The book I read to research this post was Ricky by Ricky Tomlinson which is a very good autobiography that I bought from a car boot sale. This is a witty account of the life of the comedian and actor. He came into this profession quite late in life. He is most famous for The Royle Family a comedy series that frequently featured a family of couch potatoes sat around a television. They had funny discussions and it was scripted by Caroline Aherne. Both she and Ricky starred in it. Ricky was born in Wrexham in North Wales and had various careers and also did several stints in jail;. He had a girlfriend who had a child by him and did briefly go with another lady but came back to her to help bring up their baby. He did feature in a lot of films and dramas including meeting a lot of famous people along the way. He describes Robert de Niro as not being anywhere near as macho as his Raging Bull image. He was a bit disappointed. Samuel L Jackson was astonished Ricky was regarded as a kind of sex symbol at the time they were filming 51st State although only in Britain. The book is almost 500 pages so is a decent length. I did enjoy it and do recommend it.
