John Bindon

Biography

John Bindon was well-known in the 1960s and 1970s as an actor who specialised in playing violent thugs. Off-screen, he was notorious for his violent temper and his habit of provoking fights in pubs for no other reason than to prove what a "hard man" he was. He was a gangster who was an associate of the Krays and the Richardsons. He ran a protection racket and worked as a drug dealer in the West London district of Fulham. He was also a friend of 'Princess Margaret' (qv) whom he met on the Caribbean island of Mustique. Following the death of a fellow gangster, Johnny Darke, in November 1978 at a club in Fulham, he was charged with murder. He was acquitted of all charges at the Old Bailey but his notoriety put an end to his acting career and he drifted into obscurity. He died of AIDS in October 1993. Born in London during the second world war, Bindon grew up on a Fulham housing estate and later endured many spells in Young Offender Institutions for theft. He was spotted by the director 'Ken Loach' (qv) in a London pub and Loach (who was renowned for working with "unknowns") cast him in the gritty sixties drama _Poor Cow (1967)_ (qv) which was about a London villain with a penchant for domestic violence. This was a classic case of life imitating art as he served several prison sentences during his life. He was mainly cast as a thug, a heavy and a villain in most roles and was earning £20,000 a year in the early 1970s. He was also thought to be running protection rackets around the pubs and clubs of Fulham and Chelsea which earned him a further £10,000 a year. Being notoriously difficult to work with (he was thought to spoil scenes on purpose so he would end up being paid overtime) he drifted into virtual obscurity as the 1970s ended. After he was tried (and found not guilty) for the murder of South London gangster Johnny Darke in 1978 he became unemployable and was seldom seen on screens again. He was made bankrupt twice and after years of sexual promiscuity and drug abuse, Bindon died alone of AIDS at his tiny Belgravia flat in 1993. He had celebrated his 50th birthday some days before.