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|title=Ricky - The Autobiography

|author=Ricky Tomlinson

|date=May 2004

|isbn=075153403X

}}

Few people have lived such eventful lives as Ricky Tomlinson. From plasterer to BNP activist, from trades unionist and strike organiser to unjustly convicted prison inmate, from ducker and diver to highly successful big and small screen actor, it does not seem as though there has been a dull moment in this man's life. Born in 1939, Tomlinson spent a Liverpudlian childhood playing among the "bombdies" or destroyed houses. After leaving school, he became a plasterer but spent all his spare time playing the local clubs in various bands and comedy sketch teams. His life centred, like many young men's lives, on the pub, his mates and meeting girls - with a view to seeing "how far he could go". After a brief flirtation with the BNP, Tomlinson discovered the trades union movement and really, that is where his story starts.