Gregory David Roberts
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Gregory David Roberts (born Gregory John Peter Smith June 1952), is a convicted armed robber, former heroin addict, gangster, arms smuggler and author of the bestselling book Shantaram.
Roberts was a university student when he became involved in radical politics. Following the disintegration of his marriage and the loss of custody of his daughter, he became a heroin addict and turned to armed robbery, albeit with a toy gun, to obtain money to support his addiction. Known in Melbourne, Australia, as the Building Society Bandit and Chicken Man, he was arrested on February 22, 1978.
Sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment, he was sent to Pentridge prison where he became known as "Doc Smith" due to his medical skills. His sentence was reduced on appeal but he still made use of the first opportunity to escape, accompanied by another man named Trevor Jolly.
After making use of trade union connections to flee to Perth, Smith then flew to New Zealand and made some money with a large marijuana crop. This financed an aeroplane ticket to Europe, with a stopover in Bombay. He remained in Bombay for another eight years.
During his stay in Bombay, Smith assumed another name ("Lindsay", from his stolen New Zealand passport) and lived in a slum where he gave medical treatment to his neighbours. He then became part of the Bombay mafia. A trader in illegal currencies, he was eventually arrested in Germany due to a fake passport. Rather than attempt to escape again, he resolved to return to Australia and serve the rest of his sentence.
[edit] Shantaram
Smith wrote the account of his life in Bombay, called "Shantaram" after the name he was given by the mother of his closest friend Prabaker. This account was torn up by a prison officer. A second version was also destroyed.
Upon release, Smith changed his name to Gregory David Roberts in honour of his mother, and made an income from small writing assignments while he finished writing "Shantaram" for the third time. This book, a novel which is a fictionalised account of his life in Bombay where he was called "Lin" (a short form of the name on the New Zealand passport he stole - Lindsay), has become an international bestseller. Roberts plans to write a prequel and a sequel.
A movie based on (see "Shantaram (film)") is scheduled to be made which will star Johnny Depp as Roberts. "Warner Bros" is producing the film together with Johnny Depp's production company. Roberts was paid millions for the book rights and to write the first draft of the screenplay. Details are still sketchy but it will be loosely based upon the book and will mainly concentrate on his experiences in India and his underworld dealings. Production begins in Jan. 2007
Today, Gregory is a known philanthropist and public speaker. He is active in many community programs often raising large sums of money for worthy causes. Gregory has several successful businesses that have all the proceeds going to support Indian families in need.
Gregory is also a poet and public speaker. He is in huge demand in both speaking circles and universities having profound and original philosophies about life very evident in his novel, Shantaram. Gregory has both a book of philosophy and poems both recently released.
He is now a heavily pursued screenwriter with secured representation in Hollywood. It is rumored that Gregory receives over six figures for his screenplays and is currently finishing a second screenplay entitled, “Allegra”. That is a film going into production early 2007.
[edit] References
- Roberts, Gregory David, Shantarman
- Rule, Andrew & Silvester, John, Underbelly 5
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