Entertainers Who Turned Down Major Awards

Alan Bennett

Image Credit: Chris Ball / Stringer

Playwright and author Alan Bennett followed in the footsteps of Bowie and John Lennon who came before him. The talented star, who’s best known for his work on Talking Heads and Beyond the Fringe, could have become a knight but rejected the offer in 1996. To Bennett, the whole idea of knighthood didn’t fit with his personality.

“I felt that, in my case, it just wouldn’t suit me, that’s all. It would be a bit like having to wear a suit for the rest of my life,” he said. That wasn’t the first award Bennett turned down. In 1988, he also rejected a CBE from the British government.