Chopper Read
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For other uses of the word, see Chopper.
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For The Ronnie Johns Half Hour Character, see The Ronnie Johns Half Hour.
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Chopper Read, real name Mark Brandon Read (born November 17, 1954), is a former Australian criminal and author. Convicted of many crimes including armed robbery, firearm offences, assault and kidnapping, Read spent a mere 13 months outside prison between the ages of 20 and 38, then went on to become a successful author of crime novels, selling in excess of 500,000 copies of his works. More recently, he has also found success as a recording artist.
In 2005, Read embarked on a tour of Australia performing a series of shows titled I'm Innocent with Mark "Jacko" Jackson [1] and later toured Sydney in a stage show with a new co-star, former Detective Roger "The Dodger" Rogerson.
Read married Australian Taxation Office employee Mary-Ann Hodge in 1995 while imprisoned in Risdon Prison in Tasmania for the shooting of his friend Sidney Collins. The marriage produced one child, Charlie. They later divorced in 2001. On January 19, 2003, he married long-time friend Margaret Casser. They have one son, Roy Brandon.
In 2001, Read featured in an advertisement on behalf of the Pedestrian Council of Australia promoting the dangers of drunk driving. Read is seated at a kitchen table and undoes his shirt, and while pointing to the numerous scars and injuries on his body, says:
| When I was in prison… I got slashed in the face… my ears cut off… a butcher’s knife here, an icepick here, etc… If you drink and drive and you're unfortunate enough to hit somebody, you ought to pray to God that you don't go to prison. |
In 2006, Read featured in another commercial speaking out against violence against women.
On March 13, 2006, Read released a rap music album titled Interview with a Madman.
Also about the same time Read allowed use of his name to Australia's heaviest alcoholic lager called "Chopper Heavy". The beer is produced in Rutherglen, Victoria, near the location of Australia's most notorious outlaw - Ned Kelly.
Read also appeared in the 2002 Australian comedy film, Trojan Warrior.
He recently revealed he had contracted Hepatitis C from his time in prison, along with other prisonmates, through using a blood-stained shaver. [2].
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[edit] Early life
Read grew up in the Melbourne suburbs of Collingwood, Thomastown, Fitzroy and Preston. He was made a Ward of the State by the age of 14. His criminal career began with the robbing of drug dealers.
In his mid teens, Mark was the leader of the Surrey Road gang, a street fighting gang made up of himself, Dave the Jew, Ned Clonan, Cowboy Johnny Harris and Terry the Tank. Dave the Jew is the only person he won't go into detail about in his books, and Chopper remains good friends with him to this day.
While in prison he had a fellow inmate cut off his ears in order to be able to leave the prison temporarily to avoid an ambush by other inmates.
Described variously as witty, charismatic, sadistic, and frightening, Read admits to the killing of 19 people and a further 11 attempts. Many of his associates in the underworld claim that Read is prone to making up numbers to increase his own notoriety and the sales of his books. Read himself has stated on numerous occasions that he would "never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn"
Read is the nephew of celebrity Australian physician Dr James Wright (ref: [3]).
[edit] Bestselling author
Read wrote his first book Chopper: From the Inside while incarcerated in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison. It contains tales and anecdotes of his criminal and prison exploits in 1991. Attempts were made to ban a children's book written by Read titled Hooky the Cripple.
[edit] Bibliography
- Chopper: From the Inside (1991), ISBN 0-646-06543-2
- Chopper 2: Hits and Memories (1992), ISBN 0-646-10987-1
- Chopper 3: How to Shoot Friends & Influence People (1993), ISBN 0-646-15444-3
- Chopper 4: For the Term of His Unnatural Life (1994), ISBN 0-646-31014-9
- Chopper 5: Pulp Faction: Revenge of the Rabbit Kisser and Other Jailhouse Stories (1995), ISBN 0-646-25065-5
- Chopper 6: No Tears for a Tough Guy (1996), ISBN 0-646-29637-X
- Chopper 7: The Singing Defective (1997), ISBN 0-646-33923-0
- Chopper 8: The Sicilian Defence (1998), ISBN 0-9586071-0-9
- Chopper 9: The Final Cut (1999), ISBN 0-9586071-4-1
- Chopper 101⁄2: The Popcorn Gangster (2001), ISBN 0-9579121-0-2
- Hooky the Cripple: The Grim Tale of a Hunchback Who Triumphs (2002), ISBN 1-86403-165-4
- The Adventures of Rumsley Rumsfelt (2003), ISBN 0-9579121-7-X
(ref: [4])
[edit] Discography
- Interview with a Madman (2006)
[edit] Public commentary and political views
Read has made public comment about a number of criminal cases, including the Ivan Milat backpacker murder and the Port Arthur Massacre. He has frequently appeared on radio and television talk shows to promote his books and discuss his views on many issues. For a short period of time, he also had a column in RALPH Magazine. His success in selling tales of his criminal past, and a number of recent attempts by other criminals to do likewise, has prompted widespread calls to amend the Federal Proceeds of Crime Bill (2001) — which confiscates the proceeds of drug deals and robberies — to also apply to indirect proceeds of crime, including book sales, TV appearances, and the like.
Read has described his political beliefs as "to the right of Genghis Khan". In his book Chopper 2, he lists American conservative G. Gordon Liddy, of Watergate fame, and Bruce Ruxton, a critic of Australia's immigration policies and leader of the Victorian RSL, as his political heroes. He also remarks that he makes a certain Neo-Nazi acquaintance (axe murderer Dane Sweetman) look like a "gay commie." He believes in capital punishment for child sex offenders.
