Waheed Alli (1964–), born and raised in the north of Croydon; multimillionaire media entrepreneur and politician; co-founder of Planet 24 TV production company; MD at Carlton Television; currently chairman of ASOS.com and Chorion Ltd.; a Labour peer; one of very few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world
Lionel Atwill (1885-1946), stage and screen actor, was born in Croydon[2]
B
Jeannie Baker (1940–), artist, author, designer and animator
Cicely Mary Barker (1895–1973), illustrator and artist; created the famous Flower Fairies books; born in Croydon and lived locally; studied at the Croydon School of Art
R.F. Delderfield (1912–1972), writer and dramatist; lived at 22 Ashburton Avenue,
Addiscombe, 1918–1923; his "Avenue" series is based on his life in Addiscombe & Shirley Park; many of his works were adapted for television
Norman Demuth (1898–1968), composer and musicologist, born at 91 St James' Road.
Jacqueline du Pré (1945–1987), British cellist, acknowledged as one of the greatest players of the instrument, but whose career was cut short by multiple sclerosis; lived in Purley and attended Croydon High School
Des'ree (1968-), award-winning English recording artist.
E
Havelock Ellis (1859–1939), Victorian sexologist, born in Croydon
Len Jarrett (1921–), former Director of Administration of the World Scout Bureau; former World Organizer of Scoutings's Jamboree-on-the-Air for thirty years; Croydon born
Nora Johnston (1886–1952), carillon performer and inventor of the mobile carillon
John Ruskin (1819–1900), art critic and social theorist; spent much of childhood in Croydon at his mother's family home and visited often as an adult; his parents are buried in
Shirley
S
Peter Sarstedt (1942–2017), singer, winner of Ivor Novello Award; resident
William Stanley, (1829–1909), philanthropist, inventor, engineer, author, and artist. Lived most of his life in South Norwood, he designed and built Stanley Halls.
South Norwood
Samuel Coleridge Taylor (1875–1912), composer; noted for his cantatas including the Song of Hiawatha trilogy; lived at 30 Dagnall Park,
Selhurst and worked and died in St Leonards Road,
Waddon
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), naturalist; independently proposed a theory of evolution by natural selection and prompted
Charles Darwin to reveal his own unpublished theory sooner than he had intended; lived at 44 St Peter's Road, Croydon
John Whitgift (ca. 1530–1604),
Archbishop of Canterbury; buried in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist; several other Archbishops are buried in the Parish Church or St Mary's in
Addington
Waheed Alli (1964–), born and raised in the north of Croydon; multimillionaire media entrepreneur and politician; co-founder of Planet 24 TV production company; MD at Carlton Television; currently chairman of ASOS.com and Chorion Ltd.; a Labour peer; one of very few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world
Lionel Atwill (1885-1946), stage and screen actor, was born in Croydon[2]
B
Jeannie Baker (1940–), artist, author, designer and animator
Cicely Mary Barker (1895–1973), illustrator and artist; created the famous Flower Fairies books; born in Croydon and lived locally; studied at the Croydon School of Art
R.F. Delderfield (1912–1972), writer and dramatist; lived at 22 Ashburton Avenue,
Addiscombe, 1918–1923; his "Avenue" series is based on his life in Addiscombe & Shirley Park; many of his works were adapted for television
Norman Demuth (1898–1968), composer and musicologist, born at 91 St James' Road.
Jacqueline du Pré (1945–1987), British cellist, acknowledged as one of the greatest players of the instrument, but whose career was cut short by multiple sclerosis; lived in Purley and attended Croydon High School
Des'ree (1968-), award-winning English recording artist.
E
Havelock Ellis (1859–1939), Victorian sexologist, born in Croydon
Len Jarrett (1921–), former Director of Administration of the World Scout Bureau; former World Organizer of Scoutings's Jamboree-on-the-Air for thirty years; Croydon born
Nora Johnston (1886–1952), carillon performer and inventor of the mobile carillon
John Ruskin (1819–1900), art critic and social theorist; spent much of childhood in Croydon at his mother's family home and visited often as an adult; his parents are buried in
Shirley
S
Peter Sarstedt (1942–2017), singer, winner of Ivor Novello Award; resident
William Stanley, (1829–1909), philanthropist, inventor, engineer, author, and artist. Lived most of his life in South Norwood, he designed and built Stanley Halls.
South Norwood
Samuel Coleridge Taylor (1875–1912), composer; noted for his cantatas including the Song of Hiawatha trilogy; lived at 30 Dagnall Park,
Selhurst and worked and died in St Leonards Road,
Waddon
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), naturalist; independently proposed a theory of evolution by natural selection and prompted
Charles Darwin to reveal his own unpublished theory sooner than he had intended; lived at 44 St Peter's Road, Croydon
John Whitgift (ca. 1530–1604),
Archbishop of Canterbury; buried in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist; several other Archbishops are buried in the Parish Church or St Mary's in
Addington