Keith and Laurie named in New Year Honours list

Published Tuesday 2 January 2007 at 14:20 by Liz Thomas

Penelope Keith, Sally Greene, June Sarpong and Hugh Laurie are among the showbusiness stars to be named in the 2007 New Years Honours list.

Bafta-winning Keith, who made her name for roles in seventies TV hits The Good Life and To the Manor Born, has been awarded a CBE. The popular actress started her career in classics such as Dixon of Dock Green and The Avengers, but has also built up a reputation in theatre, notably The Norman Conquests, Star Quality and Blithe Spirit. She is currently president of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund.

Meanwhile Greene, who owns the Criterion Theatre as well as Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and is chairman of the Old Vic Theatre Trust, has been appointed OBE. This year she is ranked joint 14th with Kevin Spacey in the Stage 100. Laurie, who first came to the fore on series’ such as Blackadder and A Bit of Fry and Laurie, also collected an OBE, topping a year where he won a Golden Globe for his role as a cantankerous doctor on hit US show House.

Sarpong received an MBE in recognition for her services to broadcasting and charity. The bubbly presenter has proved a hit with younger viewers in recent years interviewing celebrities and politicians including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair for youth strand T4. Coronation Street favourite Johnny Briggs was also honoured with an MBE. He first appeared on the ITV1 flagship soap in 1976, and his character Mike Baldwin was finally killed in May last year.

Ageing pop idol Rod Stewart also picked up a CBE for his services to music. The Maggie May and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy singer, who has racked up more than 60 hit songs and six number ones across five decades, said he was “overjoyed” at the news.

Former Ofcom chief executive Stephen Carter received a CBE, as does acclaimed theatre actor John Wood, pianist Imogen Cooper, composers John Rutter and Guy Anthony Woolfendon, and broadcaster Mike Phillips. Tring Arts Educational ballet teacher Eve Pettinger was appointed MBE for her contribution to dance, and jazz pianist and composer Albert Shearing has been awarded a knighthood.

Percussionist Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie was made a Dame for her services to music, while costume and set designer Susan Margaret Blane and theatre school founder Barbara Speake were both named MBEs for their work in drama.

Other performers honoured for their endeavours include:

CBE - Peter Greenaway, director, services to the film industry.

CBE - Celeste Dandeker-Arnold, artistic director, CandoCo Dance Company, services to dance.

CBE - Joseph McKee, principal, City of Belfast School of Music, services to music.

CBE - John Michael Salisbury, former executive producer, BBC Natural History Unit, services to broadcasting.

MBE - Emmanuel Rodriguez, trombonist, services to music.

MBE - Laura Sarti, singing teacher, services to music.