Stage, screen stars to be honored by queen

New Year’s Eve is proving to be a good knight for the movies.

Actor Alan Bates and director Ridley Scott were selected to receive knighthoods Tuesday in a New Year’s list honoring Britons from all walks of life for contributions to their professions and to charity.

Recipients honored by Queen Elizabeth II range from stage and screen stars to a beekeeper, a cleaner and a creator of crossword puzzles.

British-born Scott, 65 -- director of spectaculars including “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and Academy Award-winner “Gladiator” -- was honored for services to filmmaking. As a knight, he will be known as Sir Ridley Scott.

Bates, 68, burst onto the London stage in John Osborne’s “Look Back in Anger” in 1956 and went on to become one of the country’s biggest stars. He won a Tony Award this year for his role in “Fortune’s Fool” and recently appeared in the films “Gosford Park” and “Evelyn.”

There was also a knighthood for a Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who rescued hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of WWII.

Winton, 93, kept his role in the transports secret for decades, but the story of the “British Schindler” was told in a documentary film released last year. Winton arranged for trains that brought 669 children to Britain and Sweden. More than 15,000 Czech children died during the Nazi occupation.

The honors are officially bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II but largely selected by the government. Almost half of those honored were nominated by members of the public.

Among the recipients were the parents of a murdered black teenager, honored for their services in community relations. Neville and Doreen Lawrence, whose 19-year-old son, Stephen, was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in 1993, were named Officers of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE.

Since their son’s death -- for which no one has been convicted -- they have campaigned against racism in the police service and established a charity to help minority students become architects. “Their persistence and courage in the face of tragedy and bitter disillusionment and disappointment have been outstanding,” the citation said. “Their dignity and courtesy have been an example to all throughout.”

The title Companion of Honor -- awarded for “conspicuous service” to the nation -- went to artist Sir Howard Hodgkin, art collector Sir Denis Mahon and James Lovelock, the environmental scientist whose Gaia theory sees the Earth itself as a living organism.

Novelist, biographer and London historian Peter Ackroyd was named Commander of the British Empire, or CBE, as was actor Brian Cox -- the original Hannibal Lecter in the 1986 film “Manhunter.”

Alison Lapper, an artist born without arms, was named Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE.

Theater and film director Michael Blakemore got an OBE, as did film designer Stuart Craig -- who brought Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to life in the Harry Potter films -- and celebrity chef Rick Stein.

There were OBEs for actors Edward Fox, Jean Simmons and Brenda Blethyn, the Oscar-nominated star of “Secrets & Lies.”

Sports figures honored included golfer Sam Torrance, captain of European Ryder Cup team, who got an OBE.

Many recipients are recognized for strength in difficult times. Heather Saunders -- whose husband, Stephen, was killed by Greek terrorists in June 2000 -- received an OBE for helping to track down the killers.

In descending order, the honors are knighthood, CBE, MBE and OBE. Those who are awarded CBEs, OBEs and MBEs have no title but can put the letters after their names.