Roger Ridey writes: The transformation of Frankie Fraser from East End gangster to media character can be attributed in large part to Willie Donaldson, writer of The Henry Root Letters, who often referred to their “friendship” in his column for the Independent, William Donaldson’s Week, in the early 1990s.
In March 1994, he announced his plans to stage An Evening With Frankie Fraser at The Goat in Boots pub in the Fulham Road, south-west London. Three years later, An Evening With Mad Frankie Fraser opened at the Jermyn Street theatre and subsequently toured the pubs and working men’s clubs up and down the country for years.
Donaldson also gave Fraser a part in his infamous 1996 Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow, in which he played Willie’s guide to Marbella. No doubt the mischievous Donaldson would have been proud of Fraser’s success, while wondering why he never got his cut.
