Wallasey-born Alan Clarke became known for brutally realistic films such as Scum, The Firm and Made In Britain.
Although his birth home in Edgemand Street was bombed out of existence in the war, Clarke later lived in Gorsedale Road and attended Poulton primary School. After Gorsedale Road the family moved to Castleway in Leasowe.
Now writer and film-maker Adam Scovell, also a native of a Wallasey, is calling on Wirral Council to consider marking Clarke’s roots on the Heritage Trail or by a Blue Plaque.
Mr Scovell said: “He was arguably Wirral’s greatest film director and deserves something to acknowledge that. Although he died early at 54 he has strong Wirral roots and would have been 90 on October 28.
“I’ve spoken to his sister Norma in the past and she told me many of his ideas about directing came from observing street gangs in the areas he lived.”
Clarke famously set many actors on the path to stardom such as Ray Winstone in Scum about life in a Borstal, Gary Oldman in The Firm, an exploration of football hooliganism in Thatcher’s Britain and Tim Roth as a racist skinhead in Made In Britain.
He unflinchingly held up a mirror to 1970s and 80s Britain, also working on the BBC’s Play For Today series and other biting movies like Rita, Sue and Bob Too.
Clarke’s work, famed for its gritty authenticity and shot through with his distinct sense of place. Many of the films that Clarke directed focus on gritty issues such as the 1986 BBC film Christine about teenage drug addiction whilst Road featured a cast of characters in the depressed estates of Northern England.
Clarke died in July 1990, aged 54, in London after suffering from lung cancer. His son Gabriel is a well-known sports journalist with ITV.