26 September 1939: Ricky Tomlinson born

On this day, 26 September 1939, the actor Ricky Tomlinson was born. Now famous for his roles in The Royle Family, Riff Raff and Mike Bassett: England Manager, he also participated in the 1972 building workers' strike. Following the dispute, Tomlinson was one of 24 building worker trade unionists who were convicted on various charges relating to the strike in what was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice faced by the British labour movement in the twentieth century. Following almost fifty years of tireless campaigning, the convictions of the Shrewsbury defendants was overturned in March 2021.
Tomlinson tells us his story of the strike in our podcast episodes 65-66: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e65-66-building-workers-strike-w-ricky-tomlinson/

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