THE boyhood home of York's Oscar-winning composer John Barry has been recognised by the British Film Institute.

He is the only one of the city's contemporary entertainment figures to have a plaque made to honour his name.

The musician lived with his show business family, the theatre-owning Prendergasts, in a semi in Hull Road until he was 14, prior to a move to Fulford and what is now The Pavilion Hotel.

John Barry, who graduated from founder and performer with The John Barry Seven to the John Barry Orchestra, has won five Oscars for film scores.

Now resident in Long Island, New York, he lived in the Hull Road house as a baby and until he was a teenager, from 1933 to 1947.

His first home is one of five sites commemorated in the North of England by the film institute to mark the centenary of the British cinema.

Another is at Robin Hood's Bay where film mogul J Arthur Rank shot his first feature film before going on to found Pinewood Studios.

Robert Wood, of the Leeds-based John Barry Appreciation Society, said York should be very proud of its musical son.

Fans of John Barry are expecting a sell-out for a specially-written classical concert, his first non-film work, which he will conduct in the Royal Albert Hall in April with the English Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble he rescued from the threat of closure to play his music.

It is hoped that while he is in London for the performance he will visit his family in York and formally unveil the plaque.

His sister, professional artist June Lloyd-Jones, who still lives in Fulford and regards the plaque as an honour well deserved, still remembers their early home with great affection.

John Barry is one of the few modern composers whose music is instantly recognisable across the generations.

From Hit And Miss, the theme tune for Juke Box Jury, to Born Free, Midnight Cowboy, Out Of Africa, Chaplin and his last Oscar, Dances With Wolves, he has scored the music for more than 50 movies.

The British Film Institute is updating a tourist map recording the sites of more than 100 cinema-related properties in the UK.

- John Pichardson