Background

Jack Tinker was born on February 15, 1938 in Oldham, United Kingdom.

Education

Jack Tinker had only formal education coming from the Hulme Grammar School for Boys (now Oldham Hulme Grammar School) in Oldham, England.

Career

Jack Tinker began his career at the Surrey Advertiser in 1957, moving to the Evening Argus in Brighton as a theater critic in 1961. He came to the Daily Mail in 1971 and had been the drama critic for London’s Daily Mail since 1972 and had worked there for twenty-four years, until his death. He was well-known for his reviews. Among Tinker's notable reviews was his response to Sarah Kane's Blasted, in which he reported being "disgusted by a play which appears to know no bounds of decency yet has no message to convey by way of excuse" and which he found "utterly without artistic merit".

Jack Tinker also wrote a few plays: "Merman - The Lady and "Her Songs" in 1985 and, with Martin Tickner, "In Praise of Rattigan" in 1983. Tinker authored two books: "The Television Barons" (1980) and "Coronation Street" (1985).

Jack Tinker died of a heart attack on October 28, 1996 in Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom. When he died, theaters in London dimmed their lights, an honor usually reserved for well-known performers.

Achievements

• Jack Tinker was a prominent figure in London’s West End theater scene. He was known as much for being the life of the party as he was for his reviews. Besides, Jack Tinker was named Critic of the Year in 1982, 1989 and 1991 and won the De Courcy Critics Circle Award in 1991.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Television Barons 1980
  • Coronation Street 1985

Personality

According to The Independent's report, Jack Tinker saw himself as in and of the theatre, a critic from inside the boundary who could be as savage as any of the outsiders but who always knew precisely what he was being savage about.

In addition, he was a prominent figure in London’s West End theater scene and often entertained the pub crowd with funny anecdotes and jokes. His wealth of anecdotes and engaging charm not only found him as at home at a restaurant table of actors and producers in a West End restaurant but also doing a regular turn entertaining passengers on the QE2 when he took a break from reviewing.

Tinker was not only funny, he was extremely intelligent, and beneath the theatrical masque there was a shrewd assesser of the human scene.

It is also known that Jack Tinker was gay.

Physical Characteristics: His appearance was distinctive: "Flamboyant in manner and dress and often sporting a ponytail, Jack Tinker was an easily recognisable theatrical character."

Connections

Jack Tinker was married to Mavis Tinker, but they divorced. It is known that after the divorce Jack had come out as gay.

colleague:

Martin Tickner

Jack Tinker wrote a play "In Praise of Rattigan" together with Martin Tickner in 1983.

Friend:

Patric Walker

Tinker's close friend the late Patric Walker, the astrologer, took him to Greece for peace and seclusion and told him: "Don't look on it as a life interrupted. Try to think of it as a life completed and then you can take it with you for the rest of your life."

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Volume 154