Editing Ray Winstone (section)

== Early life and education ==
Winstone was born on 19 February 1957 in [[Homerton|Hackney Hospital]], London.<ref name="bio">{{Cite web|url= http://www.copperlily.com/AboutRayWinstone/RWbiog.htm |title= Ray Winstone Biography |work= copperlily.com |date= 28 September 2007 |url-status= dead|archive-date= 29 August 2000 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000829042443/https://www.copperlily.com/AboutRayWinstone/RWbiog.htm}}</ref> He first lived in Caistor Park Road, [[Stratford, London|Stratford]] E15,<ref name="Times"/> and attended Portway infants and junior school. He moved to [[London Borough of Enfield|Enfield]] when he was seven.<ref name="bio"/> His mother, Margaret (née Richardson; 1932–1985) had a job emptying [[fruit machine]]s, and his father, Raymond J. Winstone (1933–2015), ran a fruit-and-vegetable business.<ref>{{cite news |title=Culture, Arts and Entertainment |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/?xml=/arts/2008/05/11/sv_raywinstone.xml |url-status=dead |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206215749/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/?xml=/arts/2008/05/11/sv_raywinstone.xml |archive-date=6 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="bio"/> 

Winstone has recounted how, as a child, he used to play with his friends on bomb sites (empty plots of land with rubble from [[Second World War]] bombs).<ref name="Times"/> He joined [[Brimsdown|Brimsdown Primary School]] and in 1968, enrolled to [[Edmonton County School]],<ref name="ed">{{Cite web|url= http://www.ecsosa.org.uk/theschool/pupils/ |title= Edmonton County former pupils|work= ecsosa.org.uk |access-date= 7 February 2005}}</ref> which had changed from a [[grammar school]] to a [[Comprehensive school|comprehensive]] upon his arrival.<ref name="ed"/> He also attended [[Corona Theatre School]].<ref name="bio"/> He did not take to school, eventually leaving with a single [[Certificate of Secondary Education|CSE]] (grade 2) in drama.<ref name="lunatic"/> 

He recounted an early encounter with a notorious gangster:
{{blockquote|text="I was still a baby the day [[Ronnie Kray]] came round to see Dad, but I've been told this story so many times I can see it unfolding in my mind. Everyone was on their best behaviour, but then Ronnie picked me up, and by all accounts I pissed all over him. He had a new mac on, which had probably cost a few bob, and I absolutely covered it. The room fell silent, then Ronnie cracked up, so everyone knew it was safe to join in."<ref name="Times">{{cite news |last=Wintle |first=Angela |title= Time and place: Ray Winstone |url= https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/time-and-place-ray-winstone-mtppw2zv9sp |work= [[The Times]] |date=January 11, 2015 |archive-date= 3 October 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://archive.today/20211003224534/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/time-and-place-ray-winstone-mtppw2zv9sp }}</ref>}}

Winstone had an early affinity for acting; his father would take him to the cinema every Wednesday afternoon. Later, he viewed [[Albert Finney]] in ''[[Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)|Saturday Night and Sunday Morning]]'', and said: "I thought, 'I could be that geezer'." His other major influences included [[John Wayne]], [[James Cagney]], and [[Edward G. Robinson]]. After borrowing extra tuition money from a friend's mother, a drama teacher, Winstone took to the stage, appearing as a [[Cockney]] newspaper seller in a production of ''[[Emil and the Detectives]]''.

Winstone was also a [[Boxer (boxing)|boxer]].<ref name="box"/> Known to his friends as Winnie, he was called Little Sugs at home (his father already being known as Sugar, after [[Sugar Ray Robinson]]). At the age of 12, Winstone joined the [[Repton Boxing Club|Repton Amateur Boxing Club]].<ref name="bio"/> Over the next 10 years, he won 80 out of 88 bouts.<ref name="box"/> He was London schoolboy champion at [[welterweight]] on three occasions,<ref name="box"/> and fought twice for England.<ref name="box"/> The experience gave him a perspective on his later career: "If you can get in a ring with 2,000 people watching and be smacked around by another guy, then walking onstage isn't hard."<ref name="box">{{cite web |title=Ray Winstone |url=http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Ray_Winstone |website=boxrec.com |access-date= 5 May 2023}}</ref>

Deciding to pursue drama, Winstone enrolled at the [[Ravenscourt Theatre School|Corona Stage Academy]] in [[Hammersmith]], when he was aged "about 17".<ref name="lunatic">{{cite web |title=Ray Winstone: 'I used to be a raving lunatic' |url= http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/02/ray-winstone-decca-aitkenhead-actor |website=The Guardian |date=2 September 2010 |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Q&A with actor Ray Winstone |url=https://www.ft.com/content/55358572-343d-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=Financial Times |date=12 May 2017 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/55358572-343d-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3 |archive-date=10 December 2022}}</ref><ref name="Times" /> At [[Pound sterling|£]]900 a term, it was expensive considering the average wage was then about £36 a week.{{cn|date=April 2025}} He was ultimately expelled for vandalising the head's car.<ref name="lunatic"/>