Crime figure turned author Mark "Chopper" Read has been laid to rest at a small family burial in Melbourne.
Read, who died aged 58 last week after a battle with liver cancer, was farewelled by family at an invitation-only burial at Fawkner, Lonergan and Raven funeral director Nigel Davies said.
"Today we did a very small, private burial," Davies said.
"Invitation only.
"There were only a few family members in attendance."
A public service will be held for Read on Thursday at Clifton Hill.
"He has always said that he didn't mind who got up and said what at his funeral," Davies said.
Read spent more than 23 years in jail for crimes including armed robbery, assault and kidnapping, including trying to abduct a Victorian County Court judge at gunpoint.
His 1991 memoir, Chopper from the Inside: Confessions of the Australian Underworld's Most Feared Headhunter, became a bestseller. It formed the basis of the 2000 cult film Chopper, which catapulted Eric Bana on to the world stage as a serious actor.
When Read left jail for the last time in the late 1990s, his life took on a more cultural bent. After his first memoir, written with the help of John Silvester and Andrew Rule, Read published more books based on his exploits, then turned to crime fiction.
Read also took up painting, with considerable success. Read's first exhibition, at Dante's in Fitzroy, sold out. Buyers included the State Library of Victoria, which paid $1400 for a Read self-portrait.
Read released a rap album, Interview with a Madman, in 2006. He also appeared in television advertisements speaking out against drink driving and domestic violence.
In 2005, Read toured Australia with Mark "Jacko" Jackson in the show I'm Innocent. He later did a stage show with the disgraced former New South Wales detective Roger Rogerson.
Read made his last stage appearance on September 23, at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre.
- AAP
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