Ricky Tomlinson

Ricky Tomlinson
Tomlinson in 2011
Born	Eric Tomlinson (1939-09-26) 26 September 1939 Bispham, Lancashire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present
Spouses	Marlene Clifton ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1986)​ Rita Cumiskey ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	3

Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera Brookside (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in The Royle Family (1998–2012). He also played the titular character in the 2001 football mockumentary Mike Bassett: England Manager.

Early life

Eric Tomlinson was born on 26 September 1939 at Burleigh House in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, and has lived in Liverpool nearly all his life. His father was a baker and he was born in Bispham because, just after the outbreak of World War II, his mother Peggy was evacuated there over concerns that Liverpool would be bombed. He attended Walton Technical College in Walton, after passing an exam when he was just 13. His favourite subject was English.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tomlinson played banjo in bands known as the Guitanjos, Hobo Rick & The City Slickers, and Hobo Rick and the Hi-Free Three. For a time, the band's pianist was John "Duff" Lowe, a former member of Beatles forerunner the Quarrymen.

A plasterer by trade, Tomlinson worked on various building sites for many years.

Career

Television

As an actor he appeared as Bobby Grant in the soap opera Brookside from the show's inception in 1982 until being written out in 1988, followed by DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and as Jim Royle in the BBC sitcom The Royle Family in 1998.

In 2001 Tomlinson starred in the BBC Series Nice Guy Eddie playing a Liverpool private investigator. Using down-to-earth cases — actually based upon real-life ones from Liverpool private investigator Tony Smith — the show also starred Tom Ellis and John Henshaw.

Tomlinson featured heavily in series two of Paul Abbott's series Clocking Off, in a BAFTA-nominated episode written by Danny Brocklehurst.

Tomlinson has fronted a series of television adverts for the utility company British Gas. In January 2010, he began to appear in a series of advertisements for the frozen food chain Farmfoods. In 2017, he provided a voiceover for an advert for McCain Foods.

On 19 June 2006, Tomlinson made his début as the guest celebrity in Dictionary Corner on the long-running UK Channel 4 game show Countdown.

In December 2006, he presented a programme in Channel Five's Disappearing Britain series entitled "When Coal Was King".

In March 2007, Tomlinson presented BBC's One Life: Guilty My Arse, detailing his version of the "Shrewsbury Two" case, in which he compared his political activism as a trade unionist to the work of the suffragettes.

In March 2011, Tomlinson appeared in an advertising campaign for UK retail chain The Range.

The BBC broadcast a programme in its Who Do You Think You Are? series 13 on Tomlinson's ancestors, which traced his family back through a number of carters working around Liverpool at a time when the city was a bustling port.

In 2020, Tomlinson, alongside his Royle Family co-star Ralf Little, presented a travel series called Ricky & Ralf's Very Northern Road Trip for Gold.

In 2023, Tomlinson appeared at Eurovision 2023 reciting a poem dedicated to the Beatles. He also reprised his role as the character Bobby Grant, and was seen putting up Ukrainian-themed bunting outside the Grant home on Brookside Close.

Film

Tomlinson has also starred in several films, notably Mike Bassett: England Manager, Raining Stones and Hillsborough, a made-for-TV film about the families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, in which he portrayed John Glover – the father of victim Ian Glover.

In 2017, Tomlinson starred in the LGBT short film Tellin' Dad (2017) (co-starring actor Carl Loughlin as his son) which was the first LGBT project he has been involved in and followed the journey of his son building up courage to come out to him. The film was released on DVD, Amazonplay and distributed by Peccadillo Pictures worldwide on several platforms and on their Boys on Film DVD collection.

Music

Tomlinson is also a keen banjo and harmonica player, and has played the instruments in many episodes of The Royle Family. In 2001 he teamed up with fellow Brookside actor Michael Starke and other friends for his own rendition of well-known folk songs including "It's a Long Way To Tipperary" and a cover of Shane MacGowan and The Popes' "Are You Lookin' at Me?" that reached No. 28 in the UK Singles Chart in 2001. A CD album entitled Music My Arse was released the same year, peaking at No. 127 in the UK Albums Chart. He released a single at Christmas 2006 entitled "Christmas My A*se" which reached No. 25.

Theatre

In 2006, Tomlinson toured to theatres across the UK with his show An Evening with Ricky Tomlinson where he was interviewed about his life by Elton Welsby.

During 2008 and 2009, Tomlinson took his Laughter Show theatrical revue on a UK tour with fellow comedians Tony Barton, Duncan Norvelle and Pauline Daniels.

In 2009, he took a lead role as the Head Judge in the "VMH Club Star Talent Trail", a local talent-based competition held at the VMH Club in Garston. A large number of North West-based performers entered the competition, which was ultimately won by 14-year-old Shaun Walsh from Liverpool.

In May 2010, Tomlinson opened his own cabaret club the Green Room, in Liverpool, teaming up with brothers Richard and Simon Wallace, from Liverpool production company Red Hot Media, to open the 250-seater cabaret lounge on Duke Street.

Personal life

He had three children with his first wife.

In 2003, he published an autobiography, entitled Ricky, which spent five weeks at the top of the UK best-selling new books chart. In the book, Tomlinson admitted to having affairs as well as describing in detail his time in prison.

On 19 October 2007, Tomlinson had quadruple heart bypass surgery at Liverpool's Cardiothoracic Centre. Consultant cardiac surgeon Aung Oo said: "The operation went according to plan and he is now recovering within the hospital's critical care unit."

Tomlinson suffers from nodular prurigo, which was the subject of an interview in the Daily Mirror in October 2013.

Tomlinson still resides in Liverpool, stating "I will never, ever move away from Liverpool, I love it here."

Politics

In his late 20s, Tomlinson was attracted to right-wing politics and, by his own account, was a member of the National Front for a period after Enoch Powell's April 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech. In the early 1970s, Tomlinson's political views shifted to the left. He was affected by the book The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, which was given to him by the governor of the prison in which he was being held.

In 1972, he joined the flying pickets in a building workers' dispute in Shrewsbury. Following allegations of violence during this protest, in 1973 Tomlinson was charged with "conspiracy to intimidate" as one of the Shrewsbury Two. Despite pleading his innocence at Shrewsbury Crown Court, he was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison, alongside fellow picket Des Warren. After his release in 1975, he disrupted the TUC conference by shouting from the wings after he had been prevented from speaking on the stage. In 2012, Tomlinson and others sought to have the convictions overturned by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). In 2013 a paper petition was launched, alongside the existing e-petition, for an Early Day Motion by MP John McDonnell to be brought. In July 2013, at the Durham Miners' Gala, he again campaigned against the convictions. In May 2020 it was announced that the CCRC had referred a number of convictions relating to the Shrewsbury dispute, including Tomlinson's, to the Court of Appeal which subsequently overturned the convictions in March 2021.

Tomlinson is a close friend of Arthur Scargill and often appears on party political broadcasts for Scargill's Socialist Labour Party, most recently for the 2009 European Parliament elections. He is a long-time member of the Socialist Labour Party, and is the party's most prominent celebrity supporter since its formation in 1996.

He has also expressed support for the Campaign for a New Workers' Party. A public meeting was hosted by the CNWP in Liverpool on Monday 12 February 2007, which Tomlinson addressed alongside Tommy Sheridan and Tony Mulhearn in which he used the slogan: "New Labour My Arse".

On 5 February 2010, Tomlinson revealed his plan to stand as the Socialist Labour Party candidate for the Liverpool Wavertree constituency at the 2010 general election in protest at the selection of Luciana Berger, a 28-year-old Londoner as the Labour Party candidate. Kim Singleton was ultimately selected for the seat; in a statement, the SLP said that he could not contest the election due to "personal and contractual commitments". Tomlinson added: "I am disappointed not to be able to stand. But I am pleased to give the chosen candidate my wholehearted support." He also commented, "People say you could be letting the Tories in. But there is no difference between the Conservatives and New Labour". Singleton ultimately finished sixth out of seven candidates, with Berger winning the seat.

In a guest appearance on an episode of the ITV lunchtime chat show, Loose Women, broadcast on 17 August 2015, while discussing the forthcoming Labour Party leadership election, Tomlinson said:

I know both of them and I know Andy quite well, and he was my choice right up until I went to listen to Jeremy Corbyn and I went to the Adelphi Hotel where there was 3,000 people there, the room holds 800 and were out into the streets, they couldn't get in. And everything he said with I agreed with you know, leave the National Health Service alone, get rid of Trident, stuff like that, so it doesn't matter to me who gets the Labour leadership, it really doesn't matter. But whatever happens both of them will be in the Shadow Cabinet.

In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, Tomlinson endorsed Sir Keir Starmer, who he said he had worked with during the Shrewsbury 24 justice campaign.

Richard Whiteley claims

In March 2017, Tomlinson claimed during an interview that the late journalist, broadcaster and game show host Richard Whiteley had been an undercover agent for the British security services and had assisted them in securing his 1973 imprisonment by co-presenting a television documentary called Red Under the Bed, which was critical of his political and trade union activities and had swayed the jury. The CCRC cited the documentary and its possible influence on the jury when announcing its decision to refer the cases of Tomlinson and others to the Court of Appeal.

Charity work

In 2008, Tomlinson donated £200,000 as patron of the Human Milk Bank of Cheshire and North Wales. The charity provides babies on Special Care Baby Units with milk from donor mothers, significantly improving their chances of survival and long-term development. He said: "Due to my own recent experiences with my health, I know how much hospitals and appeals appreciate help and assistance. This is such an important service which can help so many families and I'm very honoured to be the patron."

In November 2010, it was reported that Tomlinson had donated £1 million to the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool two years previously.

Honours

In October 2014, Tomlinson was awarded the Freedom of Liverpool.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Play for Today	Dennis	Episode: "United Kingdom"
1982	Crown Court	Clerk of Court	3 episodes
	Boys from the Blackstuff	Hospital Doctor	Episode: "George's Last Ride"
1982–1988	Brookside	Bobby Grant	193 episodes
1989	Dear Sarah	Warder #1	Television film
1993	The Bill	Ray Hickey	Episode: "Home to Roost"
1994	Where the Buffalo Roam	Glyn Hunter	Television film
1995	The All New Alexei Sayle Show	Man Selling Chicken in Pub	Episode: #2.2
1994–1995	Roughnecks	Cinders	13 episodes
1994–1996	Cracker	DCI Charlie Wise	15 episodes
1996	Hillsborough	John Glover	Television film
1997	The Fix	Gordon	Television film
	10x10		Episode: "Johnny Watkins Walks on Water"
1998–2002	Playing the Field	Jim Pratt	29 episodes
1998–2012	The Royle Family	Jim Royle	25 episodes
1999	Dockers	Macca Macaulay	Television film
	Cold Feet	Cabbie	Episode: #2.5
	The Greatest Store in the World	Santa	Television film
	Hooves of Fire	Santa Claus (voice)	Television film
2000	Safe as Houses	Lawrence Davidson	Television film
2001	Clocking Off	Ronnie Anderson	4 episodes
	Nice Guy Eddie	Eddie McMullen	Television film
	My Beautiful Son	Uncle Alfred	Television film
2002	Nice Guy Eddie	Eddie McMullen	6 episodes
2004	Dalziel and Pascoe	Rowan Priestley	Episode: "The Price of Fame"
	Monkey Trousers	Various roles	Television film
2004–2005	Down to Earth	Tony Murphy	18 episodes
2005	Mike Bassett: Manager	Mike Bassett	6 episodes
2006	Animal Spies	Ted (voice)	Television series
2008	Stepdad	Grandad	Television film
2013	Great Night Out	Warren	6 episodes
	Comic Relief: Red Nose Day 2013	Jim Royle	Television film
2013–2014	In the Flesh	Ken Burton	4 episodes
2016	The Last Dragonslayer	Moobin	Television film
2019	Matopulas	Terry McGlocklin	Television film
2020	Ricky & Ralf's Very Northern Road Trip	Himself	6 episodes. With Ralf Little
2022	The Witchfinder	Crockett	Episode: #1.5
2024	Ricky, Sue and a Trip or Two	Himself	3 episodes. With Sue Johnston
	DNA Journey With Ancestry	Himself	1 episodes. With Sue Johnston

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Out of Order	Decorator
1991	Riff-Raff	Larry
1993	Raining Stones	Tommy
1995	Butterfly Kiss	Robert
1996	Bob's Weekend	Jack
1997	Life Is All You Get	Bruno 'Buddy' Budenski	aka Das Leben ist eine Baustelle
	Preaching to the Perverted	Fibbin' Gibbins
	Mojo	Ezra
1999	Nasty Neighbours	Harold Peach
	The Greatest Store in the World	Santa
2000	Lounge Act	(voice)	Short film
2001	Mike Bassett: England Manager	Mike Bassett
	The 51st State	Leopold Durant
2002	Once Upon a Time in the Midlands	Charlie
	Al's Lads	Billy
	Five Ways John Wayne Didn't Die	Dead Man (voice)
2003	The Virgin of Liverpool	Frank Conlon
2007	Learning to Walk	Granddad	Short film
	Plenty More Fish	Compere	Short film
2009	Nativity!	Lord Mayor
2011	Flutter	Freddie
2014	Psyched	Brian the Ghost Union President	Short film
	Northern Soul	John's Grandad
2015	The Hound & the Rabbit	William	Short film
	Him Upstairs	Frank Conroy	Short film
2016	Grimsby	Paedo Pete
	Mike Bassett: Interim Manager	Mike Bassett
2017	Tellin' Dad	Dad	Short film
	Gloves Off	Mick
2018	Fighter from the Docks	Grandad
	The More You Ignore Me	Bert Wildgoose
2022	Tales of the Creeping Death	Dad
2023	Our Kid	Phil Reilly

External links

• BBC profile, retrieved 14 December 2007
• "Ricky Tomlinson: Royle Rebel", BBC, 28 September 2001
• Ricky Tomlinson at IMDb
• Detailed account of Ricky Tomlins Archived 7 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine
• Ricky Tomlinson's speech from the dock after being convicted for conspiracy to intimidate in the 1972 Builder's Strike Archived 9 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• The Green Room cabaret club in Liverpool