It is difficult to imagine a more charismatic figure in the world of cinema than the famous British actor Lenny McLean. His filmography contains very few works, but the main one is known to any student - Guy Ritchie's masterpiece "Cards, money, two trunks." Most of his life, the actor balanced on the verge of the law - twice went to jail, fought in the ring in semi-legal boxing fights, worked as a bouncer. Only by the beginning of the nineties, the biography of Lenny McLean made a sharp turn, so that moviegoers were able to appreciate his dramatic talent. The sudden death of lung cancer cut short his life at the very zenith of fame.
Difficult childhood
Lenny McLean was born in 1949 in London. He grew up in a poor family from the East End - the working area of the English metropolis. His father, Leonard McLean, Sr., participated in battles in the fields of World War II, then served in India, where he caught a serious illness that made him semi-disabled. Unable to get a job, he slipped into the role of a criminal and a petty fraudster and thereby “earned” his bread.
After the death of her husband, Lenny's mother married Jim Irwin for the second time. Alcoholic and sadistic, he drunkenly brutally beat her, Lenny and his brothers.
At one fine moment, this disgrace was put to an end by Lenny's uncle Jimmy Spinks. Being a gangster, he knew how to be very convincing, and after a warm friendly conversation managed to persuade Jim Irwin to change his educational methods.
Lenny McLean's childhood passed in a peculiar atmosphere, so it is not surprising that a strong and confident uncle became an example for him to follow and a model of a real man.
Difficult teenager
Already in his teens, a native of the East End got in touch with the underworld, carried out small orders of gangsters, which naturally led him to a juvenile colony. After serving a year and a half for various offenses, Lenny McLean tried to find a legitimate job, but his violent nature did not allow him to live in peace.
So, he brutally beat his master, which led to the immediate dismissal, and Lenny began to interrupt casual earnings, until there was a fateful meeting that changed his whole life. One day, a car crashed from a used car dealer Kenny Mack.
Instead of returning money or replacing a damaged unit with a working one, he invited Lenny McLean to participate in a boxing tournament, organized by Kenny.
The rival was a huge fighter, 210 cm tall and weighing over 130 kg, but Lenny, who grew up on the street and knew firsthand about fierce fights, sent him to the knockout already in the first minute of the fight.
Unlicensed fighter
In the seventies of the twentieth century, the National Boxing Council was created in England, bringing together professional athletes. In parallel, there was a world of informal boxing tournaments, the participants of which did not have an official license.
Nevertheless, the authorities looked at this state of affairs through the fingers and allowed semi-legal promoters to organize their fights in the largest gyms and clubs. Lenny McLean was barred from entering the world of licensed boxers because of his nasty reputation and prison past, so he had to pursue a career in semi-underground conditions. His manager was Kenny Mack, with whom they became friends after the first experience of Lenny in the ring.
Rumble in the ring
The statistics of fights of unlicensed fighters are quite difficult to find on official sports sites, so what about sports exploits McLean can only be judged by his words and eyewitness accounts of those glorious years. They say that he was one of the strongest boxers of the time. At the peak of his form, he was incredibly strong and even offered to meet him in an equal fight to Muhammad Ali, but he left the invitation unanswered.
Many fans of those years remember the famous trilogy of Lenny’s fights with Roy “Pretty Boy” Shaw, who had behind him a stay in the notorious Broadmoor hospital. The first fight ended with a show victory on points. Lenny McLean, whose photo in the ring can scare the faint of heart, took a convincing revenge by knocking out his opponent in the second match. The point in the epic confrontation was set in September 1978, when Lenny again laid the Show on the shoulder blades with a powerful blow.
Bouncer
Many participants in semi-legal boxing tournaments had a permanent job. Among them was Lenny McLean, who worked as a security guard in clubs and pubs, as a result of which he became widely known among London drinkers. He also worked as a bodyguard for many British show business stars, including Boy George, Mike Reid, Freddy Starr.
Acquaintance with these people allowed him to gain his niche in the world of television, where he was responsible for security in organizing various television shows.
Rumor has it that Lenny McLean was one of the co-owners of the brothel, where everyone was ruled by Charlie Cray, one of the most influential East End gangsters of those years. The peculiar occupations and contact with the underworld became the reason that Lenny had many enemies, and some of them even attempted his life. As a result, the boxer got two bullet wounds in the back.
Again behind bars
Working as a doorman at a racetrack in 1992, Lenny McLean ran into big trouble. Performing his immediate duties, he threw out of the institution of Gary Humphries, who began to behave indecently. The next day, a violent client was found dead with a broken jaw and injuries of the cervical vertebrae. Lenny was arrested and charged with killing a man.
The lawyers managed to find out that after meeting with McLean’s fists, Humphries began to bully the police officers who overdone during the detention and squeezed his neck too much, which caused his death. However, Lenny McLean still had to answer for a broken jaw, and he spent 18 months behind bars.
World of show business
Lenny's television career began after he was found out from the documentary Bounce: Behind The Velvet Rope, which talked about the difficult everyday life of workers in nightclubs and pubs. In 1990, the boxer gained experience in participating in an art film, playing a tiny episode in the film Krays. A colorful character who knows the inside of the world of illegal boxing, gangsters, slums of the East End, beckoned producers and directors, and soon the former bouncer got the role of Eddie Deis in the series "Blow", embodying the image of a harsh bootlegger.
In 1997, the collection of films with Lenny McLean was replenished with such a masterpiece as The Fifth Element. However, the aspiring actor gained real fame after the publication of the acclaimed painting by Guy Ritchie "Cards, money, two trunks." The criminal authority of Barry "Baptist" performed by the former gangster was very convincing and was remembered by many viewers.
Unfortunately, the main film in Lenny’s life was the last for him. During filming, he complained of severe flu, but it soon became clear that he had cancer. A terrible disease in a short time overwhelmed the actor, and he did not live to see the premiere of just one month.
Lenny McLean's biography, personal life, during his lifetime, became an object of interest for many producers. However, all negotiations reached an impasse, and only in 2017 it became known about the filming of the film according to the actor’s autobiographical book “My Name Lenny”.