logo
livingroom

decorative bar

biographies


corner Last update of this page: December 2nd 2002 corner
Ronald "Ronnie" Kray - Reginald "Reggie" Kray
(October 24, 1933 - March 17, 1995) - (October 24, 1933 - October 1, 2000) U.K.

Ronnie & Reggie

Twin gangsters

separator

Ronnie KrayThe Krays created a two-man-mafia known as "The Firm," that controlled the protection rackets in London during the 1960s. Their early career in boxing was interrupted by a call from the military. Most of their time in the national service was spent behind bars in military prisons.

A pattern was set, and by 1956 they were running the largest criminal operation in London's East End. It was Ronnie who supplied the violent enforcement necessary for "The Firm," with younger - by 45 minutes - brother Reggie taking care of financial affairs for the outfit.

Many in the East End of London, where the Krays grew up and built their crime empire, consider the identical twins to be romantic, Robin Hood-like figures who only killed other criminals. Ronnie Kray was openly gay, preferring boys because they had "little angel faces, less evil-minded than girls" .

Reggie KrayReggie always denied what many suspected - that he was also attracted to men. Reggie Kray's gay lover says that Reggie's wife Frances was forced - by his brother Ronnie - to take the pills that killed her.

The Kray Twins were known for their flamboyant style, wearing flashy, expensive clothing and hob-nobbing with celebrities in chic London nightclubs. Ronnie killed gangster George Cornell after Cornell called him a "fat poof." He was convicted for this and, with Reggie, for another murder in 1969 and sent to Broadmoor prison, where Ronnie died of heart disease in 1995.

In 1990 a film about their lives was released, under the title The Krays, with twins Gary and Martin Kemp as the Krays.

separator

Click on the letter K to go back to the list of names

corner © Matt & Andrej Koymasky, 1997 - 2008 corner