Ricky Tomlinson
English actor
Eric 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 football mockumentary Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001).
Early life
Eric Tomlinson was born at Burleigh House in the Bispham area of Blackpool on 26 September 1939, the son of parents from Liverpool. His father was a baker. He was born in Bispham because his mother was evacuated there during World War II over concerns that Liverpool would be bombed, which it eventually was. The family settled back in Liverpool following the war, and he has lived there since. He attended Walton Technical College in the Walton area of Liverpool, after passing an exam when he was 13. His favourite subject was English literature.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tomlinson played the banjo in three bands: the Guitanjos, Hobo Rick & the City Slickers, and Hobo Rick & the Hi-Free Three.
The public source identifies “Ricky Tomlinson” as english actor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ricky, Tomlinson and English.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2736441. VIAF identifies the subject as 78470750. The Library of Congress control number is no2003071827. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939, 1982, 1988 and 1993.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ricky Tomlinson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.