Housing application for Harrogate church whose graveyard boasts Hollywood legend

Legendary Yorkshire actor Michael Rennie was a fixture of films and TV for three decades, famously starring in classic sci-fi movie The Day the Earth Stood Still in 1951.

The Bradford-born star remained in the public eye until one day in 1971 when he suffered an aortic aneurysm while visiting his mother in Harrogate.

After his death, his ashes were interred at the cemetery at All Saints Church on Harrogate's Otley Road.

Now a new planning application has been submitted to potentially convert the church itself into a three-bedroom house.

First opened in 1871 as a cemetery chapel, All Saints has been empty for years - despite being designated as a grade-II listed building in 1975.

The church last opened its doors in 2009 after being hit by dry rot and the damp but now may take on a new lease of life if the plans go ahead.

In the meantime, the cemetery, whose other notable graves include Royal Academy artist, Bernard Evans, RA, is unaffected.

Michael Rennie’s fame lasted from the late 1930s to the late 1960s with roles including Kit Locksby in The Wicked Lady (1945), the Apostle Peter in The Robe (1953), Marisoni in Mambo (1954), Lord John Roxton in The Lost World (1960) and General Montgomery in The Battle of El Alamein (1969).

He also famously appeared in cult 1960s TV series Batman as the arch-villain Sandman.