Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati and former BBC executive among honours

The 8th Annual Asian Awards 2018 – London

Soap star Shobna Gulati and the BBC’s former creative director Alan Yentob are among those in the entertainment industry who have received honours.

Songwriter Gerry DeVeaux, fashion designer Stuart Vevers and author Monica Ali have also been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list this year.

Actress and presenter Gulati, 57, has become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the cultural industries.

Born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1966, Gulati is most known for her roles as Sunita in ITV soap Coronation Street and Anita in BBC comedy show Dinnerladies.

Her theatre credits include the international tour of Mamma Mia! in 2015, the touring UK production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in 2018, and Richard II at The Globe, in 2019.

She has also appeared on the ITV daytime topical discussion programme Loose Women as a panellist.

Meanwhile, Yentob, 77, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to the arts and media.

The retired British television executive, who was born in Stepney, London in 1947, joined the BBC as a general trainee in 1968.

He devised the flagship arts programme Imagine…, which he presented on, and was creative director of the broadcaster from 2004 until 2015.

Yentob stepped down from the role in the wake of the collapse of the charity Kids Company, where he was chairman.

Both Gulati and Yentob were among the celebrities who were awarded damages in 2015 following a High Court hearing over phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

Ali, 56, who has written books including Alentejo Blue (2006) and Untold Story (2011), has been made Commander of the Order of the British (CBE) for services to literature.

Born in Bangladesh in 1967, she came to England aged three and went on to study at Oxford University.

Her debut novel Brick Lane, which explores the British immigrant experience, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and Guardian First Book Award in 2003, and then made into a 2007 movie starring Indian actress Tannishtha Chatterjee.

In 2022, Ali won the literature award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards for her book Love Marriage.

Elsewhere, DeVeaux, who has written songs for Chaka Khan, has been made a knight for outstanding services to humanity and entertainment.

Vevers, the creative director of Coach Vevers, who has worked with Givenchy and Mulberry, was been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

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