Ricky Tomlinson

Ricky Tomlinson, English actor and screenwriter

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Born: September 26, 1939
Age in 2026: 87
Zodiac sign: Libra
Birth year: 1939

About Ricky Tomlinson

Eric Tomlinson 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. In October 2014, Tomlinson was awarded the Freedom of Liverpool. A large number of North West-based performers entered the competition, which was ultimately won by 14-year-old Shaun Walsh from Liverpool.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Ricky Tomlinson was born

Ricky Tomlinson was born in 1939. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1939

#1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
Top movieGone with the Wind
Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
Notable inventionNylon stockings
World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ricky Tomlinson's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1939	2026
Gas	$0.19	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,200	$435,000
Average income	$2,900	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	130.9M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.