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Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor (1888–1927) – Find A Grave Memorial )〕 (29 June 1888 – 27 October 1927) was an Australian-based career criminal and gangster from Melbourne, Victoria who died violently before his 40th birthday. He appeared repeatedly and sometimes prominently in Melbourne news media because of suspicions, formal accusations, and some convictions related to a 1919 violent gang war, to his absconding from bail and hiding from the police in 1921–22, and to his participating in a robbery where a bank manager was murdered in 1923. Taylor enjoyed a fearsome reputation in 1920s Melbourne. A "spiv", described as the Australian equivalent of the 'American bootleggers', his crimes ranged from pickpocketing, assault and shopbreaking to armed robbery and murder. He also derived income from sly-grog selling, two-up schools, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution and, in his later years, is believed by some to have moved into cocaine dealing. Although only a diminutive 5 ft 2in (156 cm) tall, Taylor made up what he lacked in stature with dark piercing eyes, a sharp tongue and a treacherous mind. He delighted in surrounding himself with an air of mystery and cleverness as well as always looking for opportunities to impress other members of the underworld.〔''The Argus'' (Melbourne), 28 October 1927, p.15.〕 To satisfy his vanity, he wrote letters to the media whilst in hiding from the police for 14 months and even co-starred with his girlfriend in a film, ''Riding to Win'', which was banned by the Victorian censor.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Squizzy Taylor, the reel-life gang-star )〕 He was even prepared to take the credit for other people's violent crimes to make himself appear to be a dangerous criminal always ready to use his gun. 〔''The Truth'' (Melbourne), 29 October 1927, p.7.〕 With many of his criminal exploits making newspaper headlines, Taylor became a household name in 1920s Melbourne. During this period, he was rarely convicted of serious offences through a combination of good luck, using stooges to take the risks, expensive legal representation, witness intimidation and jury fixing. His associates, Paddy Boardman and Henry Stokes, are reputed to have operated a lucrative jury fixing business. Through his daring exploits and ability to avoid conviction, Taylor came to be regarded as a criminal mastermind. However, some say that this reputation was not well-founded and that he was a criminal of "ordinary mentality".〔 He was despised by some of his underworld peers as a suspected police informer and a coward. In his later years, Taylor's influence in the underworld gradually waned. He was fatally wounded in a gunfight with a long-time rival gangster John Daniel "Snowy" Cutmore in October 1927. Even in death, an air of mystery continues to surround Taylor, with several unanswered questions remaining about the circumstances of his death. Taylor has only one known relative. His life and times came back into public attention, with the television series on the Nine television network in Australia, ''Underbelly: Squizzy'', which is loosely based biographic account of Taylor's life. ==Early life== Born in Brighton, Victoria, on 29 June 1888, Taylor was the second youngest child of Benjamin Isaiah Taylor, coachmaker, and Rosina Taylor (née Jones).〔''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120203b.htm〕 The family struggled financially and, after the family coachmaking business was sold by creditors in 1893,〔See, e.g., ''The Argus'' (Melbourne), 28 October 1893, p.2〕 they moved to the inner-Melbourne working-class suburb of Richmond.〔 With the death of his father in 1901, Taylor began working in the stables of a horse trainer and then as a jockey on Melbourne's inner-city pony circuit.〔''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' at http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120203b.htm〕 Taylor soon started to get into trouble with the police and in May 1905 at the age of 16 was arrested for insulting behaviour.〔Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 1931, Vol 14〕 He was discharged without conviction by the local magistrates, but this was the first of many court appearances. His first criminal conviction was recorded in March 1906 at the age of 17 when he was sentenced to 21 days imprisonment for the theft of a 'fly front grey Melton cloth overcoat'.〔''Victoria Police Gazette'', 1906; Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 1931, Vol 15〕 Although given the name 'Joseph Leslie Theodore' by his parents, Taylor preferred to use the name 'Leslie'. As a youth, Taylor became known by the nickname 'Squizzy' which stayed with him for the rest of his life. Like many nicknames, its origin is not obvious. Some people say it comes from the colloquial Australian word 'squiz' (which means 'to look or glance') and that Taylor squinted because of an ulcerated, droopy left eyelid. Other people attribute the nickname to way that Taylor ran, which they say was in a 'squizzy' motion. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Squizzy Taylor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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