Brando still the Godfather in Plymouth

US actor named city’s favourite celeb in cultural study

From the discovery of DNA to the Shawshank Redemption, the people of Plymouth have had their say on what they consider to be most significant events and cultural figures of the last century.

When it comes to celebrities there was a surprising table-topper, with the legendary American actor Marlon Brando voted Plymouth’s most popular from the last 100 years.

Brando, who most famously starred in the Godfather, came ahead of household names including Marilyn Monroe, David Beckham, Charlie Chaplin and Bob Dylan.

Plymouth residents named The Wizard of Oz their favourite film followed by The Shawshank Redemption and then The Godfather and Pulp Fiction!
Away from the silver screen, West Side Story emerged as the city’s number one musical from the last century, beating out Les Miserables and Mary Poppins.
As well as popular culture, the study, carried out by online fancy dress retailer Fancy Dress Ball to discover the UK’s favourite decade, also looked at the most significant historical events of the last century according to the public.

The creation of the internet topped the study in Plymouth when respondents were asked what the most significant historical events were, and then closely followed by the creation of the internet.

However, the city’s women thought that gaining the right to vote in the UK was the most important event.

The fancy dress retailer has developed an interactive online map and postcode checker which shows users the popular decades for fancy dress costumes in their area– now you can see whether Aunty Sybil really is trapped in the ‘40s!

Users can also see the top five counties’ that have purchased decades fancy dress. Visit the page and share your results with the nation:

http://www.fancydressball.co.uk/decades/

Fancydressball.co.uk’s study also found:

• Marry Poppins was voted as the top musical in 15 cities across the UK
• Male respondents chose Charlie Chaplin as their favourite celebrity of the last century, as did 1 in 5 Londoners
• Less than 1% of women thought the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977 was a significant historical event
• Twice as many men as women voted for Pulp Fiction as their favourite film
• 40% of people in Yorkshire voted the moon landing as the most significant historical event: the only region to do so!
• David Beckham was the favourite celebrity of voters in the North East
• 7 of 12 regions surveyed voted for the discovery of the structure of DNA as the most significant historical event

Paul Howcroft of Fancy Dress Ball said of the study: “Decades fancy dress continues to remain a popular choice for party goers and fund raisers’ says Paul owner of Fancy Dress Ball.

“Customers of all ages can relate to some of the best loved characters from the decades. The 70’s and 80’s have inspired some of the most popular fancy dress costumes to date. People will always want to dress as Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Freddie Mercury as these characters as many of us aspire to be them.

“We put together the decade’s postcode checker to show people how much the nation is still in love with fancy dress and to compare their cultures. The team have found some amazing statistics that just show that no city is the same when it comes to their love for the decades.”