Plowright, Clapton make queen’s list

Actress Joan Plowright, wife of the late Laurence Olivier, is being designated a British dame, the female equivalent of a knight, on the annual New Year’s honors list announced by the Queen in London today.

Guitarist Eric Clapton and the Kinks’ Ray Davies are receiving royal honors, becoming commanders of the Order of the British Empire. The same award is going to “Billy Elliot” director Stephen Daldry and cartoonist Ronald Searle, 83.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times published a list of 300 well-known people -- including singer David Bowie, comedian John Cleese and actors Albert Finney and Kenneth Branagh -- who had declined honors since 1945.

From Associated Press