Carey Mulligan arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Actors Carey Mulligan and Stephen Fry and author Kazuo Ishiguro were awarded New Year Honors on Monday that celebrate artists, athletes, politicians and others who make notable contributions to British society.
Mulligan, a winner of a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for "An Education" and a three-time Oscar nominee, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to drama.
Fry, known for the BBC comedy "Blackadder" and his former comedic partnership with Hugh Laurie, was knighted along with England's former soccer manager Gareth Southgate and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
More than 1,200 across the United Kingdom were honored in the semi-annual awards — with most going to those whose acts happen outside the spotlight cast on the famous and well known.
"Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. "They represent the very best of the U.K. ... The New Year Honors List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution."
The awards given out by monarchs as part of orders of chivalry since the Middle Ages are now vetted by a government committee before being passed on to the prime minister and King Charles III.
Fry said he was "startled and enchanted" to receive the honor for his work raising awareness about mental health and the environment. The author of several books in addition to his screen work, he is also president of the mental health charity Mind and supporter of the conservation group Fauna and Flora International.
"I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child,"... Read More