Birthdays

TODAY: Professor Chinua Achebe, novelist, poet and educationist, 66; Mr Peter Ainsworth MP, 40; Mr Michael Billington, author and broadcaster, 57; Miss Lisa Bonet, actress, 29; Mr Frank Bruno, boxer, 35; Mr Willie Carson, jockey, 54; Mr Tony de Leeuw, composer, 70; Sir John Hanson, Director- General, British Council, 58; Sir Colin Marshall, Chairman and Chief Executive, British Airways, 63; Miss Joanna Pettet, actress, 52; Mr Griff Rhys Jones, actor and writer, 43; Sir Giles Shaw MP, 65; Mr John Stenhouse, former insurance broker, 88; Canon Herbert Stuart, Canon Emeritus, Lincoln Cathedral, 70; Sir Edward Tomkins, former diplomat, 81; Sir Magdi Yacoub, cardiothoracic surgeon, 61; Professor Michael Zander, Professor of Law, LSE, 64.

TOMORROW: Miss Lesley Abdela, founder, All-Party 300 Group for Women in Politics, 52; Sir Jeremy Beecham, solicitor, chairman, Association of Metropolitan Authorities, 52; Admiral Sir Jeremy Black, former Commander- in-Chief, Naval Home Command, 64; Mr Stephen Bragg, aeronautical engineer, 73; Mr Malcolm Bruce MP, 52; Dr Gerald Bulmer, former Rector of Liverpool Polytechnic, 76; Lord Craigmyle, chairman, Craigmyle and Co, 73; Mr John Dobson, tenor, 66; Mr Jimmy Dunnachie MP, 66; Mr David Emmanuel, fashion designer, 44; Miss Fenella Fielding, actress, 62; Mr Michael Freeman, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, 65; The Rev Dr Kenneth Greet, former Free Church Moderator, 78; General Sir Charles Guthrie, Chief of the General Staff, 58; Mr Jeremy Hanley MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 51; Mr Colin Hayes, painter, 77; Professor Anthony King, Professor of Government, Essex University, 62; Mr Gordon Lightfoot, singer and songwriter, 58; Mr Jeremy Lloyds, cricketer, 42; Mr John Lowther, Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, 73; Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor, 71; Sir Leslie Murphy, former chairman, National Enterprise Board, 81; Lord Polwarth, Vice Lord-Lieutenant, Borders Region, 80; Mr Jonathan Ross, broadcaster, 36; The Right Rev John Satterthwaite, former Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, 71; Mr Martin Scorsese, film director, 54; Miss Debbie Thrower, broadcaster, 39; Mr James Warwick, actor, 49; Mr Auberon Waugh, journalist, 57; Mr John Wells, writer and actor, 60; Miss Joyce Wethered (Lady Heathcoat Amory), golfer, 95.