Ricky Tomlinson
About
Working class comedy royalty. Smart and intuitive. Ricky plays the banjo and harpsichord and is a proud lifelong Liverpool FC supporter.
TV
As an actor Ricky Tomlinson has appeared as Bobby Grant in the soap opera Brookside, followed by DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and as Jim Royle in The Royle Family.
In 2002, Tomlinson starred in the BBC Series Nice Guy Eddie. He played a Liverpool private investigator. Using down-to-earth cases, the show also starred Tom Ellis and John Henshaw.
The Royle Family
Ricky played Jim Royle in The Royle Family. The award-winning show ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012.
Jim is a slob who spends his days in his armchair watching the television and doing as little as possible. Jim has an ill-temper, and regularly roasts his family.
In a 2004 poll to find Britain’s best sitcom, The Royle Family placed 19th out of 100 nominations. The series has also won several BAFTA awards.
Film Roles
Ricky has also starred in several films, notably Mike Bassett: England Manager, Raining Stones and Hillsborough. The latter was a made-for-TV film about the families of the victims of the stadium disaster. Ricky portrayed John Glover, the father of victim Ian.
Autobiography
In 2003, he published an autobiography, entitled Ricky. The book spent five weeks at the top of the UK best-selling chart.
TV Commercials
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 commercials for the frozen food chain Farmfoods.
In March 2011 Ricky Tomlinson acted in an advertising campaign for UK retail chain the Range.