Ricky Tomlinson

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Ricky Tomlinson (born September 26 1939) is an English actor. <p>Tomlinson was born Eric Tomlinson in Blackpool and has lived in Liverpool most of his life. <p>Before turning to acting, he worked as a building site plasterer for many years, becoming involved in trade union politics and activism. In 1972 he joined the flying pickets in a building workers dispute in Shrewsbury. He was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of 'conspiracy to intimidate' as one of the so-called Shrewsbury Two, and in 1975 disrupted the TUC conference by shouting from the wings after he had been prevented from speaking from the stage. It was revealed in 2002 that he had been monitored in the 1970s by MI5. <p>In his 2003 autobiography he revealed that between 1968 and 1972, prior to his involvement with trade union politics, he was a member of the National Front, which he now bitterly regrets and puts down to being "politically naive and poorly educated". <p>As an actor he has found considerable...