List of people from Wirral

The following is a list of notable people who are associated or born within the area known as the Wirral Peninsula.

A

• Nigel Adkins (Reading FC manager)
• Ian Astbury (lead vocalist, The Cult)
• Sallie Axl (Big Brother contestant)

B

• Chris Boardman^[1] (cyclist)
• The Boo Radleys (pop group)
• Ian Botham (cricketer)
• Adrian Boult (conductor)
• Alexander Baxter (Pirate and buccaneer)
• Paul Bracewell (footballer)
• Fiona Bruce (TV presenter; lived in Heswall as a child)
• Pete Burns (singer/songwriter)
• John Bowe (actor) (Emmerdale actor)
• Shirley Ballas (ballroom dancer & TV personality)

C

• Alan Clarke (film director)
• Lewis Collins (actor, The Professional)
• The Coral (indie folk/rock band)
• Elvis Costello (singer/songwriter - lived in Birkenhead)
• Daniel Craig (actor, born in neighbouring Chester but grew up on the Wirral)

D

• Peter Davenport (footballer)
• Dickie Davies (presenter)
• Matt Dawson (rugby player and TV personality)
• Dixie Dean (footballer)
• Louise Delamere (actor)
• Lottie Dod (Wimbledon tennis champion, "most versatile female athlete of all time")

E

• Engine (boogie-rock band, active 1979-1997)
• Arthur Charles Evans CBE (author, ex-PoW and ex-General Secretary of the Police Federation)
• Colin Evans (prominent trade diplomat)
• Taron Egerton (actor)

F

• Michael Farnworth (British Columbia politician born in Bromborough)
• Jenny Frost (TV presenter and singer with Atomic Kitten)
• Christopher Farrell (TV star BBC Apprentice)

G

• John Gorman (singer with The Scaffold, presenter on Tiswas)
• Roger Lancelyn Green (children's writer; lived at Poulton Hall in Poulton Lancelyn, Bebington)
• Wilfred Grenfell ("Grenfell of Labrador")

H

• Half Man Half Biscuit (Alternative syterical group)
• Tony Hall (Baron Hall of Birkenhead; Director-General of the BBC)
• Emma Hamilton (mistress of Horatio Nelson)
• Hammy Havoc (composer and producer)
• Austin Healey (rugby player)
• Paul Heaton (singer and songwriter for the Beautiful South)
• Adrian Henri (poet and artist)
• Dave Hickson (footballer)
• Paul Hollywood (baker and judge on The Great British Bake Off)
• Malcolm Holmes (musician)
• Barry Horne (footballer) (ex-Everton and Wales footballer and captain)
• Stephen Hough (pianist)
• Geoffrey Howe (Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary (N.B. Associated through service as MP for Bebington)
• Geoffrey Hughes (actor)
• Shirley Hughes (children's author and illustrator)
• Paul Humphreys (musician)
• Rita Hunter (Wagnerian soprano)

I

• Andrew Irvine (Everest climber)
• Eric Idle (member of Monty Python; lived in Wallasey as a child)

J

• Glenda Jackson (actress and politician)
• Megs Jenkins (actress)

K

• Miles Kane (musician)

L

• Charlie Landsborough (singer/songwriter)
• Mark Leckey (Turner Prize-winning artist)
• Saunders Lewis (politician, playwright, poet and literary critic)
• Phil Liggett (cycling commentator)
• Craig Lindfield (professional football player)
• Selwyn Lloyd (Conservative Party Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Chancellor of the Exchequer)
• Nigel Lythgoe (producer and TV personality, best known for being a judge on Popstars)

M

• Valerie Masterson (opera singer)
• Jason McAteer (footballer)
• Andy McCluskey (musician)
• Mike McGear (photographer, musician, member of The Scaffold, brother of Paul McCartney)
• Craig McMahon (town crier and local fishmonger)
• Jon Mayhew (Author. Won the Warwick, Leeds, Sefton, Calderdale, and Wirral Book Awards. Sortlisted for numerous other regional prizes as well as the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2011.)

O

• Oceanic (band)
• Paul O'Grady (comedian and TV personality)
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (pop group)
• Wilfred Owen (one of the greatest poets of the First World War; grew up in Tranmere)

P

• John Peel (disc jockey and radio presenter)
• Dominic Purcell (actor)

R

• The Rascals (indie band)
• Jan Ravens (actress and impressionist)
• Simon Rimmer (celebrity chef)
• Kate Robbins (impressionist)
• Ted Robbins (comedian)
• Alan Rouse (climber)
• Patricia Routledge (actress)
• Mike Rutherford (guitarist with Genesis; went to boarding school in Hoylake)

S

• Cyril Scott (composer)
• The Seal Cub Clubbing Club (post-punk band)
• FE Smith (Lord Chancellor)
• Matthew Smith (80s computer game programmer)
• Jay Spearing (footballer)
• Olaf Stapledon (writer; spent much of his life in West Kirby and Caldy, and many landscapes mentioned in his works can be identified)
• Ralph Steadman (artist)
• Philip Wilson Steer (impressionist painter)
• Ray Stubbs (sports commentator)

T

• Jodie Taylor (footballer, born 1986)
• David Thompson (footballer)
• Bill Tidy (cartoonist)
• Philip Toosey (hero of the real Bridge on the River Kwai incident)

W

• Jonathan Walters (Stoke City F.C. striker)
• Andreas Whittam-Smith (founder of the Independent)
• Marty Willson-Piper (guitarist for The Church)
• Harold Wilson (Prime Minister - Head Boy of Wirral Grammar School)

See also

• List of people from Merseyside

References