Lenny McLean

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Leonard John McLean (9 April 1949 – 28 July 1998) was an English unlicensed boxer, bouncer, bodyguard, businessman and actor. He was known as "The Guv'nor", "the King of the Cobbles" and "the hardest man in Britain".

McLean's pugilist reputation began in the East End of London in the late 1960s and was sustained through to the late 1980s. He stated in his autobiography that he had been involved in between 2,000 and 3,000 unlicensed fights. In his prime, the 6-foot-3-inch (191 cm) tall McLean weighed over 20 stone (280 lb; 130 kg) and was considered the "unofficial heavyweight champion of Great Britain".^[1]

Along with being an unlicensed boxer, McLean was an enforcer in London's criminal underworld. As a respected and feared figure, he often associated with infamous criminals such as the Kray twins, Ronnie Biggs and Charles Bronson. He was also known in the London nightclub scene as a bouncer, where he often managed security, including 1980s celebrity hangouts, such as Garth Crooks Team of the Week Club, in Hounslow.^[2]

In his later life, McLean became an actor, and received praise for playing Barry the Baptist in Guy Ritchie's 1998 gangster comedy film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He died in July 1998, shortly before the film's release.^[3]