English People who are FAMOUS Abroad but UNKNOWN here

[Lord Bracknell]

Episode three of NSC's Fame Academy ...

Which English people are incredibly well known in foreign parts, but practically unheard of here?


When I lived in Italy, people were ASTONISHED that I had never heard of Sir John Hawkwood, widely considered there to be the most famous Englishman in history.

John Hawkwood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Nearer to home, I guess there's ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Robinson_(footballer)

VERY big in Spain. Remembered in Brighton. But probably forgotten elsewhere in the UK.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Always remember how big Def Leppard were in America in the early 80s but were pretty much unheard of here.
The release of Hysteria changed all that mind.

 

[Alonso Moseley]

Johnny Halliday

 

[Alonso Moseley]

Oh got it wrong (again)

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Always remember how big Def Leppard were in America in the early 80s but were pretty much unheard of here.
The release of Hysteria changed all that mind.

They are STILL massive in North America.

My lad worked the video systems on their 2005 tour of the US, Canada and Mexico. 83 sell-out stadium shows in five months. He wasn't a fan when the tour started. Nor when it finished.

Biggest moment of the tour for him was getting BOOED hysterically by 10,000 people who didn't like the images of George W Bush that he projected on to the screen during part of the show. But that's Florida for you.

 

[Taybha]

Colin kazim kazim bang bang richards

 

[medicine man]

Like Def Leppard, Bush were HUGE across the pond, and not much followed here.

 

[clapham_gull]

Think I've got the right bloke.

There is an English Musician called Charlie Winston who is huge in France at the moment, but relatively anonymous over here.

 

[NMH]

I'm very big down-under.

 

[aftershavedave]

Think I've got the right bloke.

There is an English Musician called Charlie Winston who is huge in France at the moment, but relatively anonymous over here.

is he english?thought he was a septic. they freakin love him though, and he's shite!

i give you jane birkin and charlotte rampling from the same country

 

[Norman Potting]

Johnny Halliday

...Who was born Jean-Philippe Smet! I will concede that his adopted name does sound English!

 

[Monkster]

...Who was born Jean-Philippe Smet! I will concede that his adopted name does sound English!

The french elvis!

 

[Buzzer]

Johnny Clegg is mahoosive in S Africa. Dunno if many would know who he is over here.

And actress and model, Maui Taylor who was born in Brighton of all places is rather big in the Phillipines

 

[Juan Albion]

Johnny Clegg is mahoosive in S Africa. Dunno if many would know who he is over here.

I'm on the Johnny Clegg mailing list. I doubt he would consider himself English these days. Other than being born in Rochdale, he is African through and through. He's big in South Africa because he's lived there most of his life, is mates with Nelson Mandela, has taught at a South African university and speaks local languages fluently. His band has always been multi-racial (mostly Zulu) and he was adopted into a Zulu tribe as a white man during aparatheid, but when he tried to bring the band to the UK in the early eighties to campaign against apartheid, he was not allowed as South African bands were banned because of apartheid - doh!

Although this is 100 miles from his best performance, this is one of those special moments as far as I'm concerned . . .

[yt]BGS7SpI7obY[/yt]

As English as aardvarks. But still massive in France, where it is said that in 1988, Michael Jackson cancelled a Lyon concert because he couldn't sell as many tickets as Johnny Clegg.

 

[Gwylan]

Not a person but an English film - Dinner for One. It's completely unknown over here (despite being written, directed and acted by Brits) yet is a huge success in Germany, where it's repeated every year.

I was once at a New Year's Eve party in Germany where, it seemed, every guest asked me about this film, thinking it was some English cultural landmark. I think they thought I was making fun of them or had failed to understand them when I said I'd never heard of the film.

Read about it here
Dinner for One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Barry Izbak]

Mark Cavendish is a superstar on the European cycling circuit, but most wouldn't recognise him in the UK

 

[Timbo]

The bird that married (I think) Frazier.

 

[Gwylan]

Mark Cavendish is a superstar on the European cycling circuit, but most wouldn't recognise him in the UK

I can't see him as a complete unknown. He's been the lead item on BBC Sport a few times in the past week and he's currently third favourite in the betting for Sports Personality of the Year.

Bradley Wiggins might be a better shout.

The bird that married (I think) Frazier.

Do you mean Sussex-girl Jane Leeves who played Daphne? She married Niles, not Frasier. John Mahoney who played the dad is also English.

I don't think they're unknowns though, Frasier was a hugely popular programme over here that ran for years.

 

[Mendoza]

Louise Woodward






what

 

[desprateseagull]

Johnny Clegg is mahoosive in S Africa. Dunno if many would know who he is over here.

And actress and model, Maui Taylor who was born in Brighton of all places is rather big in the Phillipines

was that before the op..? lol:braders: