NOTORIOUS Melbourne criminal Mark "Chopper'' Read has died after a long battle with liver cancer.

Read, who bragged of killing more than a dozen criminals, was surrounded by family when he passed away at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

But former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina declared Read's life should not be glorified, saying: "He's been revered, and people forget his violent past."

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"You can never lose sight of the fact that he was a criminal, and spent 23 years behind bars."

Read, whose life was immortalised in a film starring Eric Bana, was diagnosed in April last year.

media_camera Mark "Chopper'' Read has died after a long battle with liver cancer.

The 58-year old's death comes just two weeks after he performed a sold-out stand-up show at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre.

He was admitted to hospital just days later but went home last week to be with his family before returning to hospital.

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Doctors had told the father of two that he would not live beyond Christmas.

In August, Read told the Herald Sun he would prove the doctors wrong.

"I took great offence at that. I told her: 'How dare you predict my death at Christmas! I'll tell you when I'm going to die, not you tell me','' he said.

Read said his illness stemmed from contracting hepatitis C while in prison.

He had also battled cirrhosis.

"My time has come,'' Read said. "They told me to go home and die.''

Read's manager Andrew Parisi said he fought a long and courageous battle against cancer.

"Despite his failing health, he delighted the audience (in his last show) with his skills as a raconteur and storyteller. This is how he would wish to be remembered, as someone who spun a great yarn and made many people laugh,'' he said.

Mr Parisi said despite Read's criminal past, he had lived a quiet life with his wife Margaret in their Collingwood home for more than 15 years.

media_camera Chopper Read was a revered figure, but had a violent past.

"He worked as a writer, painter and public speaker, paid his taxes and took care of his family,'' he said.

Mr Parisi said he hoped people would remember Read for the way he changed his life, rather than his criminal upbringing.

"We ask that people reflect on how Mark was able to overcome his past and, after more than 23 years in prison, find a way to re-enter 'normal' society. It is as a husband, father and friend that Mark will be missed most deeply,'' he said.

Crime Victims Support Association president Noel McNamara said he and Read had their differences, but he bore no hard feelings.

"He was all right, apart from some of his ideas being different to mine. We had our arguments," he said.

"He was a larger than life character, I guess you'd call him."

Read had an uneasy start to easy life. He was made a ward of the state at age 14 and was placed in various mental institutions as a teenager.

In these institutions he claims he received up to 60 episodes of shock treatment.

Between the ages 20 to 38, Read spent the majority of his life behind bars for a range of crimes including armed robbery, assault, arson, kidnapping and firearm offences.

He was well known for his sadistic torture methods involving a blowtorch and bolt cutters, which were often employed to remove victims' toes.

Read, who claimed to have been involved in the killing of 19 people and the attempted murder of 11 others, was last freed from prison in 1998, after serving six years for inflicting grievous bodily harm on a bikie by shooting him in the chest.

Read's Twitter bio tells you nearly all you need to know about a man who was unashamed of the hard life he had led.

"23 Years 9 Months Jail. Stabbed. Bashed. Shot. Run Over. 60 serves of shock treatment. Certified 3 times. Author. Artist. Actor."

Read claimed to have been stabbed seven times and gouged to the head with a claw hammer.

He had a fellow inmate cut his ears off while in prison, which he said was part of a plan to avoid an ambush at Pentridge's H division.

Read's books were always popular with a broad readership, so much so that he became Australia's most popular crime author.

In 1991 he released Chopper: From the Inside, which sold more than 300,000 copies.

He also sold out at least four art exhibitions, and in 2003 sold a self-portrait to the State Library of Victoria for $1400.

Read also dabbled in a wide variety of music from gangsta rap to the the Blues.

- with Anthony Sharwood