Before hitting the big time whether it be in TV, film or music, many of Merseyside's famous names grafted to get to the top of their professions.
From James Bond to acclaimed TV assassins and world beating popstars, Merseyside has produced a number of stars who have made it big. The region is also blessed with numerous charismatic TV and radio presenters who have now become household names in their own right.
However, success in their chosen fields hasn't come easy, and many have done it the hard way, cutting their teeth in local shows before finding their first taste of fame.
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Delving into the archives, the Liverpool ECHO has unearthed pics of these baby faced celebrities before they hit the big time. Some seem not to have aged a day while others are barely recognisable from the stars we now know and love.
From world-beating pop icons to Hollywood A-listers, award winners and others who have become household names, here are 13 of Merseyside's famous exports as they have rarely been seen before.
Melanie C
Melanie C, full name Melanie Chisholm, 48, found fame in 1996 as Sporty Spice in pop phenomenon the Spice Girls. Since then she has released several massively successful solo albums and, having written 11 UK number-ones, more than any other female artist in chart history, she remains the only female performer to top the charts as a solo artist, as part of a duo, quartet and quintet.
These days, Mel is also a regular face on Celebrity Gogglebox and more recently has been a celebrity judge on Ru Paul's Drag Race. Mel was born in Knowsley and grew up in Widnes. After school, she studied for a diploma course in dance, singing, drama, and musical theatre at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in London.
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During college, she replied to an advert in The Stage placed by Chris and Bob Herbert, who were looking to form a new girl group, later to become the Spice Girls. Mel has sported many looks in her career, but here she is in her first ever passport photo which she previously shared on Instagram.
Jodie Comer
Liverpool-born actor Jodie Comer, 29, is best known as the star of Killing Eve in which she plays serial killer Villanelle. She has won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for the role.
Comer grew up in Childwall and started acting at a weekend drama school in Belle Vale when she was 11-years old. She performed a monologue for a show at school and this brought her to the attention of her drama teacher, who sent her to audition for a BBC Radio 4 play, which became her first acting job.
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Her co-stars in the play told her that she could make a career out of acting and advised her to get an agent. The rest, they say, is history and Comer has become one of the most acclaimed actors in TV, film and stage in recent years.
Stephen Graham
As one of Britain’s most respected and critically acclaimed actors, Stephen Graham, 48, has enjoyed a lot of success over the years. The Liverpool-born star’s performances in This is England, Line of Duty, Boiling Point have made him hot property.
Not only has he enjoyed success and critical plaudits at home, but he’s also carved out a successful career on the silver screen in Hollywood - having worked with Martin Scorsese. He has starred alongside the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio and Al Pacino.
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Encouraged to pursue an acting career at the age of eight, he first joined Liverpool's Everyman Youth Theatre at the age of 14.
John Bishop
John Bishop, 55, was born at Mill Road Hospital in West Derby. He grew up mostly in the Cheshire towns of Runcorn and Winsford, and went on to gain a degree in social science and had a job as a medical representative for a pharmaceutical company before leaving in 2006 to pursue his comedy career full-time at the age of 40.
As well as finding huge success as a stand up comedian, John Bishop has turned his hand to acting with a role in Doctor Who as well as finding fame as the presenter of his own chat show, The John Bishop Show. Scouring through the Liverpool ECHO archives, we've found this pic of the would-be comic back in 1992 training for a charity bike ride.
Cilla Black
Liverpool singer and TV presenter Cilla Black died at her home in Spain in 2015 at the age of 72. She first hit the big time in the 1960s with her number one singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, and You're My World.
Other highlights in her glittering entertainment career include hosting Blind Date and Surprise Surprise. Determined to become an entertainer, Cilla gained a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Her impromptu performances impressed the Beatles and others.
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Subsequently Cilla's talents later saw her signed up with Beatles manager Brian Epstein, but here we've found a pic of the young Cilla, just 17-years old, working in a poultry factory and dreaming about pursuing a career as a professional singer.
Sally Nugent
Wirral-born TV presenter Sally Nugent, 50, is now a familiar face becoming a full time presenter on BBC Breakfast in 2021. Previously, She had been working on BBC Breakfast for 10-years as a sports presenter.
What many people don't know is Sally was born in Birkenhead in 1971, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication arts and French from the University of Huddersfield. The budding broadcaster's first ever media gig was at BBC Radio Merseyside, before moving on to report on and read the sports news on BBC North West Tonight.
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In 2003, Sally became a sports reporter for BBC News, appearing on national bulletins, before making the move to the BBC News Channel. We've dug into the archives to find this pic of the BBC Breakfast host 20-years ago, opening a sports centre in Upton in 2003.
Abbey Clancy
She first graced our screens when Abbey Clancy, 36, was crowned runner-up on Britain’s Next Top Model in 2006 - the same year she met husband Peter Crouch. Since then, Clancy has gone on to become the winner of series 11 of Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and a presenter on Britain's Next Top Model in 2015.
The top model grew up in Woolton and attended St Mary's Primary School and St Julie's Catholic High School. In her teens, Clancy formed girl band Genie Queen, and here we have found a pic of Clancy as a member of the girl group at Goodison Park back in 2004.
Paul O'Grady
Paul O'Grady, 66, has had audiences in stitches for more than three decades and has firmly positioned himself as a national treasures. The Birkenhead native is known for his sharp wit and huge heart, that has seen him fighting animal's corners for years.
In his early showbiz career he was best known for his alter-ego persona drag queen Lily Savage, spending years learning and executing his craft on the stand-up circuit in pubs in and around Liverpool before moving to London in 1984.
Soon after, TV came calling for Paul O'Grady and his huge talents. In the early 1990s, he began appearing on a host of television programmes including late-night Channel 4 comedy show Viva Cabaret! and he even presented an episode of the BBC's Top of the Pops.
As more people became aware of his abilities the phone calls continued to come in, a breakthrough presenting role on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast brought him to the attention of even more viewers during a stint between 1995 and 1996.
Further stints as a presenter included the relaunched celebrity quiz Blankety Blank in 1997. The comic's rapport with guests saw The Paul O'Grady Show launch on ITV in 2004 before moving to Channel 4.
Since 2012, Paul's love of animals has seen him present various animal-related shows including Paul O'Grady: For The Love Of Dogs. He also took over as host of the relaunched Blind Date following the death of his great friend, Cilla Black.
Pete Price
Now an icon on Merseyside, radio presenter Pete Price, 76, started off his showbiz career as a stand-up comic. Born in Wrexham, Price was adopted at three months old and raised in West Kirby.
Before working various jobs, he became a disc jockey for BBC Radio Merseyside at the age of 21. Shortly after, Price made his first appearance on the comedy scene at Liverpool's The Shakespeare nightclub.
Now best known for his radio talk shows, Pete Price was made an 'Honorary Scouser' by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool in April 2009.
Craig Charles
We all know him as the loveable rogue who brought his cheek and charm to the science fiction world with his role of Dave Lister in Red Dwarf and as Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street. Craig Charles, 54, grew up on the notorious Cantril Farm estate and went to West Derby Comp.
Charles first appeared on television as a performance poet and stand-up comic, which led to minor presenting roles. After finding fame in Red Dwarf, he has regularly featured on TV hosting Robot Wars and The Gadget Show.
Charles has hosted The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show on BBC radio since 2002, and performs DJ sets at numerous clubs and festivals. In September 2015, he left Coronation Street after 10 years of acting, to film new episodes of Red Dwarf and to continue his BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 broadcasting.
Daniel Craig
There's few bigger stars in the world than 007 himself, Daniel Craig, 54. The James Bond star was born in Chester but his family later settled in Hoylake where he attended Hilbre High School.
Craig began acting in school plays at the age of six, making his debut in the Frodsham Primary School production of Oliver! He later spent much of his youth hanging around the Everyman Theatre and trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Before becoming Bond in the movies, Craig began his career on stage.
His breakthrough TV role came in the drama serial Our Friends in the North in 1996. As well as the Bond films, his other film credits include Layer Cake, The Mother, Sylvia, Enduring Love and Steven Spielberg’s Munich and Road to Perdition.
Craig married fellow Hollywood A-lister Rachel Weisz in 2011, and has since said the latest Bond film No Time To Die will be his last.
Jason Isaacs
Childwall-born Jason Isaacs, is probably most famous for his role as Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter. He attended King David school and moved to London with his parents Sheila and Eric and three brothers when he was 11.
Following in the footsteps of his brothers, Isaacs studied law at Bristol University but became more actively involved in the drama society, eventually acting in over 30 plays and performing each summer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
After graduating from Bristol, he went immediately to train at London's Central School of Speech and Drama (1985–1988). As well as the Harry Potter series, his other TV film work includes roles in The Patriot, Black Hawk Down, Star Trek: Discovery and Star Wars Rebels.
Kim Cattrall
Perhaps best known for her role as sex bomb Samantha Jones in hit TV drama Sex In The City, Kim Cattrall, 65, has also starred in films such as Police Academy, Big Trouble In Little China and Mannequin. Born in Mossley Hill in 1956, her family emigrated to Canada when she was three months old but returned to Liverpool for a short time aged 11, when her grandmother became sick.
She took acting examinations at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but returned to Canada before moving to New York City at the age of 16 for her first acting role.
Cattrall made her film debut as Joyce Donnovan in Rosebud in 1975 and went on to appear in more TV television roles. Digging through the archives, we have found a photo of a 19-year old Kim Cattrall in her debut film role.
