Charlie Kray (9 July 1927 – 4 April 2000) was an English amateur boxer and convicted criminal. He was the elder brother of Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

Early life

Charles James Kray was born at 26 Gorsuch Street,

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It l ...

on 9 July 1927, to Charles David Kray (1907–1983), a wardrobe dealer, and Violet Annie Lee (1909–1982). His father was of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent and his mother was

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

. When Kray was six-years-old, his mother had two

identical twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, with Reggie born 10 minutes before Ronnie. His sister, Violet (1929) died in infancy. In 1932, the family moved to Stene Street, near

Kingsland Road Kingsland Road is the name given to an East London stretch of the A10 road within the London Borough of Hackney in England. The A10 was originally a Roman Road better known as Ermine Street or sometimes the Old North Road. The name ''Kingsla ...

, Hackney. The family later moved to 178 Vallance Road in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By t ...

. Kray attended Laburnum Street school, where he was picked for the football team. Before the war, Kray worked for

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

as a messenger boy in the city, earning around 18 shillings a week, which is about 35 pounds in today's money.

Boxing career

Young Charlie was brought up on stories about fighting and boxing, and often dreamt of winning the

Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, introduced the prize on behalf of the National Sporting Club (NSC), int ...

as Champion of the World. In 1943, Kray represented the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

as a

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

against the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

. Kray soon took up boxing again and trained in the local gyms. His grandfather Cannonball Lee set up a punch bag in the top back room in Vallance Road. After a spell of

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Sign ...

, Kray joined the

Naval Cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and Universit ...

s, where he continued training seriously. He later joined the Navy where he boxed as a

. However, he started to get terrible headaches and was soon discharged unfit from the Navy, on medical grounds, due to chronic migraines. In his early twenties, Kray started to box professionally. He had quite a few wins to his name. Kray lost the last professional fight he ever fought.

Criminal history

Although he did not have the violent reputation of his younger brothers, Kray was still an important component of the family's gangland history. When the

twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

empire came crashing down in 1969, Charlie was inevitably dragged down with them. Kray was given a 10-year sentence for being an accessory to the murder of

George Cornell George Cornell (13 November 1927 – 10 March 1966) was an English criminal and member of The Richardsons, who were scrap metal dealers and criminals from South London. Cornell was shot and killed by Ronnie Kray at The Blind Beggar public hou ...

. He was released from prison in 1975. After his release, he made money from promoting the family's legend. In 1997, Kray was given a 12-year sentence for attempting to smuggle cocaine valued at £39m into

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. Three years into his sentence, Kray's health started to deteriorate.

Personal life

Kray married Doris "Dolly" Moore on Christmas Day 1948. They had two children, Gary Kray (1951-1995) and Nancy. In an argument, Moore had said that Nancy was not Kray's daughter but then denied it. Gary died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

on 8 March 1995. Kray later discovered Moore had been having an affair with George Ince, but stayed with her for the sake of his family. She continued to see Ince behind Kray's back. The couple separated in 1975. During the 1950s, Kray had a six-month affair with

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Carry On films The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside post ...

'' and '' EastEnders''. The affair did not last long because his children and their happiness came first and staying with Moore provided them with a stable background. Kray had been a confidant of

Jackie Collins Jacqueline Jill Collins (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on ''The New York Time ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in ''The ...

Sonny Liston Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson ...

and

Christine Keeler Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became s ...

. Kray said he found life difficult and claimed he was "unemployable" because of his surname. On the evening of 4 April 2000, Kray died from heart complications at St Mary's Hospital. He was 72. He had been suffering from a heart condition prior to his death. Kray died in the presence of his girlfriend, Diane Buffini, and two other friends. At the time of his death, Kray's only surviving brother

Reggie Reggie is a given name, usually a short form of the name Reginald. It may refer to: People * Reggie Bonnafon (born 1996), American football player * Reggie Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Reggie Bush (born 1985), National Football L ...

was released from prison to attend his brothers funeral. Kray's funeral was held at St Matthew's Church,

and he is buried at

Chingford Mount Cemetery Chingford Mount Cemetery is a cemetery in Chingford Mount, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The main entrance is opposite Chingford Old Church. Opened in May 1884, 41½ acres in size, it was laid out on the site of the house and ground ...

Published works

* ''Me and My Brothers'', with Robin McGibbon. Everest Books, 14 October 1976. * ''Doing the Business'', with Colin Fry. John Blake Publishing Ltd, April 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kray, Charlie 1927 births 2000 deaths English gangsters English male boxers