Hartlepool-educated film director Sir Ridley Scott is named in New Year Honours List

In 2002, he received a knighthood in the New Year Honours for his services to the British film industry in a career that has produced memorable films such as Gladiator, Thelma And Louise, Alien and Blade Runner.

Sir Ridley began his career as a set designer for the BBC after studying at West Hartlepool College of Art and the Royal College of Art.

His early short movie Boy and Bicycle was also filmed in Hartlepool.

He was quickly promoted to director and worked on classic TV shows, including popular police series Z Cars.

Next he set up his own production company making TV commercials.

One of the most memorable was the Hovis advert which featured a delivery boy pushing his bicycle up a cobbled street.

In 1977, Sir Ridley made his first foray into movies with The Duellists, which won the jury prize for best first work at the Cannes Film Festival.

He followed it with the landmark science fiction films Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982).

Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, would go on to become what Bafta described as "one of the most influential science fiction films of all time".

Thelma And Louise, starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, was a critical and box office success on its release in 1991.

After a couple of flops - the Christopher Columbus biopic 1492: Conquest Of Paradise and GI Jane among them - Sir Ridley returned to winning ways with Gladiator.

The epic was nominated for 12 Oscars and won the award for best picture.

Success followed with Silence Of The Lambs sequel Hannibal and military drama Black Hawk Down.

In November this year, Napoleon, his historical epic starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, was released.

The film, which documents the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, contains epic battle scenes displaying Napoleon's military might but the story focuses largely on his passionate, volatile and addictive relationship with his beloved Josephine.

"I think one of the reasons people are still fascinated by Napoleon is because he was so complicated," Sir Ridley said of the character.

"There is no easy way to define his life. You can read a biography to know what happened but what interests me as a filmmaker is his character - going beyond the history and into the mind."

Following on from the success of his historical epic, released in 2000, Sir Ridley is directing Gladiator 2 which is slated for release in 2024 and stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal among others.