Chopper Read says collapse claim was hoax

9 Oct 2012, 5:45 pm   -   Source: AAP
Notorious crime figure Mark

Notorious crime figure Mark "Chopper" Read has collapsed ahead of a media conference in Melbourne. (AAP)

Notorious criminal turned author Mark "Chopper" Read has rejected a film producer's claim he collapsed en route to a media appearance as a publicity stunt.

It has all the makings of a Hollywood drama: notorious crime figure Mark Chopper Read "collapsing" before a media appearance, and a producer accused of making it all up to prop up his ailing film.

Read, 57, who has terminal liver cancer, was due to appear in Melbourne's west on Tuesday to promote his "final film and TV appearance" in the gangster film The Hurtin' Kind Part One: The Albanian.

But when reporters arrived, Read was nowhere to be seen, with the film's producer Al Rama - a self-professed close friend and former bodyguard of Read's - delivering the sombre news that the gravely ill Chopper had collapsed.

"Unfortunately Chopper Read is very unwell ... he's collapsed today, so he won't be able to make it," Mr Rama told reporters in Footscray.

"I think his terminal cancer's playing up on him."

Mr Rama said Read "just sort of fainted, got dizzy and collapsed" while walking to his car, and later told AAP Read was recovering at home.

But Read, hardly known for being media-shy, got wind of Mr Rama's story and dismissed it as a hoax and a publicity stunt for the film, which is still seeking funds.

He told News Limited he's "as fit as a fig" and has no intention of being in the film, saying he'd been paid $7000 two years ago by Mr Rama to star in it, but had since pulled out following his cancer diagnosis in April.

"I don't even know what the film is called, let alone read a script," Read said.

"You can't go calling press conferences and announce someone has collapsed."

When confronted with Read's comments, Mr Rama denied his earlier claim that Read had collapsed but maintained his hope that Read would appear onscreen.

"He didn't collapse, I just assumed that he had because he's been very unwell," Mr Rama told AAP.

"I'm a bit under the weather myself."

He said he had met Read on Sunday, and even called him on Tuesday morning on a "really bad line", and received confirmation that he would appear in the film and the press conference as planned.

Read, however, says he firmly told Rama late on Monday he would not be attending, saying, "What part of the phrase 'liver cancer' don't you understand?"

Mr Rama said he still hoped that Read would be available to shoot limited scenes from the film in the wake of his illness, but he vowed to "respect the fact that he is ill" and said the project would proceed regardless.

Mr Rama says he got to know Read by performing bodyguard duties for him when the ex-con launched his public speaking career.

Read spent more than 23 years in jail up until 1998 for crimes including armed robbery, assault and kidnapping.

He was portrayed by Eric Bana in the 2000 film Chopper, and his autobiographical books have made him Australia's best-selling true crime author.

When Mr Rama was asked to explain his and Reed's wildly conflicting takes on Tuesday's faint-or-feint situation, he said, "It's a little bit strange".

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube