Squizzy Taylor
Squizzy Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor 29 June 1888 |
| Died | 27 October 1927 (aged 39) Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Other names | Leslie Grout, Michael McGee, David Donoghue, The Turk |
| Occupation | Criminal |
| Spouse(s) | Irene Lorna Kelly (m. 1920; div. 1924) Ida Muriel Pender (m. 1924) |
| Children | June Lorraine Taylor Lesley Taylor Patricia Gloria Taylor |
Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor (29 June 1888 – 27 October 1927) was an Australian gangster from Melbourne. He appeared repeatedly and sometimes prominently in Melbourne news media because of suspicions, formal accusations and some convictions related to a 1919 gang war, to his absconding from bail and hiding from the police in 1921–22, and to his involvement 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.
As of 2024, Squizzy Taylor was depicted in the TV Series Vendetta 19 created by best selling author Roy Maloy which was filmed in Victoria, Australia. It stars Tom Levi as a young Squizzy Taylor in the midst of the 1908 Fitzroy Vendetta.