| Biography | Reginald "Reggie" Kray (24 October 1933 1 October 2000) was an English gangster who, along with his twin brother Ronald Kray, was the foremost perpetrator of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s.
With their gang, "The Firm", the Krays were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, assaults, and the murders of Jack "The Hat" McVitie and George Cornell.
As West End nightclub owners, they mixed with prominent entertainers including Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and with politicians. The Krays were much feared within their milieu, and in the 1960s became celebrities in their own right, even being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television.
They were arrested on 9 May 1968 and convicted in 1969 by the efforts of a squad of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read, and were both sentenced to life imprisonment.
Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000, eight weeks before his death from cancer. |