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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Craig Williams

Muhammad Ali in Possil and eight other Glasgow spots where famous people turned up

Glasgow has been graced with many celebrities over the years – be it from people performing live in the city or those filming scenes for their latest movie here.

Stars such as Morgan Freeman, who filmed scenes for a movie in a Spar in Broomhill or Britney Spears, who went bowling in Coatbridge prior to a show in the city.

And there are a few famous folk that have either popped in locations you might not expect or have spent time in the city without the vast majority of Glaswegians knowing that they came here.

Here's our list of famous faces who did so over the years and where they went:

Muhammad Ali in Possil

Back in 1965, Ali, when he was still known as Cassius Clay, jetted in to Glasgow to fight Jimmy Ellis at the Paisley ice rink in an exhibition fight.

A pipe band greeted him on arrival at Glasgow Airport and as well as visiting Celtic Park, Ali visited the long-gone Oakbank Hospital in Possil, were he happily signed autographs for patients.

Muhammad Ali is greeted by a traditional Scottish pipe band on his arrival at Glasgow Airport in 1965 (Getty Images)

Isobel Gormely, of Lambhill, described the fighter, then aged 23, as "fabulous, gorgeous".

Ali fulfilled a promise to return to the city, visiting Waterstones in October 1993, as part of a UK tour to publicise a book of photographs by his friend Howard L Bingham called Mohammad Ali - A Thirty Year Journey.

John F Kennedy at Glasgow Central Station

Former US President John F Kennedy's very first public engagement took place in the old Station Masters’ Office overlooking the interior of Glasgow Central Station on September 1939.

JFK visited Glasgow in 1939, when he met survivors of the TSS Athenia (© SWNS)

At the time JFK was a 17 year old Harvard student, accompanying his father (who was then US ambassador to Britain) on a trip to the city to repatriate American survivors of the sinking of SS Athenia.

Albert Einstein at Glasgow University

The German-born theoretical physicist came to Glasgow in June of 1933 to receive an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow for his role in the evolution of 20th Century physics.

While here, he delivered a lecture titled 'About the Origins of the General Theory of Relativity' to a packed Bute Hall of 1500 people - who cheered him as he entered.

Albert Einstein at Glasgow University in 1933. (The University of Glasgow)

Photographs from the time show Einstein enjoying a smoke with Archibald Young, Professor of Surgery at the university, outside his home in the Park Circus area adjacent to Kelvingrove Park.

George R R Martin at the SECC

It's well known that the books on which TV show Games of Thrones is based on have their pages dipped in nods to Scottish historical events and Scotland in general - with the infamous 'Red Wedding' scene based on the real-life event 'The Black Dinner' at Edinburgh Castle in 1440.

But few might know that the author George R R Martin came to Glasgow back in August of 1995 for the 53rd World Science Fiction Convention and in 2005 for The 63rd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), both of which were held at the SECC.

Laurel and Hardy on Sauchiehall Street

It's well known that Stan Laurel spent his childhood growing up in the city's south side and irst tread the boards at the world's oldest music hall right here in Glasgow - the Britannia Panopticon.

Back in 1932 he returned to the city paid a visit to Glasgow with Oliver Hardy at the height of the comedy duo's fame to make a personal appearance on stage at the old La Scala Cinema on Sauchiehall Street.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (Trinity Mirror)

Staying for two nights at the nearby Central Hotel, the pair were mobbed by an estimated crowd of 40,000 Glaswegians (whistling the stars’ famous theme tune in unison) as they departed Glasgow Central Station on their way to London.

James Bond in the Botanic Gardens

Former 007 Roger Moore, who played the secret agent in seven films between 1973 and 1985, was once spotted back in 2001 looking at the goldfish in the Kibble Palace in the Botanic Gardens.

Roger Moore at his peak as James Bond in Live and Let Die (Terry O'Neill/Getty)

Moore returned to the city for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 with UNICEF and then again in 2016 to appear at the King's Theatre.

Brad Pitt at Glasgow School of Art

Everyone and their granny knows that the actor was in town in 2011 to film scenes for Hollywood blockbuster World War Z - which saw the streets around George Square turned into Philadelphia.

But it wasn't the first time he visited the city, with Pitt stopping by the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building on a previous trip to Glasgow - believed to have been in 1994 during the filming of the movie Interview With A Vampire in London.

Brad Pitt filming World War Z in Glasgow (David Moir/REUTERS)

Speaking about the building in an interview with the BBC in 2014, Pitt said: It’s one the great buildings, its an artistic building were art is made and art is learned".

Caitlyn Jenner at the BBC Studios

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, who appeared in I'm a Celeb last year, surprised fans by making a flying visit to Glasgow- to film scenes for an episode of Mrs Brown's Boys.

Jenner posted a photo on Instagram back in February while in the city, showing her on set at the BBC studios in the city alongside the star of the show Brendan O'Carroll in character as Agnes.

Caitlyn Jenner on set in Glasgow (instagram/caitlynjenner)

The caption on her Instagram photo read: "Had so much fun shooting this funny comedy in Scotland! Mrs Brown's Boys!"

Ed Sheeran at The Pot Still

Ed Sheeran famously ditched a glamorous MTV Awards after party in 2014 and headed to a popular city centre boozer instead.

The singer popped into The Pot Still on Hope Street in the city centre after the awards at the SSE Hydro and enjoyed a snifter or two.

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