A CBE for TV veteran Des as he and Victoria head celebrity list

9:27am Saturday 14th June 2008

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ENTERTAINERS Des O'Connor and Victoria Wood head the list of showbusiness stars, sports personalities and captains of industry in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

There are awards, too, for Paul O'Grady, creator of the vampish Lily Savage, June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton in EastEnders, and Russell T Davies, the man who brought Doctor Who back to life.

Des O'Connor, 76, who gets a CBE, has been a leading light in the entertainment world since the 1950s as a singer, TV host and comedian. Despite his age, he is still going strong. He became a father for the fifth time aged 72 and is host of Channel Four's Countdown.

There is a CBE for Victoria Wood, the actress, sketch-writer and comedienne, who wrote and starred in the Dinnerladies TV series as well as Acorn Antiques, which was developed into a West End musical.

She already has an OBE and has won numerous awards for her comedy shows. But she also has a serious side and picked up a Bafta double last year for the TV drama Housewife, 49, the diary of a second world war woman, which she wrote and starred in.

There is an MBE for Liverpudlian Paul O'Grady, who invented Lily Savage, "the Birkenhead bombshell".

He has recently sidelined Savage to concentrate on being himself in TV shows, including Channel Four's The Paul O'Grady Show.

June Brown, whose role as Dot Cotton - a sanctimonious, judgmental and twofaced busybody - is one of the longest-running characters in EastEnders, gets an MBE.

TV screenwriter Russell T Davies, the man who breathed new life into Doctor Who, gets an OBE for services to drama. Davies, who was also behind the spinoff Torchwood, was lead writer and executive producer of the new Doctor Who series.

which has become a huge success since it was relaunched in 2005.

An OBE goes to Lawrence Dallaglio, the former England and Wasps captain, who has just retired from club and international rugby. He was recognised as one of the world's best back-row players and was a key part of the victorious England World Cup team in Australia in 2003.

There is a CBE for Bill Beaumont, who won 34 caps for England and captained the side 21 times. Beaumont, who played as lock, retired in 1982 through injury and became a successful TV performer.

There is a CBE, too, for Joe Calzaghe, who defeated Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas in April, to become The Ring light-heavyweight champion.

He is the longest-reigning title-holder in any weight class in boxing, recently passing the ten-year mark as the WBO super middleweight champion.

His record as a professional so far is: 45 wins, no losses, no draws.

Joan Bakewell - once dubbed "the thinking man's crumpet" - becomes a dame. She has been one of the most respected presenters and commentators on radio and TV for more than 30 years, and was one of the first women to establish themselves in what had been an almost exclusively male preserve.

There is an OBE for Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue for services to journalism and British fashion in the USA.

She has been universally hailed for her keen eye for fashion trends and support for young designers and was reportedly the inspiration for one of the characters in the hit film The Devil Wears Prada.