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire in 2001
Playing to full effect her busty 4ft 10in figure, few fans will forget the risque moment in Carry On Camping in 1969 when her bra pings off into the face of Kenneth Williams during a strenuous outdoor aerobics session.
She was nominated for a best British film actress Bafta for Sparrers Can't Sing in 1963 and a Tony award for best featured actress in 1965 during a Broadway stint in Oh!

What A Lovely War.
But it was the role of battleaxe Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, which she played from 1994 to 2010, that cemented her place in the nation's heart.
Soap favourite: It was the role of battleaxe Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, which she played from 1994 to 2010, that cemented her place in the nation's heart
Peggy's storylines saw her survive breast cancer and instigate a hate campaign against HIV positive Mark Fowler, played by Todd Carty. 
She started an affair with Frank Butcher, engaged in cat-fights with his ex-wife Pat, escaped two failed marriages, and lost and regained ownership of the Queen Vic pub countless times.
Her famous line 'Get outta my pub!' rang in the ears of viewers long after her troublesome punters had been turfed out.
Windsor's personal life is as colourful as the characters she played with three marriages, five abortions, flings with Reggie Kray, George Best and Bee Gee Maurice Gibb, and a high-profile affair with co-star Sid James among the tabloid-worthy moments in a headline-filled life.
  Damon Albarn: The singer-songwriter who was born in London and raised in Essex has been awarded an OBE for services to music
DAMON ALBARN
Blur frontman Damon Albarn has been awarded an OBE for services to music.
The singer-songwriter, composer and musician rose to fame when he formed a band in 1988 with his friends Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree.

The band was renamed Blur in 1990 after signing to a record label.
With hits including Song 2, Beetlebum and Parklife, Blur helped create the Britpop genre, fiercely competing with rival band Oasis in the charts.
In 1998, despite continuing to write, record and perform music with Blur, the 47-year-old founded virtual band Gorillaz with illustrator and designer Jamie Hewlett.
Together they created animated band-members Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, 2D and Russel Hobbs, who went on to rival Blur's success - with best-selling albums Gorillaz and Demon Days notching up millions of sales.

Their single DARE reached the top of the charts, while Feel Good Inc made the top two.
In December Albarn, who was born in London and raised in Essex, opened his musical, wonder.land, at the National Theatre in London - reworking Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland into a story about the digital age.
It has received mixed reviews, gaining only two stars in the Daily Mail, the Guardian, the Express and the Evening Standard - although the Telegraph called Albarn's score 'often richly suggestive'.
Britpop: Singer-songwriter Albarn (centre left) rose to fame when he formed a band in 1988 with his friends Graham Coxon (left), Dave Rowntree (centre right) and Alex James (right).

The band was renamed Blur in 1990
This is his second collaboration with theatre director Rufus Norris, who also worked with him on the opera Doctor Dee in 2011, based on the life of Elizabethan scientist Doctor Dee.
This followed his 2007 production Monkey: Journey To The West, in which he and Hewlett adapted the Wu Cheng'en novel for the stage.
But Blur fans could rest easy as the band was not sidelined, and in April this year they released their first studio album in 12 years, The Magic Whip, which became their sixth consecutive album since 1994's Parklife to top the British charts.
Trailblazers: In 1998, despite continuing to write, record and perform music with Blur, Albarn founded virtual band Gorillaz with illustrator and designer Jamie Hewlett
Starting in June, the band played gigs from Portugal to China to Australia, as well as headlining at Hyde Park, where they played a career-spanning set including 23 songs.

During the performance, Albarn handed out ice creams to the crowd.
He has also been working on the fifth Gorillaz album, which is expected in 2016. In an interview with Rolling Stone in October, he said: 'So far, it's really fast, and it's got quite a lot of energy. 
'I've been stuck on piano, somewhere off Broadway, for years now.

I want to go somewhere completely opposite of that.'
  JAMES NESBITT
Actor: James Nesbitt received an OBE for services to Northern Ireland and to acting, after years of work helping families affected by the conflict
James Nesbitt has said receiving an OBE will 'give credence' to the cause of those left searching for loved ones following the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The Missing star was awarded the honour in the New Year's list for services to Northern Ireland and to acting, after years of work helping families affected by the conflict.
Originally from Coleraine, Nesbitt is a patron of Wave Trauma Centre, which supports people bereaved, injured or traumatised during the years of violence.
The 50-year-old also appeared in several films about the unrest, including Bloody Sunday and Five Minutes of Heaven.
He told the Press Association: 'I've been very blessed with my work and very blessed to come from Northern Ireland, and for those two things to be on the citation was really rather gratifying.
'To be associated with the Wave Trauma success story - a success story tarnished by the loss and the years of not having the remains - it really means an awful lot to me.'
After 30 years of violence, many were left searching for the resting places of friends and relatives who disappeared.
'They're the people who have gone through the pain, the real hard work, the searching,' Nesbitt added.
'This gives credence to their cause, a cause which they have been fighting now for so long, to try and find the remains of loved ones so they can have some kind of closure.'
He added that appearing in films about Northern Ireland and the bloodiest chapter in its history came with a weight of responsibility.
'You cannot help the feeling the responsibility is a wee bit heavier,' he said.
'It's where I come from and it's affected so many lives and that has been a great privilege.

That is what you go into the job for - the opportunity to exercise your craft, but also say something about where you come from, to maybe have an impact.'
He will next be seen playing killer dentist Colin Howell in three-part ITV drama The Secret, based on the true crime book by the Press Association's former Ireland editor, Deric Henderson.
Hit BBC drama: The Missing star (right) is a patron of Wave Trauma Centre, which supports people bereaved, injured or traumatised during the years of violence
He said: 'It's an extraordinary story.

If you invented it and took it to various commissioners in television drama, they would have found a lot of holes in it - they would've said 'no-one would believe that'.'
He will also be hosting Fifa's Ballon d'Or ceremony on January 11, when the world's best footballer is crowned.
The long-time Manchester United fan, who has also helped support his local team, Coleraine, when they faced financial difficulties, said he hoped the occasion would remind fans about the 'purity of the game' in the wake of Fifa's scandals.
He said: 'I'm a football fan and I think what it should be, during difficult times for that organisation, is a reminder of the purity of football - why grown-up men get paid an awful lot of money to play football and why they still play with the same passion they played with when they were boys kicking it around in a park.
'Whatever has happened inside football, I'm still a football fan. My three big loves outside of my family are Northern Ireland, Manchester United and Coleraine, and I still follow them with the same passion as when I was a child.'
Asked whether his support for United would have him rooting for Cristiano Ronaldo for the award, he joked that he hoped to persuade him to rejoin the club, which is under pressure due to some poor recent results.
'I'm taking a shirt with Ronaldo's name and number on it, and hopefully he'll put it on and get on the plane back with me.'
Upcoming projects: Nesbitt, pictured at home in South London before his OBE was announced, will next be seen playing killer dentist Colin Howell in three-part ITV drama The Secret
Next year will also mark the return of TV hit Cold Feet after 12 years, with Nesbitt reprising his role as Adam.
He said: 'It's quite daunting.

There is a bit of you which thinks 'will this be OK?', because it will be compared to something that happened before, but, you know, why not?
'I read the first couple of scripts and it was fun to see those characters again, how much they have changed.
'I mean, Adam still seems to be a bit of an idiot, so I'm going to have to try and cast my eyes back to the days of eejitry, shall we say.'
The chief executive of the Wave Trauma Centre, Sandra Peake, said Nesbitt's award was 'thoroughly deserved recognition'.
'Since Jimmy became a patron of Wave in 2000 he has been a constant source of support for our work with victims and survivors,' she said.
'He has raised funds without which Wave simply could not have delivered the range of services that are essential to those who need them most.
'He also de-stigmatised talking about the Troubles by highlighting the impact on those bereaved and injured.
'But more than that he does so much that is below the radar particularly with the families of the Disappeared.
'Everyone in Wave is delighted that his compassionate and caring support for those who have suffered during the Troubles is recognised.'
  IMELDA STAUNTON
Hard graft: Stage and screen actress Imelda Staunton is getting a promotion from OBE to CBE
After years of hard graft on the West End stage and on film sets across the world, Imelda Staunton is getting a promotion from OBE to CBE.
The actress, 59, was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2006, but will now be upgraded to Commander as she is honoured for services to drama.
In an interview earlier this year, she said of the OBE: 'I just wish my mum had been alive to see it.

She would have been so thrilled.'
Born in North London to a hairdresser and a labourer, Staunton joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) at the age of 18. Her classmates included actors Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Juliet Stevenson.
After six years in repertory theatre, she moved on to roles at the National Theatre - where she started gaining attention, earning Laurence Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical and Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre for her performance in The Beggar's Opera in 1982.
Over the following years, Staunton has picked up 10 Laurence Olivier Award nominations and won two - the gong for Best Actress in a Musical for Into the Woods (1991) and Sweeney Todd (2011).
It was during a production of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre in 1982 that she met her husband Jim Carter, who is best known for playing butler Mr Carson in Downton Abbey.
This year Staunton stayed close to her West End beginnings as she trod the boards at the Savoy Theatre in London.
She plays the part of Momma Rose in the revived musical Gypsy - playing the pushy mother of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee.
Dame Angela Lansbury, 89, who is the only other person to have played the character on the London stage when it originally opened in 1973, gave her seal of approval - saying: 'She's a consummate actress and extraordinarily well able to carry the vocals.'
Treading the boards: Staunton plays the part of Momma Rose in the revived musical Gypsy - playing the pushy mother of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee
The show received rave reviews, with the Guardian and Telegraph giving it five stars.

Theatre critic Dominic Cavendish called it an 'unrepeatable chance to witness Imelda Staunton give one of the performances of her career'.
But despite a penchant for the stage, Staunton has not shied away from film roles.
Many will know the actress from the Harry Potter films, where she played the evil Dolores Umbridge who temporarily took over as headmistress of wizarding school Hogwarts.
She also drew critical acclaim for starring in the 2004 film Vera Drake, which earned her a number of nominations and awards - including the Bafta Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
  SIAN PHILLIPS
'Honoured': Sian Phillip was awarded a damehood in the New Year's honours for services to drama
Sian Phillips is 'deeply honoured' to find herself in the same company as dames she has admired all her life.
The actress, who stole the show in The Archers' version of Calendar Girls this Christmas, was awarded a damehood in the New Year's honours for services to drama.
She said: 'It is a totally unexpected honour and something I could never have imagined when I decided to be an actress at the age of six.
'I idolised all the dames like Peggy Ashcroft and Edith Evans and couldn't quite believe then that we inhabited the same planet.

I feel the same way now - though I also feel deeply honoured and very grateful.'
The 82-year-old, who has said she has no plans for retirement, is one of Wales's most successful stage and screen actresses.
She first wowed critics with her London debut as the lead in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in 1957.
Two years later she wed fellow actor Peter O'Toole, a tempestuous union that would last 20 years.
She took a break to raise the couple's two children, Kate and Patricia, appearing mainly in regional theatre and occasionally alongside her husband in films such as Under Milk Wood and Goodbye, Mr Chips.
But her career was ignited as Emmeline Pankhurst in suffragette drama Shoulder to Shoulder, before her most memorable role, the Machiavellian Livia, mother to the emperor Tiberius, in the BBC mini-series I, Claudius.
Her power-hungry empress was described as 'magnificent; chilling' by critics and won her a Best Actress Bafta in 1977.
Couple: She wed fellow actor Peter O'Toole (pictured in 1961) in a tempestuous union that would last 20 years
Phillips played Smiley's cold and unfaithful wife in John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People opposite Alec Guinness.
Demonstrating the famous Welsh talent for singing, she was nominated for a best actress Olivier for Pal Joey in 1980, and continued her Olivier winning streak in A Little Night Music, as Dietrich in musical Marlene, and mostly recently in Cabaret.
Barely a popular TV drama has included an appearance from her, including parts in Midsomer Murders, Ballykissangel, New Tricks, Lewis and Agatha Christie's Poirot.
Since 2005, Bafta Cymru has presented the Tlws Sian Phillips Award in her honour to a Welsh actor who has made a significant contribution to film and TV.
Now the indefatigable Phillips spends most of her time on stage, from the original Calendar Girls production in 2008, to an aged Juliet in a care home-set adaptation of Shakespeare's famous love story two years later, to Lady Bracknell in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest opposite Martin Jarvis and Nigel Havers last year.
  DAVID OYELOWO
Selma actor: David Oyelowo said receiving an OBE for services to drama feels like a 'full-circle moment'
Selma actor David Oyelowo said receiving an OBE for services to drama feels like a 'full-circle moment'.
The Oxford-born actor, who has received a Golden Globe nomination for his role in the acclaimed HBO drama Nightingale, recalled how at 18, the Prince's Trust gave him a grant of £325 so he could join a youth theatre production that his parents could not afford.
He said: 'That production set me on the path to becoming an actor.

To be honoured by the Queen in this way having been aided by her son's charity feels like a beautiful full-circle moment.'
In a review of Nightingale, the New York Times described his performance as 'nothing less than amazing.'
In the race for the 2015 Academy Awards, many felt Oyelowo had been snubbed after he failed to receive a nomination for his role as Martin Luther King Jr in Selma.
Oyelowo revealed in an interview with The Independent that Hollywood star Brad Pitt had been equally unimpressed that he had not been nominated.
He told The Independent: 'We'd filmed Nightingale by this point but it's an unusual piece and we were struggling to get film festival distribution.
'It had been sent to Brad Pitt's production company Plan B but, as you know, he's a very busy man so he hadn't found time to watch it.
'Then the Oscar nominations were read and Brad was so unhappy about the snub to Selma that he decided to watch Nightingale that day, and he then took it to HBO and said "you have to believe in this film".'
The 39-year-old may be one of Hollywood's leading talents but he began in the UK, performing in theatre before landing a part in TV spy drama, Spooks.
He played MI5 officer Danny Hunter from 2002 to 2004, and took supporting roles in films such as Lincoln, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, The Paperboy, Jack Reacher and The Butler.
In an interview with the Radio Times in August this year, he spoke passionately about diversity on UK screens.
He said: 'It's time for a change, but the question is: What needs to change in order for the frustrating regression of diversity on British television to cease?'
Overlooked?

In the race for the 2015 Academy Awards, many felt Oyelowo had been snubbed after he failed to receive a nomination for https://pinfaves.com/jamie-park-weight-loss/ his role as Martin Luther King Jr in Selma
The actor is a patron of the TriForce Creative Network, which supports and empowers people from diverse backgrounds.
Later in his Radio Times interview, he commented: 'There are fantastic British film producers who are white and who feel passionate about the issue of diversity.
'But the point remains that no-one is going to be as passionate about telling your stories and your history as you are.'
August also saw the announcement that he would narrate the new James Bond novel, Trigger Mortis, by Anthony Horowitz.
He followed in the footsteps of other actors who have narrated Bond novels, including Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hiddleston and Rosamund Pike.
He said: 'Anthony Horowitz has crafted a taut thriller with a fascinating cast of characters and stunning action sequences that I am relishing bringing to life.
'It is an acting challenge as exciting to me as any I have faced on stage or screen. I get to play James Bond!

It doesn't get much better than that.'
The 2016 Golden Globes will see him go head-to-head with fellow Brit and Luther star Idris Elba in the best performance by an actor in a limited series or motion picture made for television category.
  BERYL VERTUE
Sherlock producer: Beryl Vertue was 'chuffed to bits' to be awarded a CBE in the honours list
Sherlock executive producer Beryl Vertue said she was 'chuffed to bits' to be awarded a CBE in the New Year's honours list.
She has been instrumental in bringing to screens hits including the modern-day sleuthing drama, comedies Men Behaving Badly and Coupling, and the BBC's latest adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover, and has been aptly honoured for services to television drama.
It was a family victory for Vertue, who said the CBE was 'a great honour and one I would not have received were it not for the support of the many talented people I have worked with over the years, particularly my two daughters, Sue and Debbie.'
Vertue received an OBE in the 2000 New Year's honours list for services to independent production television after founding Hartswood Films in 1988, where daughter Sue is a producer and Debbie is director of operations.
'Hartswood Films was one of the very first independent production companies when I launched it, and I'm proud to say we're still independent today,' she said.
Vertue has played a hand in some of Britain's most defining TV comedies and dramas, beginning as an agent for renowned writers such as Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes and comedy stars Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd, before moving into production.
She worked with many of the talent at her production company Associated Films London to produce feature film versions of Up Pompeii, Till Death Us Do Part, and Steptoe And Son.
Those in the USA have Vertue to thank for years of laughter too as she took the formats of the latter two across the pond, as well as making American adaptations of Upstairs Downstairs and It's A Knockout.
Popular drama: Many Benedict Cumberbatch fans will likely view Sherlock - which is written by her son-in-law Steven Moffat - as her greatest achievement
She said one career highlight was as executive producer on 1975 film Tommy, bringing together a star-studded cast of Jack Nicholson, The Who, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Tina Turner in pinball-mania.
Many Benedict Cumberbatch fans, however, will likely view Sherlock - which is written by her son-in-law Steven Moffat - as her greatest achievement.
Vertue has executive produced all three seasons of the acclaimed series and returns for the New Year's Day special which will transport Cumberbatch's Holmes and Martin Freeman's Watson into the Victorian period to solve The Case of the Abominable Bride.
The honour will be one on a heaving shelf-full that includes the Bafta Alan Clarke award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards.
  MATTHEW BOURNE
Choreographer Matthew Bourne said receiving a knighthood came as a 'great surprise' and he believes himself to be the 'first dance knight' outside of the National Ballet companies.
His list of accolades is as long as his list of productions, such is his success at making every musical, opera, film or play he is involved in a massive hit.
Now he can add a knighthood to the formidable line-up.
Choreographer: Matthew Bourne, who is recognised for services to dance, said receiving a knighthood came as a 'great surprise'
Bourne, who is recognised for services to dance, said: 'This news has come as a great surprise to me, but I couldn't be more thrilled and honoured to be recognised in this way.
'As artistic director of an independent contemporary dance company that started as a group of friends in the late 80s this comes as a very significant recognition of what that company has achieved in the last 28 years.
'I am particularly proud to be, I believe, the first dance knight outside of the National Ballet companies and would like to thank all of my colleagues in New Adventures and Re:Bourne, my friends in the wider dance and theatre communities and the loyal audiences throughout the UK, without whom, I would not still be here.'
Bourne can be credited with bringing a contemporary twist to every production he touches, whether it be choreographing classic musicals such as My Fair Lady, Oliver!

and South Pacific, productions of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream, or coordinating the movements of female comedians for French and Saunders Live in 2000.
He founded his own company, Adventures in Motion Pictures, in 1987 and enjoyed huge success with productions such as Edward Scissorhands, Cinderella and Nutcracker!, but it was his ground-breaking all-male Swan Lake in 1995 that really made his name, and led to him becoming known as one of the greatest choreographers in the world.
Knighthood: Bourne can be credited with bringing a contemporary twist to every production he touches
Swan Lake has gone on to become the world's longest-running ballet production, winning scores of accolades, including three Tony Awards.
Born in east London in 1960, Bourne attributes his love of musicals and theatre to his 'ordinary East End working class' parents.

But he has previously said he did not discover ballet or modern dance until he was in his early 20s, and did not start his own dance training until the relatively late age of 22.
Bourne remains the only Briton to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical.
He has also won five Olivier Awards, and in 2014 was awarded the prestigious De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement at the National Dance Awards.
In 2015 he became the first dance figure to be given The Stage Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre presented by the UK Theatre Awards, and he also helps young people to be given the opportunity to dance, establishing his charity Re:Bourne in 2008.
He was awarded the OBE in 2001.
  MARTYN LEWIS
Veteran broadcaster: Martyn Lewis, who hosted the ITN news before moving to the BBC in 1986, has become a prolific charity campaigner
Veteran broadcaster Martyn Lewis dedicated his knighthood to the 'thousands of inspirational people in the voluntary sector'.
Mr Lewis, who hosted the ITN news before moving to the BBC in 1986, has become a prolific charity campaigner since retiring from the nation's TV screens in 1999.
He is chairman of the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, and receives his knighthood for services to the voluntary and charitable sectors, particularly the hospice movement.
Mr Lewis said: 'I would like to share this honour with the thousands of inspirational people in the voluntary sector whom I've had the privilege of working with over the last three decades.
'This is a tribute to them and the difference they make to our society every single day.'
Born in Swansea, south Wales, in 1945, he began his journalistic career working for BBC Northern Ireland in the late 60s, before going on to join HTV and ITN.
He became the first presenter of the BBC's One O'Clock News in 1986 and went on to present other bulletins including the Six O'Clock News and Nine O'Clock News.
He will perhaps be forever known for letting his emotions get the better of him as he choked back tears announcing the death of Diana, Princess of Wales on the BBC in 1997.
He later said he was 'ashamed' that he had been so overcome.
He also made the headlines himself when he was quoted in an interview in 1993 as saying that he wished he could see more good news reported.
In 1995, he founded the youth charity YouthNet, which provides online advice, information and support for young people.
He is also chairman of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, which represents charities, and president of United Response, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities or mental health needs to live in the community.
He is vice-president of Marie Curie Cancer Care, Macmillan Cancer Support, Hospice UK, East Anglia Children's Hospices (EACH) and Demelza Children's Hospice.

He is also deputy chair of the Lord Mayor of London's Dragon Awards, patron of Dementia UK, The Patchwork Foundation, which aims to empower minority communities, and the social enterprise Positive News.
He was awarded a CBE in 1997.
  PETER MORGAN
Screenwriter and playwright: Peter Morgan first thought the envelope in which his CBE arrived contained a speeding ticket
Screenwriter and playwright Peter Morgan said he was 'delighted and proud' to receive a CBE - particularly as he thought the envelope was a speeding ticket.
The man behind Helen Mirren's portrayal of Elizabeth II in 2006's The Queen and in 2013's award-winning play The Audience has accepted the honour for services to drama.
He said: 'I'm surprised, delighted and proud.

Even a little embarrassed. Especially since I opened the brown envelope expecting it to be a speeding ticket.'
Speed was a key theme of his most recent hit Rush, the biographical drama based on the lives of Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl.
His career success took off with the first of his Blair trilogy, television film The Deal, which saw Michael Sheen and David Morrissey as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown make a pact that would allow Blair a clear run in the 1994 Labour leadership campaign.
Sheen reprised his role in The Queen, for which Mirren won her first Oscar and for which Morgan was Oscar-nominated for best original screenplay.
Renowned US critic Roger Ebert called The Queen 'a spellbinding story' and praised Morgan's writing as 'intense, focused, literate, observant', making the audience privy to the intimate, behind the scenes working of the UK's most powerful families.
His triptych was completed by 2009's The Special Relationship, where Sheen starred opposite Dennis Quaid's Bill Clinton.
Sheen also collaborated on Morgan's first play Frost/Nixon, opening to rave reviews at the Donmar Warehouse in 2006, and that was turned into a film with the same cast in 2008.
Morgan's knack for turning history into box-office gold is evident in his other hits The Last King Of Scotland, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Damned United.
The story of Bristol landlord Christopher Jefferies, ravaged by the media when he was arrested by police investigating the murder of his 25-year-old tenant, Joanna Yeates, became one of Morgan's biggest successes in 2014.
The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies won two British Academy Television Awards - for best mini series and for best actor for Jason Watkins's portrayal of Jefferies - with Morgan lauded for his sensitive handling of the case.


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