Tinker made his reputation on the Brighton Evening Argus, before becoming theatre critic for the Daily Mail in 1972 where he worked for twenty-four years.
[1] Lights in the West End were dimmed in his honour – a gesture usually reserved for deceased actors.
His appearance was distinctive, too: "Flamboyant in manner and dress and often sporting a ponytail, Jack was an easily recognisable theatrical character.
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.
"[1] 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".