![]() The film launched Bana into mainstream success as a movie star after a career primarily limited to the Australian comedy scene. The film was a success in Australia and received some global recognition as well. After serving his term, Read proves unfit for the outside world and soon lands back in prison, where he can take only fleeting comfort in the tabloid fame that his antics and charm have brought him. Read is shown to be a violent and unbalanced man with a forceful and often gregarious personality. The film begins with the incidents leading up to his famous self-mutilation, in which he had his ears chopped off in order to escape retaliation from a rival. The film portrays a portion of Read's storied life, beginning and ending in prison. The movie cemented Read's legacy as a thug and won awards for Bana, who went on to star in Hollywood blockbusters.A 2000 Australian film directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Eric Bana as the infamous Real Life Melbourne criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read. ![]() Read's violent life was depicted in the 2000 movie, Chopper, starring Eric Bana. He had completed a series of tattooed, machine gun-wielding Ned Kelly portraits and sold a self-portrait to the State Library of Victoria for $1,400. Having been a free man since 1998, Read has turned to less violent pursuits, painting and selling more than 100 artworks for as much as $6,500. Read went on to marry long-term friend Margaret Cassar in 2003 and they had a son, Roy Brandon, now aged 10. Hodge later dispelled any notion of her ex-husband being a "lovable rogue", recounting his violent mood swings, fuelled by alcohol and prescription drugs. The pair had a son, Charlie, and divorced in 2003 after Read went to Melbourne and never returned. Read confessed in a 2007 interview that he had married Hodge purely on legal advice in an attempt to get out of jail. Hodge, who was private-school educated and working for the Tax Office, had read his 1991 book, Chopper: From The Inside, and wanted to meet him. Read met and married Mary-Ann Hodge while incarcerated in Tasmania's Risdon prison in 1995. Here's 13 things you may not know about Chopper.He later wrote to the judge from his cell to apologise. In 1978 he attempted to kidnap Judge Bill Martin, holding a single-barrel sawn-off shotgun to his throat. His most outrageous exploits included having his ears cut off with a razor blade while in the notorious H block at Pentridge prison. He was described as a powerful force inside prison, leading a group of inmates known as The Overcoat Gang for the home-made weapons they concealed beneath their clothes. However, Silvester once described him as as a "ruthless gunman" and a "violent psychopath".īetween the ages of 20 and 38, Read spent only 13 months as a free man. "Probably about four or seven, depending on how you look at it," he said. Read never let the truth get in the way of a good story, telling The New York Times earlier this year: "Honestly, I haven't killed that many people." His books, written in conjunction with journalists Andrew Rule and John Silvester, have been described by Silvester as "the greatest crime committed against literature in the history of the written word".īoasting of having been involved in the killings of 19 people and attempted murder of a further 11, Read was cleared of the only murder charge he ever faced. If you're waiting for a heartfelt apology or a tearful rendition of Danny Boy, you'll be a long time waiting because I don't regret nothing I did.
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