The broadcasting silver fox caused a stir two weeks ago when news broke that he’d got his first tattoo aged 75. Dimbleby was inked with a scorpion on his shoulder at an east London parlour, explaining: “You’re only old once. I’ve always wanted a tattoo and thought I might as well have it done now.” It was soon trending on Twitter, while Dimbleby gamely chuckled along at quips such as: “He’ll regret that when he’s older.” Pedants pointed out that the scorpion had two legs too few. Still, it did a fine job of promoting his new series, Britain and the Sea Photograph: BBC
The supermodel befriended artist Lucian Freud in 2002 and tells the story of the two tiny swallows at the base of her spine thus: “He told me about when he was in the merchant navy, when he was 19 or something, he used to do all of the tattoos for the sailors. I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing.’ And he went, ‘I can do you one. What would you like? Creatures of the animal kingdom?’ I mean, it’s an original Freud. How much would a collector pay for that? A few million?” Her feathered friends weren’t visible in Freud’s nude portrait of Moss, which later sold for £4m Photograph: Alamy
Brit-born model-turned-actor Wentworth Miller’s character on US drama Prison Break was a structural engineer whose brother was framed for murder. Resolving to bust him out of jail before he got executed, Scofield hatched an elaborate plan. He had detailed blueprints of Fox River State Penitentiary tattooed over his entire upper body, then committed armed robbery to get himself sent down too. Hidden among the devils and angels on his buff torso were escape routes to break them both out. It took five hours for the design to be applied to Miller’s body each day he was due to take his shirt off. Which was a lot Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
The star and creator of HBO hit Girls, which airs here on Sky Atlantic, has been hailed as the voice of her generation and queen of all hipsters. She’s also the proud owner of many intricate tattoos, including a cow in a field on her upper right arm, a Yorkshire terrier on her ribcage and on her back an illustration from children’s book Eloise by Kay Thompson. After getting inked for the first time in her teens, Dunham says: “It got totally addictive. I had a very active tattooing period from 17 to 21 and since then, I’ve only gotten a few tiny things.” She’s now 27, still sickeningly young for a double Golden Globe-winner Photograph: Jeff Frank/Zuma/Corbis
In the 00s, Goldenballs seemed to be getting a new tatt every week, although none, as far as we know, was on said Goldenballs. He was inspired to start his collection by wife Victoria’s Spice Girls bandmate Mel B and her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar. Beckham is now the proud owner of 33, and one of the most impressive is the guardian angel across his shoulders by Manchester-based tattoo artist Louis Molloy. Becks added the names of his second and third sons, Romeo and Cruz, above and below it when they were born, in Gothic script to match the “Brooklyn” on his lower back Photograph: Jeff Golden/Getty Images
The deeply dull Camerons like to give the impression that “Hey, we used to be kinda cool, actually”, which convinces precisely no one. Prime minister Dave often professes his youthful love of Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, the Jam, REM and the Smiths. Meanwhile, student Sam Cam desperately attempted to shake off her aristocratic roots by getting a cheeky dolphin tattoo on her right ankle and running with the boho crowd in Bristol and west London. The blurry little aquatic mammal is sometimes spotted peeping out from the toothsome Mrs Cameron's shoe in paparazzi pics, which sends Mail Online’s sidebar of shame into overdrive Photograph: Jorge Herrera/WireImage/Getty
“I’m strong to the finish, ’cause I eats me spinach, I’m Popeye the sailor man. Toot, toot.” The green veg-scoffing, pipe-smoking, Olive Oyl-adoring, Bluto-battling mariner, created by EC Segar, made his debut in 1929 in comic strip Thimble Theatre. He stole the show and soon became the star, getting spun off into animated cartoons and eventually a 1980 live-action film starring Robin Williams and directed by Robert Altman. Popeye’s massive forearms were adorned with anchor tattoos, which traditionally signified crossing the Atlantic or membership of the merchant navy. After eating a tin of spinach, his superhuman strength would transfer to his bulging biceps. Ah-gah-gah-gah Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex Features
Geordie popstrel, Girl Aloud and former X Factor judge Chezza Tweedy has always been partial to body art, from henna on her hands to barbed wire around her thigh. Her 10th tattoo, unveiled this summer, is the most spectacular yet: a huge black-and-red rose design, ranging from lower back to upper thighs. Her bum, in short. It started out as a cover-up job on a black butterfly and took LA tattoo artist Nikko Hurtado 15 hours. Cole tweeted: “There’s personal meaning behind it but English roses are my favourite flowers.” When a fan asked if she was planning more, Cole replied: “No, just the big one will do!” Photograph: @nikkihurtado/INSTAGRAM
The gangsta rapper, who also traded under the stage name 2Pac, formed Californian hip-hop supergroup Thug Life, who released one album: 1994’s Thug Life: Volume One. It was a phrase close to Shakur’s heart, as he also had it tattooed across his stomach with a bullet for the “i”, helpfully explaining that it was an acronym of “The hate u give lil’ infants f**ks everybody”. A vocal participant in the east coast-west coast hip-hop feud, Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting aged just 25, yet continues to release records from beyond the grave. Last year, Rihanna got “Thug Life” tattooed on her knuckles in tribute Photograph: Lawrence Schwartzwald/Corbis
Stieg Larsson’s computer hacker antiheroine first appears in the crime novel named after her body art, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. A pale, pierced introvert with a photographic memory, Salander has a wasp tattoo on her neck, loops around her biceps and ankle, a Chinese symbol on her hip, a rose on her calf and, of course, a dragon on her left shoulder blade. She later takes vengeance on her abusive guardian by torturing and tattooing him. Later in the Millennium series, she plays with fire and kicks a hornets' nest. Film adaptations have seen the role played by Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara Photograph: PR
