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 bee.