London, Dec 10 : American outlaw Butch Cassidy had Geordie roots, it has emerged.

His mum was born in Newcastle and lived there for decades before moving to the United States.

Cassidy''s story was portrayed in the 1969 movie `Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', which starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Butch's Geordie link was discovered by fan Mike Bell, who saw the movie as a teenager - in Newcastle, reports the Sun.

Mike, now 52, said: "I've been from Utah to Argentina looking for information on Butch. All the time the house where his mum lived was around the corner."

Butch, christened Robert Leroy Parker, was born in Utah in 1866.

But according to census records, mum Ann Gillies - whose parents were Scottish - lived for years in Brandling Village at Jesmond, Newcastle, before emigrating to start a new life in New York.

She later moved to Utah and wed Butch's dad Maximilian Parker in 1865.

And her son went on to become leader of the Hole in the Wall gang.

Mike, now in Birmingham, said: "After the film, I started to read more about Butch. It became an obsession. People say he was a nice guy - he kept trying to go straight." (ANI)