He was bullied at school, claiming that by the age of 15, he had been on the "losing end of several hundred fights", and his father, usually on his mother's recommendation, beat him often as a child.
Read was made a Ward of the State by the age of 14 and was placed in several mental institutions as a teenager, where, he later claimed, he was subjected to electroshock therapy. By his mid-teens, Read was already an accomplished street fighter and the leader of the Surrey Road gang.
He began his criminal career by robbing drug dealers, based in massage parlours in the Prahran area. He later graduated to kidnapping and torturing members of the criminal underworld, often using a blowtorch or bolt cutters to remove the toes of his victims before killing them hence the slang term Toecutter, used for Headhunters.
While in Pentridge prison's H division in the late s, Read launched a prison war. His gang, dubbed "The Overcoat Gang" because they wore long coats all year round to conceal their weapons, were involved in several hundred acts of violence against a larger opposing gang during this period.
Around this time, Read had a fellow inmate cut both of his ears off in order to be able to leave H division temporarily. While in his early biographies Read claimed this was to avoid an ambush by other inmates, by being transferred to the mental health wing, his later works state that he did so to "win a bet".
However the nickname "Chopper" was given to him long before this, from a childhood cartoon character. Several other members of Read's gang also cut off their own ears in a similar fashion after this incident.
Read was ambushed and stabbed by members of his own gang in a sneak attack, when they felt his plan to cripple every other inmate in the entire division and win the gang war in one fell swoop was going too far. Another theory is that James "Jimmy" Loughlan and "Blue" wished to benefit from a contract put on Chopper's head by the Dockers. Read lost several feet of bowel and intestine in the attack. Ironically, Jimmy Loughnan was a longtime friend of Read's.
Read was, at the time, serving a year sentence after attacking a judge in an effort to get Loughnan released from prison. Read once claimed to have served two years for GBH starting in after attacking a local pimp and drug pusher who was attempting to force a year-old schoolgirl into prostitution, claiming "It was worth it.
Described variously as witty, charismatic, sadistic, and frightening, Read admits to being involved in 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. Convicted of crimes including armed robbery, firearm offenses, assault and kidnapping, Read spent 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 , copies of his works. More recently, he has also found success as a recording artist. In , Read was featured in an advertisement on behalf of the Pedestrian Council of Australia warning of the dangers of drunk driving.
Read is seated at a kitchen table undoing his shirt and, while pointing to the numerous scars and injuries on his body, says:. In , Read appeared in another commercial speaking out against domestic violence. On 13 March , he released a rap album titled Interview with a Madman. He also appeared in the Australian comedy Trojan Warrior. Read allowed use of his name to Australia's heaviest alcoholic lager called "Chopper Heavy".
The beer is produced in Rutherglen, Victoria, a town associated with Australia's most notorious outlaw, Ned Kelly. Mark made the headlines again, on December 15, , after being questioned by police about an alleged incident in Johnson St Collingwood.
Read was attacked by a tomahawk-wielding man he claimed he had never met before. Read said, "I ran to the panel beaters and grabbed a steel pipe and he jumped into a car and nicked off. Read was questioned by detectives at Richmond CIU before being released without charge. His alleged attacker has not been found. The marriage produced one child, Charlie. They later divorced in On 19 January , he married long-time friend Margaret Cassar.
They have one son, Roy Brandon. He contracted Hepatitis C during his time in prison through using a blood-stained shaver. Read revealed in March that he only has two to five years to live and requires a liver transplant, which he has refused, saying he does not want to take away a liver from a more deserving recipient. Read's first book, Chopper: From the Inside, was collected from letters he sent while incarcerated in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison and published in It contains tales and anecdotes of his criminal and prison exploits.
Further biographical releases followed in a similar vein. However, with the advent of Chopper 5: Pulp Faction, Read began writing fictional tales based on his experiences of criminal life. Attempts were made to ban a children's book written by Read titled Hooky the Cripple. The film Chopper, starring Eric Bana as Read, was based on stories from Read's books and independent research, leading to events portrayed on screen which somewhat contradicted Read's version of events.
For instance, Read claimed in early books to be vehemently against drugs, but the film portrays him as a casual drug user. In response, Read stated, "You have to have tried something to be able to say you hate it. Bana has agreed to play Read again in the sequel to Chopper. Read has refused to deny reports that he will have a cameo in the film. 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. He also was a regular columnist for the British magazine FHM. He currently has a column in Zoo Weekly. 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 —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. Chopper was portrayed by Heath Franklin.
Read has praised Franklin's exaggerated impression, although he believes that Franklin is actually impersonating Eric Bana's film portrayal of Chopper, rather than Read himself.
Acclaimed science fiction author William Gibson based a character Keith Blackwell in the final two books of his Bridge trilogy on Read. In the second book of the trilogy, Idoru, Gibson wrote in his acknowledgments:. Read is a great deal scarier than Blackwell, and has even fewer ears.
I am Mark Brandon Read, but most characters like to call me "Chopper. Maybe they are all right! Maybe they are all wrong! Who really cares. For the record, it is because someone cut my ears off when I was in Melbourne's elite bluestone college - more commonly known as Pentridge. For some insane reason, some upstanding members of that institution were out to hurt me.
I summoned all my manners to politely suggest to the screws that I be transfered from H division. Believe me, it works. Note - For those that think this webpage is going to cover all the little intricate details and stories of my love, that I have told in my book If you want to know details about my life and why I am what I am, I suggest that you buy my books.
I haven't busted my hump for hour upon hour just to shoot myself in the foot now and give it all to you for free. No, no, no, that would be quite ridiculous. Instead, this site will be my initial foray into the cyberworld. Here I can sell products and provide you with details of what is happening in my immediate life. It is my international address, my very own "Chopper command centre" if you will. Now the Chopper movie is another little fable which in principle resembles my life.
It is a mixture of fact and fiction and at times a bit of friction, but one character from that movie does exist. His name is Nevile Bartos. Now I have known Neville for 25 years. Neville has saved my hide numerous times and without doubt if he hadn't been around, I wouldn't either. Now Neville is an Albanian and for those of you with a little knowledge about war, you would know that the Russians for many years, used Albanians as their assassins.
These people are totally loyal and totally dangerous. Let's just say Neville is no exception. Neville "gold shoes" Bartos, what an old chestnut. I don't want to step on any toes , but as the name suggests this man has done to attire, what Jack the Ripper did to late night shopping.
I mean, any more gold on this mans shoes, and it would be Australia's second goldrush. I don't know to whom he poses the greatest threat, to certain individuals or to the fashion industry.
His fashion sense, shoes particularly, are Below is a little photo of my home for many years. Coburg's very own Bluestone College. Now this was a true institution, bigger than Eton, Oxford or Harvard. Neville Bartos : Forget about it.
All right? Chopper : I mean, what the bloody hell were you doing getting lippy at me with a bloody shotgun? I had a bloody loaded shotgun. Neville Bartos : The leg is okay, all right? Neville Bartos : There's no cash here. Here there's no cash, alright? Robbo : No cash. Chopper : You reckon he'd want to throw a bit of cash my way? Nick : Yeah, nah, I don't think he'd go for that. He has become the most famous criminal in Australia, a standover man who claims to have robbed and killed only drug dealers and other criminals.
The action then shifts to Pentridge Prison in , where a younger, thinner Read establishes his reputation in jail by the vicious stabbing of Keithy George David Field , a member of the much feared criminal gang associated with the Victorian Painters and Dockers Union. The prison governor, Mr Beasley Fred Barker warns Read that they have put a contract out on him, but Read is dismayed when his best mate, Jimmy Loughnan Simon Lyndon stabs him seven times.
Loughnan claims at his subsequent trial that Read attacked him first. He shoots an old associate, drug dealer Neville Bartos Vince Colosimo , then drives him to hospital. The police eventually arrest him for the murder of the Turk. He is acquitted, but gets five years for other offences, and returns to jail.
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