3 days ago
Patsy Kensit reveals pals were banned from visiting her childhood home due to regular police raids as she opens up about profound impact of her 'villain' father's criminal career and association with gangsters the Krays
Patsy Kensit has always been open about her late father James' criminal career past.
He was involved with notorious gangsters of the 1960s in London, including the Krays and the Richardsons, and had a total of nine convictions for theft.
However, the actress, 57, has now revealed his actions had a profound impact on her growing up: 'I was never allowed to have play dates because the police could have turned the house over at any minute, but you just dealt with it'.
'It wasn't normal, but they were my family and I loved them. My father - God rest his soul - he was a rapscallion, but I adored him.
Patsy's father James who passed away in 1987 was a pickpocket known as Jimmy the Dip and became friends with the Krays after they met as teenagers in an East End boxing club.
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He was involved with notorious gangsters of the 1960s in London, including the Krays and the Richardsons, and had a total of nine convictions for theft (pictured with Patsy's mum Margaret)
'My dad was a villain. My father was in and out of prison throughout my whole life. When I was about ten, he went away for a little bit, and helping Her Majesty with her enquires my mother would say to us, but he was my Dad, and I loved him desperately. I was a little girl, and a lot of it, I was quite protected from.'
Ronnie and Reggie Kray ruled the East End with a ruthless regime of murder, armed robbery, arson, protection rackets and beatings before their incarcerations in 1968. Ronnie died in 1995 aged 61, followed five years later by Reggie aged 66.
The mother-of-two, who amid the chaos found fame as a child actress, once claimed that Reggie Kray would write her letters from prison, and was godfather to her brother, Jamie.
Discussing her unconventional upbringing in a past interview with Michael Parkinson, the thespian continued, 'It was odd growing up, because I've got two beautiful sons, and their life is so different to mine'.
'I was competing for work at a young age, and dealing with rejection, and I'm glad - I wouldn't be here today, and I'm so grateful for that. I couldn't imagine my sons doing that.'
Patsy first gained attention as a tot in adverts for Birds Eye frozen peas, before going on to star in 1974's The Great Gatsby with Mia Farrow and 1976's The Blue Bird with Elizabeth Taylor.
In 2013 she told The Mirror how mum Margaret, who died in 1993, protected the actress and brother James from their father's shady dealings.
'Mum did everything she could to keep that side of things hidden from us, she must have loved my dad a great deal to turn a blind eye to his villainy.'
She went on to recall how her father went on the run and the family fled to Paris and then the Caribbean, before returning to London where he was arrested.
'Having to flee our home like that could have been pretty traumatising for a child, but it didn't scar me, To be honest, I found it all very exciting'.
'I couldn't understand why mum looked so sad the entire time we were away. Now, of course, I know it was because dad was on the run'.
Meanwhile she wrote in her memoir Absolute Beginner: 'We only ever got glimpses [of her father's criminal activities]'
'His associates used to come over and go into the sitting room, where Dad would draw the curtains. Jamie and I would have to leave, but we could hear them doing the count-up from outside the door'.
She continued: 'Sometimes I'd accompany Dad to meetings with his associates at West End hotels, which I loved because all the posh hotels had swimming pools. I'd go for a swim while he chatted to his mates'.
During her 2008 appearance on BBC's Who Do You Think You Are Patsy learned more about her father's past.
James' criminal record revealed he was arrested for the first time aged 19, and was later charged with being an 'incorrigible rogue', a specific offence under the Vagrancy Act.
Patsy said: 'I loved my father but hearing this saddens me.' Of more specific details in the programme, she confessed: 'I couldn't sleep because I was so traumatised by everything that we found. I became very protective of my father - not because I condone what he did, but because he's my dad and I love him'
Although he was recruited directly to work in fraud by Charlie Richardson, Patsy was relieved to discover her father had not been directly responsible for any of their legendary beatings.
However, Army records revealed her grandfather, another James, also earned a lengthy criminal record.
A gunner in the First World War, he had to forfeit his medal after being sentenced to three years' penal servitude for bringing the Army into disrepute. His nine convictions dating from 1915 include robbery and using counterfeit coins.
