Ronnie Kray Obituary

[Dennis C. Delay]

My brother in law in Ireland sent me this several months ago.
It is the obit for one of the Kray brothers, which the MPs
used as the base for the Piranah Brothers skit. The comments
in () are mine.

Famed gangster Ronnie Kray dies, aged 61.

RONNIE KRAY, the celebrated schizophrenic killer whose gang, The
Firm, ran protection and extortion rackets in London's East End
during the 1950's and 1960's, died in Wexham Park Hospital, Slough,
yesterday, aged 61, after suffering a heart attack.
He was held in Wexham Park after collapsing two days ago in
Broadmoor prison. The hospital said he died at 9:07 a.m. after
suffering a heart attach early yesterday morning. The Prison
Service said his twin brother, Reggie, who is in Maidstone Prison,
had been told of his brother's death.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray were jailed for murder in 1969 and
sentenced to serve not less than 30 years. Ronnie, the elder twin
by 45 minutes and the dominant character in their relationship, was
jailed for the murder of a rival, George Cornell, in the Blind
Beggar pub, Whitechapel Road, east London. He shot him after
Cornell called him a "fat poof". (He had transgressed the
unwritten law)
Reggie was jailed for killing Jack "The Hat" McVitie. Ronnie was
also convicted in connection with it.
The twins, both of whom were boxers, were of Irish, Jewish and
Austrian descent. Their father was a second-hand clothes dealer
and their early years were dominated by their adoring mother. (He
used to buy his mother flowers, and that)
Before they were convicted at the Old Bailey, they were feted and
feared. They were photographed by David Bailey and the made public
appearances with such celebrities as Judy Garland, Diana Dors and
George Raft. (He was a charming and erudite companion)
Ronnie Kray, a homosexual, was diagnosed a paranoid
schizophrenic after suffering a breakdown when he was 24. "He was
a very honourable man in many ways but, having said that, he was
quite mentally ill. What made him particularly unnerving was the
way he could take offence very quickly if he thought you were being
overly familiar. Then you would be in trouble," said Norman
Parker, a convicted murder who served time with him. (I've see
grown men pull their own heads off rather than meet with him)
Others, like "Mad" Frankie Fraser, former hard man for the
Richardsons, the Krays south London rivals, chose to dwell on
Ronnie Kray's finer characteristics. "He had very good principles,
principles that wouldn't agree with some people, but principles
that agreed with me. Women and children, he loved them. And he
was very honourable. I really mean it," he said. (He was a cruel
man, but fair)
Actress Barbara Windsor, a friend of the twins, said it was a
shame Ronnie Kray had not been released before he died.
Four years ago, Ronnie married Kate Howard (33), a former
kissogram girl. She wrote a book called 'Murder, Madness and
Marriage' and he divorced her last year, alleging adultery and
breaching marital confidences.
The brothers reputation was sanitised and celebrated in recent
years with the release of a film based on their lives. However, as
people remembered Ronnie Kray fondly yesterday, John McVicar, a
writer and former armed robber, reflected on the man's dark side.
"Believe me, he's reckoned to have sliced up more people than most
people have had hot dinners," he said.