Name Sakes: Nine Notts Residents Who Share Their Names With Celebrities

Photos: Fabrice Gagos & Tom Morley
Illustrations: Fabrice Gagos
Friday 13 December 2019
reading time: min, words

All of the name, none of the fame. We delved into the lives of nine Notts' residents who share their monikers with the rich and famous...

8a259e3c-9560-4e9e-8b84-dc8ef8041f30.jpg

Lisa Simpson

Name: Lisa Simpson
Date of birth: 25/10/1974
Location: Forest Fields
Job: I help run a small hydroponics shop, after spending my younger years studying Ancient History and Geology
Best known for: Being laid back, chilled, fun and spontaneous. Most days, anyway...
Style: According to my kids, I dress like a “cool mum”
Catchphrase: Less of a phrase, more of a “leave me the f*** alone” face! 
Biggest achievement: Raising three children, and becoming a grandparent last year. Also, being alone with King Tutenkhamun in his tomb in Luxor
Biggest regret: Not saying I love you more when it mattered
Fun fact: I once stole a large tree fossil from a local quarry and dragged it all the way home. I still have it

According to Google, I even have the same middle name (Marie). I also learnt to play the saxophone at school. My kids still play that ‘Lisa it’s your birthday’ song on my birthday. I love that tune!
84df586d-b75c-43e1-9163-d3c4a9e1a6e1.jpg

James Dean

Name: James Byron Dean
Date of birth: 08/02/1931
Location: Park Cemetery, Fairmount, Indiana
Job: Actor, heartthrob 
Best known for: Rebel Without a Cause
Style: Smoldering teen rebel
Catchphrase: “Nah it’s cool, I’ll drive”
Biggest achievement: Becoming the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
Biggest regret: Not getting the bus
Fun fact: Despite being dead since 1955, James Dean’s estate still brings in almost £4 million a year

Sharing a name with one of cinema's most famous rebels has been nothing but constantly interesting. Almost every day someone will mention it, or sing Daniel Bedingfield lyrics at me
cb131feb-2226-4a46-a227-351c23db942b.jpg

Will Smith

Name: William (Bill) Smith
Age: 69
Location: Bread and Lard Island
Job: Taking showbusiness jobs that no-one else wants
Best known for: Promiscuity, nudity and drugs
Style: My furniture is from the time of gas-lighting, with a touch of Clarice Cliff
Catchphrase: “Thank you for cuming!”
Biggest achievement: Being shot (both filmed and killed) in Secret Army, and my career going the same way
Biggest regret: Putting up with homophobia in Selston for forty years
Fun fact: Thinking I was the other Will Smith, I was once asked to present the MOBO Awards in 1996

“When I get fan-mail from his European fans, I reply with my photo and biography. I once sacked an agent because he asked me if I was black”

Liam Gallagher

Name: Liam Gallagher
Location: Formerly Aspley, now London
Job: Work in Architecture
Best known for: Probably my name. It’s definitely iconic and difficult to forget
Style: Casual workwear
Catchphrase: “It’s alright”
Biggest achievement: Gaining a Masters Degree in Architecture
Biggest regret: Not learning another language
Fun fact: I was born a month before Oasis’ debut album was released

I once entered a competition to see Morrissey live and won. The indie magazine running the comp said it wasn’t because of my name, but we all knew it was. I suppose it saved me a couple of hundred quid
147cc696-4ff2-4f5c-a09c-ff787d93501e.jpg

Tom Jones

Name: Sir Tom Jones MBE
Date of birth: 7/06/1940
Job: Singer, Coach on The Voice
Best known for: Belting out ballards and wooing women
Style: Full-throated, robust baritone and Welsh knicker-magnet. Kinda sexy, kinda creepy and kinda looks like Max from The Tweenies
Catchphrase: “I’ll sing songs about beating women if I bloody well want to”
Biggest achievement: Sleeping with over 250 women in a year, all while being married to his long-suffering wife
Biggest regret: Katherine Berkery. Enough said
Fun fact: Jones became a tax exile in 1974, moving into Dean Martin’s old Los Angeles’ mansion. He later sold the house to Nicholas Cage

It could be a bit annoying when I was a kid, but now I'm older I own it. It's not unusual to share a name with Tom Jones. I'm just glad I don't know anyone called Delilah as that could spell trouble
2d4bcffc-b41a-4921-a124-76806a3375e7.jpg

Michael Caine

Name: Michael Kane
Date of birth: 04/10/1992
Location: Mansfield Woodhouse
Job: Student and Photographer
Best known for: Most people know me as a photographer, but I'm also known for my love of music
Style: Somewhere between music nerd, skater and art student and generally just a bit of a goofball
Catchphrase: Either “uhhh.... maybe?!” or “that would make a great band name!”
Biggest achievement: Line-managing a graduate intern for eighteen months and watching them develop and thrive professionally
Biggest regret: Probably that I didn't pursue music seriously, earlier. But hey, I'm doing it now!
Fun fact: My middle name rhymes with my last name. 10 points if anyone can guess it and spell it correctly first go

When I was at school the requests for that line from The Italian Job used to get a bit annoying, but I learned to see the funny side pretty quick

Andrew Lincoln

Name: Andrew Lincoln
Location: Formerly Bramcote Moor
Job: Relief chef
Best known for: Having the largest feet in my year at school
Style: Relaxed and homely, casual and approachable
Catchphrase: “The journey is always more exciting than the destination”
Biggest achievement: Getting married to my best friend and life partner in New Zealand
Biggest regret: Not being able to work with a hangover 
Fun fact: I'm a qualified underwater rescue diver

It doesn’t come up too much - only from the hardcore Walking Dead fans. I get asked more about being Andrew Lincoln from Lincoln
04881e05-3cb0-4e94-ba01-95d1d3089ffc.jpg

Chris Pratt

Name: Chris Pratt
Date of birth: 22/10/1995
Location: Clifton
Job: Works for car rental company in the West Midlands
Best known for: Sharing the same name as Chris Pratt! 
Style: As comfortable and chilled out as possible
Catchphrase: “Shall we order food?”
Biggest achievement: Surviving on my own after moving out
Biggest regret: Getting the small bargain bucket instead of the large one at KFC last week
Fun fact: Up until two years ago I believed I was the baby in the Teletubbies intro

Sharing a name with Chris Pratt has certainly opened doors for me, and I’d like to thank him for that. If I ever met him, I’d buy him a drin
7353bca1-5510-4b70-a92d-88c6e07d09a6.jpg

Ricky Hatton

Name: Richard Hatton
Date of birth: 11/10/1992
Location: Mapperley
Job: Mathematician at the University of Nottingham
Best known for: Enjoying a pint of real ale
Style: Mostly comfortable. I wear a lot of black jeans
Catchphrase: “I’m game”
Biggest achievement: Having a conversation with Prince Phillip
Biggest regret: Not taking advantage of my time off during the summer whilst an undergraduate to go travelling
Fun fact: I have played rugby for Paviors RFC for over 20 years

When I was younger virtually everyone I met would point out that I shared the same name as the boxer, which was annoying as I knew. But now he is retired, the link is very rarely mentioned

We have a favour to ask

LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?

Support LeftLion

Please note, we migrated all recently used accounts to the new site, but you will need to request a password reset

Sign in using

Or using your

Forgot password?

Register an account

Password must be at least 8 characters long, have 1 uppercase, 1 lowercase, 1 number and 1 special character.

Forgotten your password?

Reset your password?

Password must be at least 8 characters long, have 1 uppercase, 1 lowercase, 1 number and 1 special character.