Ronald "Ronnie" Kray and Reginald "Reggie" Kray were English organised crime figures, and identical twin brothers from Haggerston, who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arrest in 1968. Their gang, known as the Firm, was based in the Bethnal Green, where the Kray twins lived. They were involved in murder, armed robbery, arson, protection rackets, gambling and assaults. At their peak in the 1960s, they gained a certain measure of celebrity status by mixing with prominent members of London society, being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television.
Brian Thomas Helgeland is an American screenwriter, film producer, and director. He is best known for writing the screenplays for the films L.A. Confidential and Mystic River. He also wrote and directed the films 42, a biopic of Jackie Robinson, and Legend, about the rise and fall of the infamous London gangsters the Kray twins. His work on L.A. Confidential earned him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Blind Beggar is a pub in Whitechapel Road in the East End of London, England, at the junction with Cambridge Heath Road.
The Krays is a 1990 British biographical crime drama film directed by Peter Medak. The film is based on the lives and crimes of the British gangster twins Ronald and Reginald Kray, often referred to as The Krays. The film stars Billie Whitelaw, Tom Bell, and real life brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, both of whom were members of the band Spandau Ballet.
Edward Thomas Hardy is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. After studying acting at the Drama Centre London, he made his film debut in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001). He had supporting roles in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and RocknRolla (2008), and went on to star in Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Lawless (2012), This Means War (2012), and Locke (2013). In 2015, he starred as "Mad" Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road and both Kray twins in Legend, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Revenant. He has appeared in three Christopher Nolan films: Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Bane, and Dunkirk (2017). He has since starred as Eddie Brock/Venom in the film Venom and its 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He also portrayed Al Capone in the film Capone (2020).
Jack McVitie, best known as Jack the Hat, was an English criminal from London during the 1950s and 1960s. He is posthumously famous for triggering the imprisonment and downfall of the Kray twins. He had acted as an enforcer and hitman with links to The Firm, and was murdered by Reggie Kray in 1967.
George Cornell was an English criminal and member of The Richardsons, who were scrap metal dealers and criminals from South London.
George Albert "Italian Al" Arthur Dimeo was a Scottish-Italian criminal and enforcer, who operated in Little Italy, London.
Born Fighter is an autobiographical book written by Reginald Kray. In 1969 he and his twin brother Ronnie Kray received life sentences for the murders of George Cornell and Jack McVitie. First published in London in 1990 in hardback by Century and paperback in 1991 by subsidiary Arrow Books.
My Story is an autobiographical book written by Ronnie Kray. He, along with his twin brother Reggie, were said to be some of the most feared gangsters in British history.
Emily Jane Browning is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in the television film The Echo of Thunder (1998), and subsequently appeared in television shows such as High Flyers (1999), Something in the Air (2000–2001), and Blue Heelers (2000–2002). Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship, which introduced her to a wider audience. In 2005, Browning won the Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Violet Baudelaire in the film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004).
Freddie Foreman is an English publican, gangster, former associate of the Kray twins and convicted criminal.
British firms are organised crime groups originating in the United Kingdom.
Frank Samuel Mitchell, also known as "The Mad Axeman", was an English criminal and friend of the Kray twins who was later murdered at their behest.
Esmeralda's Barn was a nightclub in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London, that was owned by the Kray twins from 1960 until its closure in 1963. The Krays used the club as a way of expanding their criminal activities into London's West End.
The Rise of the Krays is a 2015 low-budget biographical film about the Kray twins who terrorised London during the 1950s and 1960s. The film was funded by Terry Brown and David Sullivan and was in development before the production team learned of Legend, the larger-budgeted studio film scheduled for release the same year.
Anthony Thomas Lambrianou was an English criminal known for his association with the Kray Twins. He was born to a Greek Cypriot father and English mother from Consett.
Charles James Kray was an English ex-professional boxer and convicted criminal. He was the elder brother of Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins is a 1972 biography of the Kray twins by John Pearson. It details the life of the twins from their births, childhood, criminal careers, and eventual arrest. It was nominated for the 1974 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime. It was followed by The Cult of Violence: The Untold Story of the Krays in 2001 and Notorious: The Immortal Legend of the Kray Twins in 2010.
