The Wirral has graced the world with a number of renowned celebrities.
Some people from the peninsula may find it annoying when others describe a celebrity from your home town as a Scouser. It may be understandable for people from outside the region, however can still be frustrating.
But from actors and singers to politicians, sports stars and artists, each one has made a name for themselves in their own field. While James Bond star Daniel Craig and TV’s Paul O’Grady probably come to mind straight away, did you know Eric Idle, Amelia Warner, Paul Heaton and Dominic Purcell all have a link to Wirral?
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Whatever happens in the world, you can guarantee a Wirralian will be involved somewhere along the line. It’s not an exhaustive list and it’s in no particular order, but have a read through and see if any surprise you.
Elizabeth Berrington
Wallasey-born Elizabeth Berrington graced our screen recently in Scouse drama The Responder where she played Lynne Renfrew, police officer's Chris Carson's (Martin Freeman) therapist. The 51-year-old is also known for her roles in film Spencer where she played Princess Anne and appearances in The Syndicate and Doctor Who.
Joanna Scanlan
Comedian Joanna Scanlan was born in West Kirby. She moved to North Wales with her parents at the age of three, and her parents later bought the Castle Hotel in Ruthin and now lives in Croydon, London.
The 60-year-old actress and screenwriter is known for her roles in British series such as The Thick of It, Getting On, Puppy Love, and No Offence. She was nominated for three BAFTA TV Awards for Getting On, including two for Best Writing.
Michael Sheen
He's known as one of Wales’ most famous star exports, actor Michael Sheen - also has links to Wirral. He lived in Wallasey for several years as a child when his father’s work for an electronics company brought the family to Merseyside, and attended St George’s Primary.
In an interview in 2009, his mum Irene said it was in Wallasey where a five-year-old Michael first showed his skills for mimicry. She told Wales Online: “By the end of his first week in school I couldn’t understand him. He just absorbed the Liverpudlian accent like a sponge. He was more Liverpudlian than the locals! So after a few weeks we sent him for elocution lessons.”
John Bowe
A familiar face to TV viewers, Tranmere Rovers supporter John was born and brought up in Greasby. He enjoyed success on the stage before finding fame in the first series of Prime Suspect. He is also known for roles as Duggie ‘Crusher’ Ferguson in Coronation Street and Lawrence White in Emmerdale.
The former pupil of Calday Grange Grammar School once told the ECHO two Wirral teachers helped him to become an actor. He said: “There was Michael Cross, ironically our geography teacher at Calday Grammar, who got me into the school plays. “And then there was a great man called Peter Dornford-May who encouraged me by getting me to join Cheshire Education Authority’s excellent drama courses."
Matthew Ashton
Matthew, from Upton is living every child’s dream – he gets paid to work with Lego. He has overseen the creation of some of the biggest-selling toys of the century, including construction kits based on movie franchises such as Toy Story, Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
The former Wallasey School student and Wirral Met graduate is one of the judges on hit Channel 4 show Lego Masters, a hunt for the UK’s best Lego builders dubbed “The Great British Brick Off”.
Lewis Collins
The star of TV’s The Professionals was part of one of the great double acts in British television – 1970s crime fighting duo Bodie and Doyle. He was born in Bidston and attended Grange Secondary School in Birkenhead, later training as a hairdresser in Liverpool.
He later changed careers to become a musician before enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and embarking on a stage career. He died in November 213 at the age of 67.
Taron Egerton
Kingsman: The Secret Service star Taron was born in Birkenhead and moved to Anglesey when he was 12, where he spent the rest of his teenage years. The 28-year-old trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and graduated in 2012 after winning the Stephen Sondheim Society ‘Student Performer of the Year’ award in 2011.
He has also had roles in Testament of Youth, based on the life of Vera Brittain, and as Edward ‘Mad Teddy’ Smith opposite Tom Hardy in Legend, a biopic feature about the Kray twins. He has also more recently starred in Eddie the Eagle and played singer songer writer legend Elton John in the musical Rocketman in 2019 for which he won the Goldon Globe Award for Best Actor.
Dominic Purcell
Best known for his role as Lincoln Burrows in Prison Break, Dominic was born in Wallasey but was raised in Australia from the age of two by his Norwegian father and Irish mother.
He turned to acting after becoming bored with his landscaping job and his roles include Mission Impossible II, Primeval and Blade: Trinity. In interviews the Liverpool FC fan has told how he spoke with a Merseyside accent until he was six, but took on an Australian accent after being “mercilessly teased” by his school friends.
Fiona Bruce
The presenter of Crimewatch and the Antiques Roadshow was born in Singapore but moved to Heswall with her family as a child. Her father John worked for Unilever at Port Sunlight and the family moved from Wirral when he was promoted to a job at Lever’s Kingston-upon-Thames head office, eventually becoming company chairman.
After a university education at Hertford College, Oxford, she went into advertising, later writing to the editor of Panorama to beg for a researcher’s job.
Christopher Farrell
The former Royal Marine Commando shot to fame on series six of The Apprentice. He grew up in Upton and went to Overchurch junior school and then Woodchurch high school before signing up for the Army aged 16. He now works as a security consultant.
Dickie Davies
The former World of Sport presenter was born in Wallasey in 1933 and went to Oldershaw school. After the ITV show was axed he continued to present sport for the channel and later worked for Classic FM.
Shirley Ballas
Leasowe’s most famous export, Shirley has been a star of the dance world for years – and she’s now known to millions of TV viewers as the new head judge on Strictly Come Dancing. A ballroom and Latin dancer, she is one of the most decorated professional dancers in the world.
After retiring from competitive dancing in 1996, she became an acclaimed and respected international coach to many top professional and amateur dancers, as well as a sought-after judge for ballroom and Latin American competitions around the world. Her son Mark Ballas is a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, the USA’s answer to Strictly.
Jan Ravens
Hoylake-born Jan Ravens is best known for her impressions of people such as Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, Ellen MacArthur, Nigella Lawson and Fiona Bruce alongside Jon Culshaw in Dead Ringers and for Spitting Image. The Cambridge-educated star also appeared on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, partnering Anton du Beke, in 2007,and is an ambassador for Action Aid.
Of her time on Strictly she said: “It was the most terrifying thing. The Saturday night broadcast, dancing in front of all those people, millions of people... I spent the entire time I was doing it will galloping butterflies. But I loved learning to dance. It was such an amazing experience and opportunity that I couldn’t say no to it.”
Lia Williams
Actress Lia was born in Birkenhead and her small screen appearances include parts in Lewis, The Crown and The Missing.
Glenda Jackson
The daughter of a Birkenhead bricklayer, Glenda Jackson left school at 15 and worked in Boots before winning a place at RADA. She embarked on an acting career that included Women in Love and a memorable appearance with Morecambe and Wise.
In 1992 she was elected as Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, standing down in 2015. Last year she returned to the stage for the first time in 25 years, playing the title role in Shakespeare’s King Lear at the Old Vic Theatre.
Pete Price
He is the voice of Liverpool on the airwaves but broadcaster and entertainer Pete grew up in Wirral. He originally wanted to be a chef, and while at Hoylake Parade School asked if he could be excused from metalwork so he could take up cookery.
After school Pete went to the food technology department at Birkenhead Tech, where he says he “passed several exams for the first time in my life” and even won a national ice-cream making competition. He started his radio career at BBC Radio Merseyside aged 21 and recently cut back on his late nights on Radio City, after 38 years with the company.
Tim Firth
The Wirral creator of All Quiet on the Preston Front, Calendar Girls and Neville’s Island began writing when he was 18 on a course in Yorkshire run by Willy Russell and Danny Hiller. His stage production of The Flint Street Nativity broke box office records at the Liverpool Playhouse during the pantomime season of 2006.
Firth also penned Border Café and Kinky Boots and in 2004 was made a Lipa companion in recognition of his contributions to the world of art and entertainment.
Cyril Scott
The composer, author and poet was born in Oxton in 1879 and showed a talent for music from an early age. He wrote 400 works including four symphonies and three operas.
Adrian Henri
The Birkenhead-born poet came to prominence as a member of the Mersey Sound poets with Roger McGough and Brian Patten. Also an novelist and prolific painter, he died in 2002.
Freddie Starr
The comic, who died in 2019, was born in Old Swan and was definitely a Scouser - but spent part of his childhood in Wirral, later becoming a furniture salesman in Birkenhead before getting his break in showbusiness. As a schoolboy he landed a part in a play in Liverpool – Violent Playground – and was turned down by Brian Epstein in the 1960s. In 1970 he took the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium by storm, turning him into a star overnight
Annette Ekblom
New Brighton actress Annette Ekblom is known for playing a wide range of TV roles, from Coronation Street to And The Beat Goes On. Fans of Willy Russell will also have seen her in The Daughters Of Albion and on stage in Blood Brothers.
After leaving drama school, she sent 60 letters to casting directors – finally landing a job with Yorkshire TV.
Shirley Hughes
The renowned children’s author was born in West Kirby and studied fashion and dress design at Liverpool Art School. She continued her studies at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford then embarked on a career as a freelance illustrator in London.
She is the author and illustrator of more than 200 much-loved children’s books, her most celebrated works being the Alfie stories and Dogger. Shirley died on February 25.
Pauline Daniels
Birkenhead-born actress and comedian Pauline started her career as a singer in Liverpool’s working men’s clubs and later moved into acting and stand-up comedy. Her theatre and TV credits include Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine, Mama Morton in Chicago and Maria Benson in Brookside.
She now runs the Actors Studio, after turning the Liverpool Academy of Arts building in Seel Street into an 80-seat theatre, to provide a showcase for local talent.
Nigel Lythgoe
Before Simon Cowell on The X Factor there was “Nasty” Nigel Lythgoe on ITV show Popstars. He earned the nickname by telling Kym Marsh (now an actress in Coronation Street): “Christmas may be gone but I see the goose is still fat. Nigel, who now lives in Los Angeles, grew up in Wallasey and attended Manor Road School, Wallasey Technical College and the Hylton Bromley School of Dance and Drama.
Andreas Whittam Smith
The journalist and editor grew up in Birkenhead and was educated at Birkenhead School. He co-founded The Independent and was the newspaper's first editor from 1986 to 1994. He has also served as president of the British Board of Film Classification, chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service and as First Church Estates Commissioner for the Church of England.
Jenny Frost
Best known for being one-third of Atomic Kitten, singer and TV presenter Jenny was born in Wallasey in 1978. She replaced Kerry Katona in the girl group in 2001.
Bill Tidy
The legendary cartoonist, who was born in Tranmere, became known for his work in the Daily Mirror, Private Eye and Punch. His most famous comic strips include the Fordyke Saga, Kegbuster and the Cloggies.
Charlie Landsborough
Birkenhead country singer Charlie Landsborough is a huge country star in the USA, but struggled for three decades before achieving success. He worked as a teacher while writing and performing on a semi-professional basis, but his career took off after his song What Colour is the Wind was played on radio in Northern Island.
The song came to the notice of chat show host Pat Kenny in Dublin, who invited Charlie to perform on his popular Kenny Show Live in 1995. A week later his album was at number one and he went on to pick up a string of awards.
Valerie Masterson
Renowned soprano Valerie Masterson was born in Birkenhead and studied in Liverpool before going on to the Royal College of Music. She also studied for a year in Milan with the soprano Adelaide Saraceni.
She made her her debut as Frasquita in Georges Bizet’s Carmen in Salzburg with the Landes Theatre Opera Company, where she spent a season in 1963. In 1972 she went on to become principal soprano with English National Opera, singing a wide range of roles from Mozart to Puccini.
She was made a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours in 1988.
Mark Leckey
The Turner Prize winning artist was born in Birkenhead and graduated from Newcastle Polytechnic, later moving to London. He won the prestigious prize with an exhibition that included cartoon characters such as Homer Simpson, with the jury commending the intelligent, energetic and seductive nature of his work.
He is known for his fascination with how flat images can become 3D, once saying: “I want to transform my world and make it more so. Make it more of what it is.” His Dream English Kid 1964-1999AD film for the 2016 Liverpool Biennial was inspired by a teenage trip to see Joy Division at Eric’s in Mathew Street.
Amelia Warner
Not many people know that actress and singer Amelia is from Birkenhead. The daughter of actress Annette Ekblom, she moved to London at the age of four but spent summer holidays with her nan in New Brighton and her relatives still live in Wirral.
She started acting as member of the London Royal Court’s youth theatre group and at 18 starred as the title character in the BBC period drama Lorna Doone. She later ditched acting for singing under the name of Slow Moving Millie.
She has two daughters with her husband, Fifty Shades and The Fall actor Jamie Dornan.
Lottie Dod
Bebington-born Dod became the youngest ever winner of the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship when she achieved her triumph in 1887 at the age of 15 years and 285 days. She won the singles title five times between 1887 and 1893.
Martina Hingis was three days younger when she became women’s doubles champion alongside Helena Sukova in 1996. At the age of 21 Dod became the English women’s golf champion in 1904 and then won a silver medal for archery at the 1908 Olympics, while also playing twice for the England hockey team. She was also reportedly a world class ice skater and mountaineer.
Paul Heaton
Music fans might associate the Housemartins and Beautiful South songwriter with Manchester and his adopted home of Hull, but he was born in Bromborough and grew up in Wirral. He once told the ECHO: “I grew up on the Wirral and I love it over there. My dad worked in Ellesmere Port and my mum is from Woolton so I’ve always spent a lot of time in Liverpool, even after we moved away with my dad’s work.”
Nigel Adkins
The Hull City manager grew up in Birkenhead and says the only thing he ever wanted to do was play sport. He enjoyed playing basketball, rugby, football, cricket and athletics but says he was “mad keen” on football and played as a goalkeeper.
The former Tranmere and Wigan player twice guided Scunthorpe to promotion from League One and steered Southampton to the Premier League in 2012, but was sacked in January 2013. Spells at Reading and Sheffield United also ended in disappointment.
Steve Cummings
Steve from Clatterbridge, formerly raced for Birkenhead North End Cycling Club, and has won stages of the Tour De France as well as Commonwealth, Olympic and World Championship medals. He was a member of Team GB’s men’s road race team at the Rio Olympics, who were unfortunate not to win a medal after an incredible 241.5km endurance test.
The heroics of fellow Wirral rider Chris Boardman, who followed up Olympic gold on the track in 1992 by winning the prologue of the Tour de France two years later, also inspired Cummings. He told the ECHO in 2011: “My dream as a kid was always to go to the Tour but growing up I never really believed it would happen.”
Austin Healey
The former England rugby player went to primary school in Bidston before attending St Anselm’s College then Leeds Polytechnic, where he gained a degree in physical education. He says his secondary school days and sports teacher Joe Green helped launch his rugby career and he went on to play for Leicester Tigers, win 51 England caps and tour with the British Lions.
He has also been a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
Stephen Hough
Heswall-born Stephen Hough is one of the most celebrated pianists of his generation and has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras around the world including New York, Chicago and Hong Kong. He began learning to play at the age of five and was a finalist in BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition at just 17, winning the piano section.
He was awarded a CBE for his services to music in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2013.
Jim Bowen
The late Bullseye and Phoenix Nights star might be one of Lancashire’s most famous faces but he was born in Heswall in 1937. He was adopted by a couple from Accrington and later moved to the Lake District.
Before forging a successful career as a comedian, actor, game show host and radio presenter, his first job was as a dustman in Burnley but he soon realised it wasn’t the life for him.
While working as a teacher he started working part-time as a stand-up comedian in clubs, where he was spotted by Frank Carson and chosen to appear on the television show, The Comedians
Mike Dean
He might be more infamous than famous to some, depending on which team you follow, but his is a name every football follower will recognise. Wirral referee Mike stepped into the history books in 2001 as one of the first professional referees, leaving his job at a poultry factory in North Wales to take up the role.
At the time Dean, who supports Tranmere Rovers, vowed it wouldn’t will not change his approach to being the man in the middle, telling the ECHO: “Although I am now being paid to referee , I would like to think that the only difference would be that I will be closer to the major incidents because I will be fitter.”
Christian Furr
Born in Heswall in 1966, artist Christian Furr studied at Wirral Metropolitan College and De Montford University, where he graduated with a first class degree in Fine Art. He now lives and works in London and has exhibited extensively at shows and galleries.
At just 28 he was the youngest artist commissioned to paint an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, and was personally selected from among dozens of other painters. His official biography says he focuses on “keeping oil paint a fresh contemporary medium, and is continually interested in experimentation and exploration of new concepts”.
Ray Stubbs
The Wirral-born sports presenter is a former professional footballer spent five years playing for Tranmere Rovers before becoming a journalist with BBC Radio Merseyside. He has joked that he was the “worst left-back to play for Tranmere”, and failed to make a first-team appearance after graduating through the youth ranks at Prenton Park during the mid-1970s.
He once told the ECHO he was still passionate about the club, adding: “I say to my kids you must always try to do your best and I did do my best in my playing days at Tranmere. It was just unfortunate that I had no talent. I remember Johnny King saying to me once: ‘You might make a reasonable player it wasn’t for the parachute strapped to your backside’. He was a good judge.”
Ted Robbins
Ted grew up in Bebington and went to Wirral Grammar School before making his career in entertainment. A well known comedian in his own right, he first made his name as a warm-up act for more celebrated colleagues
A second cousin of former Beatle Paul McCartney, Ted has appeared in Little Britain and Coronation Street as well as the popular ITV show Benidorm. He also starred as Den Perry in Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights.
Alan Clarke
The renowned film and television director was born in Wallasey in October 1935 and went to Poulton Primary School. He lived in both Seacombe and Leasowe with his family. He started working in the film business in Canada and after returning to England worked for both ITV and the BBC.
His work is known for its social realism and his best known works include Scum, The Firm, Made in England and Rita, Sue and Bob Too.
Dixie Dean
Birkenhead footballer William Ralph “Dixie” Dean played for Tranmere Rovers before moving to Everton, setting an all-time goal scoring record of 60 goals in the 1927-28 season which has never been equalled. Born in Laird Street, Birkenhead he signed for Tranmere Rovers at the age of 15 in 1923 whilst playing for Pensby Institution FC, making the switch to the Blues in 1926.
He became renowned as a goal scoring genius: a centre forward who could score with either boot but was especially famous for his skill in the air. One of the few strikers never to be cautioned in his career, Dean was also regarded as a true gentleman of football.
Samantha Quek
Hockey player Sam helped Great Britain’s women’s team end a 36-year wait to reach the gold medal match of an Olympic Games when they defeated semi-finalists New Zealand 3-0 in Rio. A dramatic final saw the teams draw level before the drama of penalties. Great Britain won 2-0 - earning a triumph that will live long in the memory and becoming national heroes.
The former Birkenhead High School pupil later dedicated her Olympic gold medal to her 95-year-old grandmother, who suffered a stroke five days before the final.
Eric Idle
Monty Python legend Eric Idle was born in South Shields, but spent his childhood in Wallasey and went to St George’s Primary School until the age of nine. Monty Python’s Flying Circus was made for TV between 1969 and 1974 and the team went on to make films including Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979).
Ian Astbury
The lead singer of The Cult was born in Heswall and later moved to Canada before returning to the UK. Astbury formed the band Southern Death Cult in 1981, with the name later shortened to Death Cult and finally The Cult.
He stepped into Jim Morrisons shoes with vocals for the new incarnation of the Doors, touring as the 21st Century Doors.
Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys of OMD
Wirral electro-pop pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were one of the biggest selling bands in the 80s. Their first single, Electricity, sold all 5,000 pressed copies, largely thanks to Wirral-born DJ John Peel playing it on Radio 1. The gigs kept coming and so did the hits but by the mid nineties the band found itself out of favour – although they’ve made a comeback in the last few years.
In OMD’s wilderness years Andy, from Meols, later enjoyed success with his Liverpool recording studio, where the likes of The Coral, The Zutons, Arctic Monkeys and Oasis recorded. He also created and wrote for girl band Atomic Kitten.
Ramsey Campbell
The Wallasey horror writer was born in Liverpool, but he’s made his name as an author during his years in Wirral. One of the most celebrated horror writers of his generation, the policeman’s son has received more awards for his work than any other author in the horror genre.
The Oxford Companion to English Literature has described him as ‘Britain’s most respected living horror writer’ and his novels have been praised by Stephen King and James Herbert.
Matt Dawson
The former Wasps and Northampton rugby scrum half was born in Oxton, and his dad Ronnie played for Old Rockferrians. His family later moved from Merseyside to Wycombe and he attended the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe.
Despite excelling at rugby, his football team of choice remains Everton. He told the ECHO: “My family are a typical Mersey mix of reds and blues, and my dad is Tranmere Rovers but it’s always been the Toffees for me.” Since retiring he has starred on the BBC’s A Question of Sport.
Suzanne Collins
Suzanne is best known for playing Nikki Shadwick in Brookside. She went on to land TV and theatre roles in the Bill, Doctors, the film Step Dad with Ricky Tomlinson, and hit stage comedy Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels and its sequel at the Royal Court Theatre. Along with fellow Brookside star Ann Marie Davies, she set up High Horizons, providing anti-bullying drama workshops to children.
Alex Cox
Former Wirral Grammar school student Cox, who was born in Bebington, studied law at Oxford but left to study film at Bristol and in Los Angeles and became a director and actor. His 1983 film Repo Man brought him critical acclaim and he has gone on to helm Sid & Nancy, Revenger’s Tragedy and Death & The Compass.
He has also co-authored Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Mars Attacks among others.
Anthony Brown
Liverpool-born artist Anthony Brown studied graphic design and illustration at Wirral Metropolitan College. He created 100 Heads, a unique collection of portraits of famous and not-so-famous Merseyside people at St George’s Hall.
His work is on display from Liverpool to New York, with his clients including Bloomingdales.
Miles Kane
The Hoylake musician toured with the Arctic Monkeys while he was the guitarist with Little Flames, and struck up a friendship with their frontman. It was the start of big things – Miles and Alex Turner went on to create Last Shadow Puppets.
He started up Wirral trio The Rascals, but they went their separate ways after one album, and has also pursued a solo career.
Simon Rimmer
Professional chef Simon Rimmer was born in Wallasey in 1963. He opened his vegetarian restaurant, Greens, in Manchester in 1990. His television career took off by appearing on programmes such as This Morning, UKTV’s Great FOod Live and BBC One’s To Buy or Not to Buy, before pitting his cooking talents against other skilled chefs on the first series of Great British Menu. He narrowly missed out on the winning title to Marcus Wareing.
He is best known to TV audiences for his culinary and presenting skills on Sunday Brunch, alongside Tim Lovejoy – and for his appearance on the 2017 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The Woerdenwebers
One of the star families on Gogglebox hail from Wirral. Mum and daughter Viv and Eve Woerdenweber used to work on Birkenhead market selling New Age ephemera such as incenses and oils, dream catchers and Pagan jewellers before opening a shop and tattoo studio in the Pyramids shopping centre.
Louis Emerick
Best known for his role as Brookside’s Mick Johnson, Emerick has enjoyed a 20-year career including parts in Last of the Summer Wine, Casualty, Merseybeat, The Bill, Doctors, Last of the Summer Wine and a minor role in the British film Layer Cake. A regular performer in local theatre, Emerick also took part in the BBC’s Liverpool Nativity.
The Coral
The Hoylake indie kings were formed in 1996 by lead singer James Skelly and his five school friends. The band originally consisted of Skelly, his younger brother Ian Skelly, Nick Power, Lee Southall, Paul Duffy and Bill Ryder-Jones, who left in 2008.
Their debut, self-titled album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize the day after it was released and a record company was created around them. The Coral’s successful music journey started when they met with Liverpool music champion, Alan Wills, who saw them perform and was impressed enough to start his own record label, Deltasonic, and base it around the band.
Natasha Jonas
She’s a famous Scouser and Toxteth-born, but Natasha went to Weatherhead High School in Wallasey and, away from the sport where she made her name, was a talented footballer with the school team. She played for Liverpool Ladies and represented England at under-18 level before heading to the USA on a football scholarship. It wasn’t until a knee ligament injury left her in a leg brace and ended her footballing hopes that she returned to boxing.
The former Team GB star, who represented her country at the 2012 Olympics in London, turned professional earlier this year.
Alan Rouse
The mountaineer, who went to Birkenhead School, became the first British mountaineer to summit K2, the world’s second highest peak, before being killed on the mountain days later in 1986.Born in Wallasey, he climbed in local beauty spot the Breck as a teenager and a plaque is being erected at the former sandstone quarry in his memory.
John Gorman
Former Scaffold member John Gorman was born in Wirral and moved back to the peninsula after living away for several years. The mischievous trio of John, Mike McCartney and Roger McGough have made occasional appearances over the years for good causes and recorded a track for a special album commemorating Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Despite originally being known for their sense of humour, The Scaffold achieved three top 10 hits, including a number one for Lily the Pink. In 2011 John unveiled plans to put Wirral on the international arts map by launching the Festival of Firsts, initially focusing on Hoylake.
Kate Robbins
An actress, singer and impersonator, the former Wirral Grammar School pupil Kate is best known for her vocal talents on Spitting Image and Eurotrash - but she also reached the charts as a soloist and with group Prima Donna. Prima Donna represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 with Love Enough For Two and took bronze behind Johnny Logan’s first contest gold for Ireland.
Her daughter Emily Atack has followed her mum into showbusiness, starred in the Inbetweeners and winning over new fans in I'm a Celebrity.
Louise Delamere
The actress was born in Wallasey and went to St Mary’s College. She has had numerous TV roles, including Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Evil Under The Sun, Cadfael episode, Waking The Dead, Holby City, Torchwood, Waterloo Road and No Angels.
She is married to Episodes actor Stephen Mangan.
Olaf Stapledon
Olaf Stapledon, who was born in Wallasey in 1886, is best known as one of the fathers of visionary science fiction. He corresponded with H. G. Wells and was a major influence upon writers like Doris Lessing and Brian Aldiss.
He was also a philosopher, educationalist and social reformer and, until his death in 1950, a tireless campaigner against the prospect of a Third World War between the USA and the USSR.
Tony Hall
He was the Director-General of the BBC - also known as Baron Hall of Birkenhead- was born in Birkenhead in 1951. A former pupil of Birkenhead School and King Edward's School Birmingham, he studied at Keble College, Oxford.
He joined the BBC as a trainee in 1973 and was appointed to the corporation's top job in November 2012. He is the 16th Director-General of the BBC.
Drew Cockton
Drew, from Wallasey, swapped a career in financial services to make luxury candles. His brand, Owen Drew, is a hit with celebrities and has featured in Vogue - but you can find it close to home at its Birkenhead base.
Drew launched his business in summer 2016 after realising candles he was buying for his home were leaving dark marks on the walls due to the soot - his are made from soy wax and have a natural wooden wick.
Elvis Costello
Elvis was born Declan MacManus and moved to Birkenhead in 1971 with his Liverpool-born mum Lilian, who was usherette at the Philharmonic Hall. The grandson of a trumpet player on the White Star Line and son of a jazz musician who became a successful radio dance band vocalist, he went into the family business and had taken the popular music world by storm before he was 24.
It was while living in Wirral that he formed his first band, a folk duo called Rusty, going on to become one of the music world’s most iconic performers and songwriters.
Patricia Routledge
The Birkenhead-born actress, who went to Birkenhead High School and studied at Liverpool University is best known for BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. During a celebrated career she has appeared in several West End and Broadway productions as well as on TV and the big-screen, alongside Sidney Poitier and Shirley MacLaine.
After university she took an unpaid job at the Liverpool Playhouse and was later invited to join the company, making her debut in 1952 as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Extensive TV work in Britain followed, and she won a permanent place in the nation’s affections as the ultimate suburban snob Hyacinth Bucket – pronounced Bouquet.
Pete Burns
The Dead or Alive frontman and television personality was born in Port Sunlight in August 1959 to an English father and German mother. He found mainstream success with his band’s 1985 single You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).
The acid-tongued showman rose to further celebrity status in the British media following his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 2006 and his own television show, Pete’s PA in 2007, and often hit the headlines for his complicated relationship with plastic surgery.
He died in October 2016 following a heart attack caused by a pulmonary embolism.
Wilfred Owen
Known as the soldiers’ poet, Owen was raised in Birkenhead where his father, Tom, was master of Woodside railway station. He lived in the Wirral town between the ages of four and 14 and was a pupil at the Birkenhead Institute.
Owen was killed a week before Armistice Day but became one of the most celebrated of the war poets. His work, including masterpiece Dulce et Decorum Est, is still widely studied.
Nisha Katona
Former barrister and self-confessed "curry evangelist" Nisha stepped away from the bar to open her restaurant Mowgli on Bold Street in 2014. She now has a number of Mowgli restaurants including in Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford and Nottingham.
Nisha is also a food writer whose work has featured in national newspapers and she has published books including Pimp My Rice and The Spice Tree.
Half Man Half Biscuit
Birkenhead’s finest band will hate being included in this list – for years they avoided playing in Liverpool became of performing in front of so many familiar faces. They don’t like having their pictures taken or their names on album sleeves and once told the ECHO “anonymity is everything”.
But you can’t write about Wirral and miss them out. The late, great John Peel said singer Nigel Blackwell rejoiced in the use of language and ECHO writer Paddy Shennan has called him “our greatest living lyricist” – with lyrics covering everything from popular culture, sport, and local geography
Ian Botham
Heswall-born Sir Ian received a knighthood in the Queen’s birthday honours in recognition of his charity work as much as services to cricket. "Beefy” has raised around £10mn for leukaemia research and the Teenage Cancer Trust through 11 long-distance sponsored walks, and on the field was regarded as English cricket’s greatest all-rounder.
Harold Wilson
Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson was born in Huddersfield, but he was educated in Wirral after his father moved the family to Spital to find work. Wilson junior impressed so much at Wirral Grammar School for Boys that he was made head boy.
He became MP for Ormskirk in 1945 then a constituency change in 1950 created the new seat of Huyton. He was narrowly elected then - but managed to keep the seat for a further 33 years. His best-remembered speech, at the 1963 Labour Party conference, referenced the “white heat” of technological change that should shape the future of the country.
Chris Boardman
Cycling champion Chris, from Hoylake, famously won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics – Team GB’s first cycling gold medal in 72 years. The dad led the research and development team for GB Cycling in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics and has established a career in journalism as well as working as a commentator.
He is the co-founder of Boardman Bikes and now acts as British Cycling’s policy advisor, speaking out on issues relating to transport policy and cycle safety.
Daniel Craig
If you were asked for the name of a famous person from Wirral, his would be the name on most people’s lips. The James Bond star was born in Chester but his family later settled in Hoylake, and he attended Hilbre High School.
He spent much of his youth with the Everyman Theatre and trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His other film credits include Layer Cake, The Mother, Sylvia, Enduring Love and Steven Spielberg’s Munich and Road to Perdition.
Jodie Taylor
England goalscoring hero Jodie first showcased her incredible talents at home in Wirral. She grew up in Wallasey and started playing football at break times and lunchtimes in her days at Liscard Primary School – where she was allowed on the boys time because the school did not have a team for girls.
After moving to Oldershaw Academy, Taylor joined the school’s first ever girls’ team along with her twin sister Chelsea, where she smashed 15 consecutive hat-tricks and went on to sign for Tranmere Rovers after impressing in a schools’ tournament. She stayed with Tranmere until leaving for America and a sports scholarship at Oregon State University at 18 – where she achieved two degrees in psychology and sociology. Jodie plays as a striker for San Diego Wave of NWSL.
John Peel
DJ and broadcaster John Peel was known for championing new music. Born John Ravenscroft in Heswall Cottage Hospital in 1939, he kicked off his career on pirate stations before moving to the BBC.
His shows, including the Peel Sessions, helped bring bands such as The Undertones, The Smiths, Nirvana, Half Man Half Biscuit and The Fall to a wider audience. Aside from the big bands that made it, he also found space for the less popular – including brilliant but obscure African guitarists and early jungle acts.
He died in October 2004 after suffering a heart attack while in Peru with his wife Sheila.
Paul Hollywood
The TV baking guru shot to fame with his role as a judge on the Great British Bake Off. He went to Mosslands school before starting a sculpture course at Wallasey School of Art – abandoning a career in art to go and work in his dad’s bakery.
He went on to work at top hotels at home and abroad and met his future wife Alexandra while working in Cyprus. Last month the couple announced they were separating after nearly 20 years of marriage.
Of his decision to stay with Bake Off after its controversial move to Channel 4, Hollywood said: “I work for a production company, I don’t work for a channel – my job was always there. For me, I didn’t want to lose it.”
Paul O’Grady
Who could have ever predicted that acid-tongued Lily Savage would become a dog’s best friend and a national treasure? The Birkenhead star rose to fame as Lily before becoming a chat show host and presenter of Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs.
Paul was voted one of the top ten greatest Merseysiders of all time by Echo readers. He ranked ninth in our 2014 poll and scored higher than George Harrison, Bob Paisley, Ricky Tomlinson, Jamie Carragher and Gerry Marsden. He’s known for his sense of humour and killer one-liners, and said of a possible return for Lily: “I look in the mirror and I think, ’That’s not a wrinkle, it’s a gutter across my face!’ Lily Savage will never do telly again. Not with HD.”
