17 Famous People You Didn't Known Were Welsh

Dawn French is a Welsh actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her roles in the British sitcoms "The Vicar of Dibley" and "French and Saunders."

Although both of her parents were English and her surname is French, she was actually born in Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey just off the coast of North Wales.

Roald Dahl is one of the most beloved children's authors of all time, known for his imaginative stories and quirky characters. Both of his parents were Norweigan but they lived in Cardiff where his father was involved in the shipping industry at Cardiff Docks (now Cardiff Bay).

Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales in 1916 and spent his childhood in Wales where he attended Llandaff Cathedral School. He was christened at the Norweigan Church and was a lead figure in preserving it when the shipping industry collapsed.

The church is now an arts centre and one of Cardiff Bay’s iconic attractions. It has a room named after him in recognition of his efforts to save it.

Later in his life, Dahl moved to England but was struggling with too many distractions in his home. He visited the former writing shed of another famous Welsh writer, Dylan Thomas, and made a replica at his home. Dahl is celebrated in Cardiff around his birthday each year which is now known as Roald Dahl Day.

Tom Ellis is a Welsh actor best known for his lead role in the popular TV show Lucifer. He’s also appeared in the BBC TV show Miranda.

Despite his very ordinary British accent, Ellis is Welsh, having been born in Cardiff. However, his entire family moved to Sheffield shortly after, which explains the lack of an accent.

St Patrick is known as the Patron Saint of Ireland and is celebrated all across the world on St Patrick’s Day when people put on huge parades, dress up as green leprechauns, and drink Guinness in honour of the patron saint.

So it might be hard to believe that St Patrick wasn’t even Irish at all. He was British and was most likely Welsh. He wasn’t even called Patrick, his birth name was Maewyn Succat and he came from a rich noble family.

However, he was kidnapped by raiders who robbed his family estate and he was taken to Ireland as a slave. After six years, he escaped and became a priest. Later, he returned to Ireland to spread the word about Christianity, and he used Irish customs and the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity and is said to have performed miracles to prove himself.

Christian Bale is an actor known for his versatile and transformative performances in a variety of films. His most iconic performances have been in movies such as "The Dark Knight Trilogy," "American Psycho," "The Fighter," and "Vice."

Those who have seen his performance as Batman will know him to have an American accent. But this is not real, he has a British accent because he was born in Wales in Haverford West. Bale has been quoted as saying “I was born in Wales but I don't think I've got any ring of Welsh in my accent at all” (source: Yahoo News).

Shakin' Stevens is a Welsh singer and songwriter, known for his rock and roll and country music style. He rose to fame in the 1980s with hits such as "This Ole House" and "Green Door."

His real name is Michael Barratt and he was born in Cardiff. Before turning to music, he once worked in the valleys as a coal miner. He found his feet as a musician playing in a band in the local Cardiff and South Wales area.

Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer who has enjoyed a successful career spanning several decades. She was born in South Wales near Neath as Gaynor Hopkins.

This isn’t the only name Tyler has been known as. She originally changed her name to Sherene Davis to avoid being confused with another Welsh singer but eventually settled on Bonnie Tyler.

She first gained fame in the 1970s with her distinctive raspy voice and dramatic performances. To date, she has sold over 100 million records worldwide, and is best known for her hit songs "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Holding Out for a Hero."

Tyler never forgot her Welsh roots. In 2009, she joined Welsh male voice choir Only Men Aloud! on their UK tour to perform "Total Eclipse of the Heart" which also featured on their second studio album. She also holds an honorary doctorate from Swansea University and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Pam Ferris is a British actress known for starring in British TV shows and films, including her most famous roles as Ma Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, and Aunt Marge in the Harry Potter films.

Both of her parents were Welsh, however, she was actually born in Hannover, Germany where her father was serving in the Royal Air Force at the time. Nonetheless, she grew up near Bridgend in Wales and still seems to identify as British or Welsh.

Taron Egerton is a Welsh actor best known for his lead role as Eggsy in the action comedy film franchise Kingsman. He also played singer Elton John in the musical Rocketman and has had a considerable career onstage.

Despite being born in Liverpool to two English parents, Egerton is one of the few people on this list who can actually speak the Welsh language and has described himself as "Welsh through and through".

That's because at the age of two, his parents split up and he moved to Anglesey with his mother where he went to primary school. Later, he moved to Aberystwyth in Mid-Wales which is where he gained an interest in acting.

I'm sure we'd all love to see 007 with a Welsh accent, but the closest we came to seeing this was when Timothy Dalton played the fourth James Bond.

Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay in North Wales. His father was from England and his mother from the United States. Despite his birthplace, Dalton doesn't actually identify as Welsh and claims that he happened to be born in Wales because his father was stationed there during WW2.

Dalton eventually moved to Belper in Derbyshire and this is where he grew up and where he considers home. However, he does speak highly of Welsh actors and is quoted as saying "there have been many great actors born in Wales and I don’t mind one bit to be named among them" (source: Great British Life).

Michael Sheen has played a huge variety of roles across theatre, TV and film.  His most iconic theatre roles have been Hamlet and Romeo (in Romeo and Juliet). On the big screen, he’s well known for his part as Aro in Twilight and also plays real-life characters exceptionally well such as David Frost and Tony Blair.

He is from South Wales, having been born in Newport and later growing up in Port Talbot. Director Sam Mendes said that Michael Sheen is "Welsh in the tradition of Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton: fiery, mercurial, unpredictable” (source: NY Times).

Sheen is proud of being a Welsh celebrity and ahead of the 2022 World Cup, Wales' first World Cup in decades, he gave an emotive speech to the team (source: BBC).

Wynne Evans is the man behind the fictional Italian opera singer Gio Compario, the iconic brand ambassador for the Go Compare brand.

Despite his incredible ability to pull off the Italian tenor, Wynne Evans is a Welshman through and through. He later appears in the adverts as himself, alongside Gio Compario, and his Welsh accent shines through.

Aside from his role as Gio Compario, he is known for his performance as Ubaldo Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and also hosts a radio show as himself on BBC Radio Wales.

Lisa Scott-Lee is a Welsh singer. She was born in St Asaph, Denbighshire, which is actually a tiny city in Wales with just 3,000 people.

Scott-Lee rose to fame as a member of the pop group Steps in the late 1990s. Steps was a popular pop group that had a string of hit songs in the UK and around the world, including "5, 6, 7, 8", "Tragedy", and "Stomp".

Scott-Lee has left both her Welsh roots and her singing career behind and now lives in Dubai where she is the headteacher

Greg Davies is best known for his roles as the headteacher in The Inbetweeners, lead character Ken Thompson in Cuckoo, and more recently as the Taskmaster in the TV show of the same name. He’s also a stand-up comedian and frequently talks about his home in Wem, which is just over the border in England.

However, Greg’s parents were both Welsh and, according to Greg, his father made sure he was born in Wales, in St Asaph (the same place as Lisa Scott-Lee whom I mentioned earlier). Greg jokes that his father did this to ensure his eligibility to play for the Welsh National Football Team.

Greg spent most of his life in England, studying English and Drama in London and originally pursuing a career as a drama teacher in schools across England, which explains the lack of a Welsh accent.

Talking about his Welsh roots, Greg has joked that he is a descendent of Owain the Great, King of Gwynedd in North Wales in the 12^th century (source: Wikipedia).

Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh comedian and actor. He was born in Stanleytown, Glamorgan in the Welsh Valleys. He originally had a Welsh accent, but, at age four, his family moved to Enfield, Middlesex which is why he lost his Welsh accent and is why many people mistakenly think he is from the south of England.

He is best known for his work on the sketch comedy show, "The Fast Show," and for co-creating and for starring alongside Harry Enfield in the show “Harry & Paul”.

Although Whitehouse’s most well-known characters have typically been English such as Rowley Birkin QC and Unlucky Alf, he returned to his roots when he starred in the Comic Relief parody ‘Newport State of Mind’ alongside other Welsh celebrities. You can watch it here.

Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced Rum is an American spirit brand that was first launched in the States in 1984. It’s been made in many places around the world, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands which is where it is currently manufactured.

One place where it definitely hasn’t been produced is in Wales, which is odd because the privateer whom it is named after, Sir Henry Morgan, was a 17^th-century Welsh privateer.

His early details aren’t particularly well known, but he was born somewhere in Monmouthshire which would be either modern-day Newport or Cardiff.

He eventually made his way to the Carribean, with some suggesting it was a private journey and others suggesting he was abducted. He made his fortune through privateering, this is when individuals and ships were commissioned by governments to attack the country's enemies.

My final addition to the list of unexpected Welsh people is a totally fictional character, but one we’ll all recognise, Fireman Sam. He is a beloved children's character who has been entertaining audiences around the world for over 30 years.

The character was created by two firefighters from London, Dave Gingell and David Jones, who were inspired by their own experiences. The idea was pitched to the Welsh producer Mike Young from Barry who had previously created SuperTed.

The show was commissioned by S4C, the Welsh-language broadcaster in Wales with the original series being broadcast in both English and Welsh from the outset.

Fireman Sam was set in the fictional Welsh town of Pontypandy which was created by joining the names of two real Welsh towns Pontypridd and Tonypandy.