Francis Tresham (c. 1567 – 23 December 1605), eldest son of Sir Thomas Tresham and Merial Throckmorton, was a member of the group of English provincial catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I of England. Tresham was imprisoned for his part in the Earl of Essex's failed rebellion against the government in 1601, and only his family's intervention and his father's money saved him from being attainted. The incident did not stop him from becoming involved in two missions to Catholic Spain to seek support for English Catholics (then heavily persecuted) – and finally with the Gunpowder Plotters.

According to his confession, Tresham joined the plot in October 1605. Its leader Robert Catesby asked him to provide a large sum of money and the use of Rushton Hall, but Tresham apparently provided neither, instead giving a much smaller amount of money to fellow plotter Thomas Wintour. Tresham also expressed his concern that two of his brothers-in-law would be killed if the plot succeeded. An anonymous letter delivered to one of them, William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, was handed over to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and eventually proved decisive in foiling the conspiracy.

Tresham is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It was transferred back from the county of Avon in 1991, having been in Gloucestershire before 1972. It is now in Stroud District, and forms part of the civil parish of Hillesley and Tresham. It is on the Monarch's Way and near the Cotswold Way (grid reference ST792912).

According to Pevsner, Tresham Church dates from about 1855.

Coordinates: 51°37′09″N 2°18′07″W / 51.61923°N 2.30183°W / 51.61923; -2.30183

Stephen Boyd (4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977) was a British actor from Ballyrobert, Ballyclare, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He appeared in some 60 films, most notably as "Messala" in Ben-Hur.

Boyd was born in 1931, one of nine siblings, as William Millar. He attended Ballyclare High School. He starred in a radio play in Belfast and worked in a cinema in London. He began acting in British films, notably as an edgy Irish spy working for the Germans, in the World War II film The Man Who Never Was (1956). It was his role in a 1957 French film, The Night Heaven Fell opposite Brigitte Bardot which gained him critical and public attention.

He went to Hollywood and appeared as leads in a variety of films, including The Bravados (1958) and The Best of Everything (1959). His role as Messala in Ben-Hur (1959) propelled him to international fame. He later played another Roman leader in Samuel Bronston's The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), in which he co-starred with Sophia Loren. He received a Golden Globe for his performance in Ben-Hur. In 1962 Boyd appeared in the film The Inspector opposite starlet Dolores Hart. The two remained friends until Boyd's death.

Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE (2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage he was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. However, he was probably best known for his six collaborations with David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (1946), Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948), Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Yevgraf in Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India (1984). In later years, he achieved fame with younger audiences for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas’s Star Wars films.

Guinness was born at 155 Lauderdale Mansions South, Lauderdale Road, Maida Vale, London as Alec Guinness de Cuffe. His mother's maiden name was Agnes Cuff. She was born 8 December 1890 to Edward Cuff and Mary Ann Benfield. On Guinness's birth certificate, the space for the mother's name shows Agnes de Cuffe. The space for the infant's name (where first names only are given) says Alec Guinness. The column for name and surname of father is blank.

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. As one of the world's most famous film stars, Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty and distinctive violet eyes.

National Velvet (1944) was Taylor's first success, and she starred in Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for BUtterfield 8 (1960), played the title role in Cleopatra (1963), and married her co-star Richard Burton. They appeared together in 11 films, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), for which Taylor won a second Academy Award. From the mid-1970s, she appeared less frequently in film, and made occasional appearances in television and theatre.

Her much publicized personal life included eight marriages and several life-threatening illnesses. From the mid-1980s, Taylor championed HIV and AIDS programs; she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1993. She received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Legion of Honour, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, who named her seventh on their list of the "Greatest American Screen Legends". Taylor died of congestive heart failure in March 2011 at the age of 79, having suffered many years of ill health.