Was Thomas Shelby a real person? Nope! While some of the characters in Peaky Blinders are based on real historical figures (including politician Winston Churchill, trade unionist Jessie Eden, rival gang leader Billy Kimber and fascist leader Oswald Mosley) Cillian Murphy's character Tommy Shelby did not actually exist.Aug 30, 2019

Is Thomas Shelby based on a real person?

Cillian Murphy's character Thomas Shelby may have been a work of fiction, but the real gang's antics were just as dramatic, violent and dark as the show makes out. … “There was no real Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders were around in the 1890s and yet the series is set in the 1920s."

Who is Thomas Shelby based on?

Thomas Shelby is a character on Peaky Blinders, who's played by actor Cillian Murphy. While not directly correlated to a real-life person, Shelby might have been inspired by former real-life Peaky Blinder Kevin Mooney, aka Thomas Gilbert.

Are the Shelby Brothers Real?

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. … Most of the Peaky Blinders gang was around in the 1890s, not the 1920s like the show.

Which Peaky Blinders characters are real?

Peaky Blinders: All Real-Life Characters, Ranked By Intelligence

1. 1 Winston Churchill.
2. 2 Billy Kimber. …
3. 3 Alfred "Alfie" Solomons Jr. …
4. 4 Darby Sabini. …
5. 5 Arthur Bigge. …
6. 6 Charlie Chaplin. …
7. 7 Jessie Eden. …
8. 8 Oswald Mosley. …

Jun 23, 2021

Is the Shelby family a real family?

Although many characters in the series are based on real-life historical figures, most of the Peaky Blinders are entirely fictional and were created by Knight. Tommy Shelby is from a Romani family based in Birmingham.

Was Billy Kimber a real person?

William "Billy" Kimber, born 1882 in Summer Lane, Aston in Birmingham 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.

Was Alfie Solomons a real person?

The character is based on a real-life Jewish gangster called Alfred Solomon. Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight says, "We have portrayed him as funny but with an edgy character. The Jewish gangs of the East End would have been just as famous but for some reason history seems to have remembered Alfie Solomons.