Dame Meera Syal DBE

British actor, comedian, writer and producer born in Wolverhampton on 27 June 1961. She has worked as an actor in television, film and theatre, and is also a comedian, novelist, screenwriter and producer. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1997 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. She won the Betty Trask Award in 1996. She was appointed Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2016 and received a BAFTA Fellowship in 2023. In December 2025 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.