​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Eric Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939), known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and James "Jim" Royle in The Royle Family. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ricky Tomlinson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.