Published by Ted Smart, 2003, Hardback in Dust Wrapper. 1st Ed.
Condition: Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Pages very gently age-tanned.
First in this edition. [First: Time Warner] Illustrated with black and white photographs. From the cover: Famous as the lovable couch potato Jim Royle of The Royle Family, Ricky Tomlinson has launched a thousand one-liners and entertained millions without ever leaving his armchair. Now, in his long-awaited autobiography, he surprises yet again with a remarkable story of love, hardship, humour, injustice and triumph.
His mother used to tell him that he had lived three lives, but even she miscounted. He has been a plasterer, banjo player, stand-up comic, union agitator, political activist, film extra, award-winning actor and unwilling guest of Her Majestys prison service.
As a child he shared a bed with his three brothers, listening to the Luftwaffe dropping bombs on the Liverpool docks. He married young and raised a family, but his world came crashing down after the national building strike in 1971. Jailed on conspiracy charges, he became known as one of the shrewsbury Two and was regarded by many as a political prisoner. There were mass protests, hunger strikes and demonstrations around the country.
On his release from jail he was blacklisted by the building industry and labelled a subversive by MI5. Unable to get work, he became a stand-up comic in pubs and clubs, until at the unlikely age of forty he was chosen by Roland Joffe to star in the controversial TV drama United Kingdom.
It was the beginning of a remarkable acting career, in which he has worked with acclaimed directors such as Joffe, Ken Loach and Shane Meadows, as well as writers like Jimmy McGovern, Alan Bleasedale and Paul Abbott. He has starred in TV shows such as Brookside, Cracker, Clocking Off and Nice Guy Eddie as well as films like Riff Raff; Raining Stones, The 51st State and Mike Bassett, England Manager.
A born storyteller who is renowned and respected for his honesty, wit and integrity, Ricky brings all of these qualities to his extraordinary life story.
BookLovers of Bath 