The following article contains discussion of themes including domestic abuse, sexual misconduct and suicide.
On April 10, 1955 – Easter Sunday – Ruth Ellis arrived at The Magdala pub in Hampstead and shot her lover David Blakely dead. The murder led to her death by execution but it was also a crime that changed history, resulting in her becoming the last woman to be executed in the UK.
ITV's A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story is the latest drama to retell those pivotal events. The adaptation stars Lucy Boynton in the titular role of Ruth Ellis, with Mr Bates vs The Post Office's Toby Jones as her legal representative John Bickford.
While A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story sticks closely to the facts surrounding David's murder, Ruth's trial and the events leading up to her hanging, there is much that is left out about her upbringing.
It is insinuated in the drama itself that her rocky childhood may have impacted the romantic decisions she made, including the one to date the violent David Blakely.
Here's what happened in Ruth's past life before David, as well as the aftermath of the murder and her death.
What to Read Next
What happened to Ruth Ellis?
A Cruel Love features an important scene between Ruth and her sister Muriel (Maddy Hill), in which Ruth – while in the midst of her miscarriage, having been beaten by David – says: "I know what you want to ask. Why don't I just bloody leave him?"
Instead of agreeing with her, Muriel sympathises with a bleeding Ruth telling her that she had no need to ask "not after dad [or] George", referring to Ruth's abusive ex-husband. "You've never known any different. You don't think you deserve any different."
While some note is made of how both men mistreated Ruth, it is largely glossed over.
As children, both Ruth and Muriel were sexually abused by their father Arthur, resulting in Muriel becoming pregnant at the age of 14 and the child being brought up as their 'brother'. Ruth's own abuse began when she was just 11, despite her many efforts to fight back.
In 1944, by the age of 17, Ruth had entered into a relationship with a married Canadian soldier, Clare Andrea McCallum and became pregnant, giving birth to their son Clare Andria – referred to as Andre (Sidney Jackson) in the ITV true-crime drama.
However their relationship fell apart and Ruth took up factory work to support herself and her son.
Factory work turned to sex work by the end of the 1940s, and from there she moved on to work as a nightclub hostess before becoming an escort in 1950.
During that same year Ruth married the 41-year-old, divorced dentist George Ellis. George was an alcoholic who was jealous and extremely violent with Ruth. A Cruel Love omits the fact that George believed Ruth had been cheating on him and felt that their daughter Georgina, born in 1951, was not his.
That relationship ended not long after Georgina's birth and Ruth returned to sex work. In 1953, she began working at Little Club in Knightsbridge where she was quickly promoted to manager at the age of 27, making her one of the youngest women to achieve such success.
The job changed Ruth's life, awarding her financial stability, celebrity friends and status. It was at this juncture in her life that she met David Blakely. The pair fell for each other quickly and after a few weeks, the racing car driver moved into Ruth's flat despite already having a fiancée.
However, Ruth was also seeing former RAF pilot turned accountant Desmond Cussen (played by Mark Stanley in A Cruel Love).
Ruth's involvement with David derailed her life. Her behaviour and professional approach to work deteriorated until she was sacked from Little Club. Her money had also depleted, having spent it on keeping David's lifestyle afloat.
A cash-strapped Ruth had few alternatives, and so moved in with Desmond but continued her relationship with David.
Like many of Ruth's past relationships, David was also violent towards her and continued to have affairs while also remaining engaged.
In January 1955, things really started to crumble between the pair when David punched a pregnant Ruth in her stomach, causing her to miscarry their baby.
It's not clear what the definitive breaking point was for Ruth, but on April 10, she approached Blakely, who was with his friend Clive Gunnell, at the Magdala club. As he searched for his car keys, she shot him twice before firing at him a further three times as he lay on the ground. Ruth was said to have attempted a sixth shot but it ricocheted off the road hitting bystander Gladys Yule, taking off her thumb.
It was reported that after the shooting, Ruth seemed to be in shock and was heard to have said, "I am guilty, I'm a little confused," before turning to Clive and asking: "Will you call the police, Clive?"
An off-duty policeman arrested Ruth immediately, and she was escorted to Hampstead Police Station where she gave a full confession.
Ruth was later examined by doctors and psychiatrists for mental illness. She also underwent electroencephalography but was never diagnosed with a mental impairment.
When on trial in June 1995, Ruth was asked what her motive for shooting David was, and it was this statement that led to her guilty verdict. On that day, she told the court: "It's obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him."
In less than 20 minutes, the jury found her guilty of murder and she was sentenced to death.
Why was Ruth Ellis' death protested?
Many felt that Ruth's death was a miscarriage of justice given the physical and emotional abuse she had suffered at the hands of David Blakely.
Ruth's sentencing led to a public outcry and demands for a reprieve were made. Public support included a petition to free her, which acquired 50,000 signatures, and her lawyers wrote a 14-page letter to the Home Secretary at the time, Gwilym Lloyd George, requesting a reprieve or stay of execution. Gwilym refused both.
At that time, it also came to light that Ruth's lover Cussen had not only given her the revolver with which she shot David, but had also taught her how to use it before driving her to the Magdala where she shot and killed David.
Ruth confessed to her solicitor Victor Mishcon (who took over from John Bickford): "I didn't say anything about it up to now because it seemed traitorous, absolutely traitorous."
Victor fought to get Ruth her reprieve up until the last minute, but Gwilym and the Home Office refused to back down.
The permanent secretary, Sir Frank Newsam, was alleged to have advised Gwilym: "It would be a bad day for this country if we adopted the doctrine of crime passionnelle. This was a deliberately planned and cold-bloodedly executed murder."
The ITV drama showed Boynton's Ruth with a stack of freshly sealed letters moments before her death. The real-life Ruth wrote to David's parents saying: "I have always loved your son, and I shall die still loving him."
On July 13, 1955, Ruth was hung in Holloway Prison by Albert Pierrepoint.
The title card at the end of A Cruel Love revealed Albert's thoughts of Ruth in her final moments. He said: "I have seen some brave men die... but nobody braver than her."
What happened after Ruth Ellis' death?
Ruth's death had damning effects on her family. Her son Andy took his own life in 1982 after her mother Bertha's own failed suicide attempt, which left her unable to speak properly again. Her ex-husband George also took his own life in 1958. Georgina, however, survived the tragedy before dying in 2001 at aged 50 from cancer.
Ruth's demise also profoundly changed attitudes towards the death penalty and the UK's legal system. As a result – in part – of Ruth's experience, the principle of Diminished Responsibility was introduced into English Law in 1957 and capital punishment was abolished in the UK in 1965.
Despite Cussen's alleged involvement, no action was ever taken against him and the accountant emigrated to Australia, where he died of natural causes in 1991.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story is available to stream now on ITVX.
If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, organisations including Refuge and Women's Aid can provide further support and information. The 24-hour, freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.
The US National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text LOVEIS to 22522.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
