Early Life
Winstone was born in Hackney Hospital, Homerton, Hackney, London. His family was originally from Cirencester, Gloucestershire – half of them moving to London, the other half to Wales. Winstone moved via Plaistow to Enfield when he was seven, and grew up on a council estate just off the A10 road. His father, Raymond J. Winstone, ran a fruit and vegetable business (he is now a black cab driver), while his mother, Margaret (née Richardson), had a job emptying fruit machines. Winstone recalls playing with his friends on bomb sites until "Moors Murderers" Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were arrested for killing three children. Winstone joined Brimsdown Primary School and then he was educated at Edmonton County School, which had changed from a grammar school to a comprehensive upon his arrival. He also attended Corona Theatre School. He did not take to school, eventually leaving with a single CSE (Grade 2) in Drama.
Winstone had an early affinity for acting; his father would take him to the cinema every Wednesday afternoon. Later, he would witness Albert Finney in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and the bug would bite: "I thought 'I could be that geezer'" he said later. 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, he took to the stage, appearing as a Cockney newspaper-seller in a production of Emil and the Detectives.
Winstone was also a fan of boxing. Known to his friends as Winnie, at home he was called Little Sugs (his father already being known as Sugar – after Sugar Ray Robinson). At the age of 12, Winstone joined the famous Repton Amateur Boxing Club and, over the next 10 years, won 80 out of 88 bouts. At welterweight, he was London schoolboy champion on three occasions, fighting twice for England. 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."
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