This is a list of people from Oldham, in North West England. The demonym of Oldham is Oldhamer; however, this list may include people from Chadderton, Failsworth, Lees, Royton, Saddleworth, and Shaw and Crompton, all from the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname:
A
Sir Elkanah Armitage (1794–1876) – industrialist and Mayor of Manchester; born in Failsworth Mike Atherton (born 1968) – broadcaster, journalist and retired cricketer for Lancashire and England; born in Failsworth
B
Vera Baird (born 1950) – Labour politician, author and barrister
Bobby Ball (1944–2020) – one half of comedy double act Cannon and Ball; born in Boundary Park General Hospital Tony Barber (born 1940) − radio and television host and Gold Logie winner Lydia Becker (1827–1890) – leading 19th-century suffragette, born in Chadderton's Foxdenton Hall Hannah Beswick (1688–1758) – woman who was so afraid of being buried alive that she insisted on her body being embalmed and kept above ground Christopher Biggins (born 1948) – television presenter, pantomime actor and winner of 2007's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Scholes Birch (1826–1910) – first-class cricketer Lally Bowers (1914–1984) – actress, and next door neighbour to Dora Bryan Helen Bradley (1900–1979) – 20th-century oil painter born in Lees in 1900 Benjamin Brierley (1825–1896) – Failsworth-born weaver, poet and writer in Lancashire dialect Louise Brown (born 1978) – world's first baby conceived by in vitro fertilisation; born in Oldham General Hospital Dora Bryan (1923–2014) – Parbold-born actress, best known for her role in A Taste of Honey and as Roz in Last of the Summer Wine Will Buckley (born 1989) – footballer for Sunderland
C
Tommy Cannon (born 1938) – one half of comedy double act Cannon and Ball
Ronald Castree (born 1953) – murderer convicted for the killing of Lesley Molseed Laurence Chaderton (–1640) – one of the original translators of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible Brian Clarke (born 1953) – Oldham-born architectural artist and painter known for his work in stained glass J. R. Clynes (1869–1949) – Labour politician, Leader of the Labour Party, 1921–22 Olivia Cooke (born 1993) – TV and film actress known for Bates Motel, "Ouija" and "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"; from Oldham Jodie Connor (born 1981) – recording artist, lyricist, fashion model and goodwill ambassador for The Prince's Trust; from Shaw and Crompton Nicholas Connor (born 1999) – film director, born in Oldham Carl Cox (born 1962) – record producer and DJ, born in Oldham Brian Cox (born 1968) – Chadderton-born television presenter, particle physicist, Royal Society research fellow, and professor at the University of Manchester Bernard Cribbins (1928–2022) – character actor and musical comedian Don Cupitt (born 1934) – English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology
D
Agyness Deyn (born 1983) – Failsworth-raised supermodel
E
Paul Edwards (born 1947) – ex-association footballer who played for Manchester United, Oldham Athletic and Stockport County Karen Elson (born 1979) – Chadderton-raised supermodel and singer-songwriter
F
Kate Fenton (born 1954) – Failsworth-born novelist and former BBC radio producer
Siobhan Finneran (born 1966) – Oldham-born television, film and theatre actress; Happy Valley and The Loch George Ford (born 1993) – Oldham-born England rugby union player Des Foy (born 1963) – Great Britain, Ireland and Oldham rugby league footballer; Director of Rugby League Ireland Roy Fuller (1912–1991) – Failsworth-born writer, known mostly as a poet
G
Ian Greaves (1932–2009) – Shaw and Crompton-born association football player and manager; one of the Busby Babes Nick Grimshaw (born 1984) – television presenter and DJ; raised in Oldham Shobna Gulati (born 1966) – Oldham-born actress, writer and dancer
H
Terry Hall (1926–2007) – pioneering ventriloquist and early children's television entertainer Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1834–1894) – etcher, painter and art critic; born in Crompton in 1834 Graham Harding (born 1966) – cricketer Paul Harrison (born 1945) – Oldham-born writer on environment and development; founder of the World Pantheist Movement Jack Hilton (1900–1983) – British novelist, essayist, and travel writer John Hogan (1884–1943) – Royton-born recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the British and Commonwealth forces Prof Arthur Cyril William Hutchinson (1889–1969) – professor of dentistry