Translated material
Show business from the grate
How London Gangster brothers created Industry around their name: The Guardian
In September, the film “Legend” about Ronnie and Reggie Crai-the most famous gangsters of London of the 1960s is released on the screens. The roles of both twins are played by Tom Hardy. A few months earlier, the premiere of the documentary about Crai, and the number of other products related to their names - from books and museums to souvenir t -shirts - cannot be recorded. The journalist The Guardian Duncan Campbell, recalling the story of the Crai brothers, comes to the conclusion that celebrities came out much better than the gangsters themselves.
Legends of the Ronnie and Reggie Crai Brothers became in the mid-1960s. They became famous, firstly, an indefatigable tendency to violence and, secondly, by the ease with which they combined the mafia lifestyle with the life of show business stars. Craev was shot by famous photographers, their portraits were printed on neighboring pages with portraits of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Rudolf Nuriev and other icons of his era.
As Duncan Campbell writes, who met both brothers when they had already served the life sentences, it was their main goal. At least, to the star glory of Ronnie and Reggie Crai went stubbornly and consistently, decisively not realizing that, as stars, it was impossible to remain kings of the underground world. As the photographer David Bailey recalled, the author of the most famous portrait of Craev: “To pose for me was a huge mistake on their part. If you are a gangster, no one should know you. ”
Ronnie and Rezhi, both - former boxers, started their career in the criminal world, began with a small racketeering: they collected tribute from businessmen and owners of nightclubs. As the fame of Craev grew up, who want to use the services of their organization, called the "company", became more and more. At the same time, the brothers have only two truly high-profile crimes: murders committed in 1966 and 1967 in front of dozens of witnesses. For example, one of his competitors - Gangster George Cornell - Ronnie Crai shot in the middle of a crowded pub “Blind Beggar”. The key witness was the bell. The missing testimonies against the brothers were given by participants in the company.
In 1968, Craev was arrested and sentenced to life sentences. Key participants in the company received long terms. However, just after the conclusion of the Craev, it became obvious that the name and reputation of the brothers turned into an uninterrupted source of income. The twins successfully managed their empire from prison: they constantly talked with journalists (the tabloids were ready to pay thousands of pounds for any information about the life of star gangsters for bars) and sold their rights to their biographies (dozens of books were written, each of which brought brothers, as well as their relatives and partners, considerable money). The tabloids shot weddings of both Craev - for exclusive access at the ceremony again laying out a lot of money.
Even the “blind” Pub was able to earn on the glory of Kraev: regular excursions are arranged here, during which everyone is invited to inspect the place where Ronnie Crai shot George Cornell.
The excitement around the brothers did not subside even after their death (Ronnie died in 1995, Reggie-in 2000): tabloids still publish scandalous details from their biography. For example, on August 31, 2015, The Daily Mirror reported that the Crai brothers were in homosexual connection with each other, and the secret - so that competitors did not know about their inclinations.
“In the end, Robin-Gudov will be made of them,” says Chris Labrian, a former comrade-in-arms, Kreev, who has served for the crimes of the “company” for 15 years and in prison believed in God. “But they were not like that.” They took the money from other villains and lowered it to clothes, drinking, expensive gifts. They did not give a damn about them. ”