PARIS, Feb. 11 -- He spent three decades as a gangster, with 70 hold-ups to his name that earned him 21 years behind bars, but now Frank Henry has a new career: treading the boards in Paris, declaring he is neither proud nor ashamed of his past.

Nicknamed "Frankus l'armurier" ("Frankus the gunsmith"), Henry was a career criminal who says he bagged some €20 million (RM104 million) from his exploits.

He still looks the part, with his shaved head and piercing blue eyes, reminiscent of golden age cinema star Jean Gabin, France's answer to Humphrey Bogart.

His one-man show at La Nouvelle Eve theatre in Paris offers an unvarnished account of his heists - robbing banks and casinos across France - and the heavy price he paid for them.

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