Harry Kirton as Finn Shelby One of the few cast members to be born in Birmingham, Harry Kirton is the youngest actor on our list. His most notable work to date is The Peaky Blinders, with his other being the TV film, We Can Be Heroes.
Was there a real Shelby family in Birmingham?
(They would, in turn, be overthrown by the Sabini Gang.) As time passed, the name Peaky Blinders would come to be synonymous with any Birmingham street criminals, paving the way for the urban legends that would inspire the series. Bonus round: Who’s real and who’s not? The Shelby family: Fictional!
Is Peaky Blinders based on the Birmingham boys?
It presents a fictional story in which the Peaky Blinders contend in the underworld with the Birmingham Boys and the Sabini gang, and it follows the gang based in post-World War I Birmingham’s Small Heath area. The gang had houses located in and around Birmingham, ranging from Longbridge to Sutton Coldfield.
What nationality are they in Peaky Blinders?
Peaky Blinders is a crime drama centred on a family of mixed Irish Traveller and Romani origins based in Birmingham, England, starting in 1919, several months after the end of the First World War. It centres on the Peaky Blinders street gang and their ambitious, cunning crime boss Tommy Shelby (Murphy).
Is Tommy Shelby a Brummie?
Tommy Shelby, Cillian Murphy
Everyone’s favourite Brummie gangster, Tommy Shelby is played by Cillian Murphy who’s actually not from anywhere near Birmingham originally.
Is Tommy Shelby Irish or gypsy?
Thomas Michael Shelby was born in Birmingham, England, around 1890 to an Irish Traveller and Romani family and grew up in the Small Heath neighbourhood of Birmingham.
Was Polly Gray a real person?
Aunt Polly Gray (Helen McCrory) was a real person and she was terrifying – all the men were scared of her.
How accurate is Birmingham in Peaky Blinders?
The gang themselves really did exist in Birmingham, but they actually banded together a lot earlier than the series imagined. The earliest record of the “Small Heath Peaky Blinders” goes back to the 1890s, when a number of poorer young men in the slums of Birmingham started assaulting and robbing men in the streets.
What does Peaky Blinders mean in slang?
“Peaky,” at the time, just referred to a popular style of flat cap that came to a small peak atop the head. And “blinder” was, as the Birmingham Mail pointed out, common Birmingham slang for someone well-dressed and dapper.
Was Billy Kimber a real person?
William “Billy” Kimber, born 1882 in Summer Lane, Aston in Birmingham, a brass caster by trade, was head of the Birmingham Boys. With gangs in Uttoxeter and Leeds he controlled racecourses in the Midlands and the North. For several years Kimber was probably the biggest organised crime boss in the UK.
What language do the Gypsy speak in Peaky Blinders?
They’re speaking Shelta , which is a mixed language used by the Irish Traveller community. This is unsurprising given that the Shelbys are of Irish Traveller descent (this is referenced several times throughout the various series), not Romani descent.
Are the Shelbys Irish or British?
The Shelby Family is a small and wealthy family of Irish-Traveller descent originating from Birmingham, England. While being a small family, their influence is large and extends over a large portion of Birmingham and London. The Shelby Family run the Peaky Blinders and their own company, Shelby Company Limited.
Who was the real leader of the Peaky Blinders?
Tommy’s foes in Peaky Blinders are real historical figures. As previously mentioned, the leader of the Birmingham Boys, Billy Kimber, was a real-life gangster, along with Charles “Darby” Sabini – a London criminal who controlled racehorse rackets in southern England.
What accent is Brummie?
The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding areas. “Brummie” is also a demonym for people from Birmingham.
Who does the best Brummie accent in Peaky Blinders?
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy has revealed how he mastered a Brummie accent for his lead role as Tommy Shelby on Peaky Blinders. The 45-year-old actor admitted that he recorded pub goers in Birmingham, together with the show’s creator Steven Knight, to convincingly turn his Cork accent into that of a Peaky Blinder.
Are the Shelbys half Gypsy?
The Shelbys are specifically of Irish-Romani descent, but they refer to themselves and other Romani with the blanket-term “Gypsies” in the show. Tommy Shelby, the gang’s leader, along with his siblings, Arthur, John, Ada, and Finn, have Irish-Romani heritage on both sides and consider themselves Gypsy.
Is Polly Shelby a gypsy?
Polly originates from criminal Gypsy family the Shelbys, daughter of Mr Shelby and Birdie Boswell. Polly tells her son Michael Gray that his Grandmother was Gypsy Princess named Birdie Boswell. Polly always wears the Black Madonna.
What language do Gypsies speak in UK?
As part of a wider community referred to as Gypsy Roma and Traveller, Roma have often faced hostility and inequality. It may be surprising then to hear that Romany, an unwritten language spoken by Roma communities is used in everyday English. Romany is a language spoken by communities who live largely across Europe.
Is the Shelby family based on a real family?
Technically, Peaky Blinders follows the Shelby family, a gang of outlaws who infiltrated late 19th-century England — the Shelby’s weren’t reported to be real people, but the Peaky Blinders gang did exist.
Why was Polly killed off in Peaky Blinders?
McCrory died in April 2021 after a battle with cancer as her husband, actor Damian Lewis, shared with fans over social media. Her absence left the creative team of Peaky Blinders with quite the decision to make as they wrestled with the idea of having her live offscreen or killing Polly Gray off of the show.
Is Aunt Polly Tommy’s mom sister?
So, is Polly Gray Tommy Shelby’s mother? While Polly has a number of clear maternal instincts when it comes to Tommy and the rest of the Shelbys, she’s Tommy’s aunt on his mother’s side. She assisted with the family business while Thomas and his brothers fought in World War I.