Karen Kilgariff

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3,962 appearances 39 recordings 3 series first heard Nov 2024 last heard 8 Jun

Karen Kilgariff’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 1.

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My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark · 467 - Nipper & The Hat · 13 Feb 2025 podcast

Often, of course, the business was not in any danger from those other gangs. But if the owner of the business was to make this point and refuse to pay the protection fee, he would generally find that his business had been burgled, set fire to, or generally smashed up. By then, of course, he was more than ready to pay his fee.

Very few business owners went to the law because if they did, the matter became personal and they themselves would become the target of the gang. Right. And the law was like on the take, probably. Most likely. Yeah. According to what I've seen in Peaky Blinders, absolutely. Listen, we have infiltrated the mob before, so we know. We know. Also, Tom Hardy, also on Peaky Blinders. Cute.

Do you want him in the craze movie legend? Do you want him in Peaky Blinders? You want him in every movie. You want him. So the Krays were not at all scared of this gang or their threats, of course. In fact, when these gang members show up demanding their protection money, the brothers don't just say no.

In front of their patrons and God and everybody, Ronnie grabs a sword and chases the gang out of the regal. A sword? A sword, I say. Wow. This is when the Krays have their light bulb moment. If they're tough enough to run off the local gang running a protection racket, why not just become the local gang running a protection racket? So they do.

They form a gang known as the Firm, and they begin running their own East End protection rackets and armed robberies and arson and blackmail schemes, and they get rich doing it. I think the name for a gang in the 50s, naming it The Firm, is so cool and visionary. So good. Just need to say that credit where credit's due. So as Ronnie and Reggie run this gang, they also open more nightclubs.

In 1957, they open the Double R, an homage to their first names. Then in 1960, they acquire a popular West End club called Esmeralda's Barn Club.

Yes, it means a trunk, a boot, a lift, a flat. They basically harass and extort the previous owner of Esmeralda's and then they just take over themselves. Then in 1963, they debut the Kentucky back in East London and And soon after its opening, the Kentucky serves as a filming location for the movie Sparrows Can't Sing, your favorite film. I love that movie. Early 60s hit.

Ronnie and Reggie are invited to the film's premiere, and they host its celebrity-filled afterparty. About this, Reggie says, quote, and surrounded by the rich and famous that I realized that we were well on the way to making it to the very top. I felt so powerful that night. I felt nothing was to stop us."

So through the mid-60s, the Krays open more clubs, and they become the center of London nightlife, and they're becoming celebrities in their own right. But their public image is complex. It's well known that Ronnie and Reggie are involved in all sorts of illegal activities, that they're wildly brutal to those who cross them, And that they're gaining the firm rules the East End.

They're also running what's called long-firm frauds. And this involves setting up a fake business, ordering goods or merchandise on credit, then shutting down that business and stiffing the seller and offloading the goods that they didn't pay for for a quick profit. Sure.

But these crimes and the crazed criminal infamy not only doesn't scare customers away, their notorious reputation enhances their popularity. They seem dangerous, which is enticing to some customers. Duncan Campbell writes, quote, Can we, like, I want to make clear, though, they don't look like Tom Hardy.

Yes. That's not what they look like. The picture I saw of the crazy. They look like boxers. They look like they've had their nose smashed a bunch of times.

But also like very concerned with like slicked back hair. Yes. 50s like cool suits, 60s cool suits.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. They were very image savvy. Yeah. They styled themselves after characters in American gangster films. They dress in double-breasted suits with their hair slicked back, accessorizing with big chunky rings and gold cufflinks. They even form a friendly relationship with powerful members of the American mafia. Okay. So they're going for it. Yeah.

Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. Being an out gay man in this era is very rare. Wow. Homosexuality at the time is against the law in England. But Ronnie lives openly as a gay man. And actually that part of the movie legend is really funny because he is... Ronnie being the big tough guy, he also has this kind of like... He's very like takes the world as it is and very, you know, like of the moment.

So anytime anyone tries to like insult him or try to... infer that there's anything wrong with what he's doing. He's just kind of confused. Like, I don't know what your problem is. Wow. Okay. I mean, that's just the way it's played in the movie, which made me laugh really hard. He's just not having it, really.

And Reggie, who eventually marries a woman named Frances Shea, he's more often described as bisexual. So I feel like Basically, they just do what they want.

Yeah. And they're very strong tough guy brand that they've created is great for business and kind of goes, you know, it just plays and enables them to do whatever they want. Essentially, they're not clubs are increasingly popular hangouts for glamorous clientele like James Mansfield, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, even Judy Garland. went there and became a close friend to the Cray brothers.

At one point, she actually introduced the Crays to the Beatles. Judy, who knew? She was the link between. The Cray's mother actually invited Judy Garland to tea. And while she was there, Judy sang somewhere over the rainbow for her. But this is according to Duncan Campbell, the writer. This is the quote from Violet Cray. Judy was a frightened little thing, too skinny.

That was her verdict on having fucking Judy Garland in her house singing. Yep. Wow. Tough. Legendary. Tough lady. I mean, violent. Yeah. So for years, the craze seemed untouchable. When police look into their crimes, the investigations always stall because witnesses are simply too afraid to talk. Sure. But of course, nothing lasts forever.

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