OLIVER REED

'Robert Oliver Reed' (February 13, 1938 – May 2, 1999) was an English actor known for his macho image on and off screen. His major films include ''Oliver!'', ''Women in Love'', ''The Devils'', ''The Three Musketeers'', ''Tommy,'' ''Castaway'', ''Lion of the Desert'', and ''Gladiator''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Drinking and death

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Reed was born in Wimbledon, London to sports journalist Peter Reed and his wife Marcia (née Andrews). He was the nephew of film director Sir Carol Reed, and grandson of the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree by his mistress May Pinney Reed. Oliver was dyslexic and was expelled from many different private schools. He took part in Ewell Castle School’s sports day and won several cups. He went straight from the sports field to a party. In the early hours of the following morning whilst walking home from the party, he was stopped by the police who suspected him to be a burglar with a swag of stolen cups. His father had to make a trip to the police station to explain that he was in fact very good at sports.

Career

Starting off as an extra in films in the late 1950s (Reed had no acting training or theatrical experience), Reed got his first notable roles in Hammer films ''Sword of Sherwood Forest'', ''The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll'' (both 1960), ''The Curse of the Werewolf'' (1961), ''Paranoiac'', and ''The Damned'' (not the Visconti film, but an earlier English movie directed by Joseph Losey and released in North America as ''These Are the Damned'') (both 1963). In 1964 he starred in the first of six films directed by Michael Winner, ''The System'', (known as ''The Girl-Getters'' in the U.S.). He first collaborated with director Ken Russell in a biopic of Claude Debussy in 1965, after which came his famous role in ''Women in Love'' (1969), in which he wrestled naked with Alan Bates in front of a log fire; then the controversial 1971 film ''The Devils'', and finally the 1975 musical film ''Tommy'', based on The Who's 1969 concept album ''Tommy'' and starring its lead singer Roger Daltrey. In between those films for Russell, Reed played his memorable role of Bill Sikes in his uncle Carol Reed's 1968 screen version of the hit musical ''Oliver!'', and the title role in the 1969 comedy ''Hannibal Brooks'', again for director Winner.
Reed starred as Athos in three films based on Alexandre Dumas's novels, first in 1973's ''The Three Musketeers'', followed by ''The Four Musketeers'' in 1974, and fifteen years later with ''The Return of the Musketeers''. He starred in a similarly historical themed film, ''Crossed Swords'' (aka ''The Prince and the Pauper''), as Miles Hendon alongside Raquel Welch in 1977, and returned to horror as Dr. Hal Raglan in David Cronenberg's 1979 film ''The Brood''. From the 80s onwards Reed's films had less success, his more notable roles being General Rodolfo Graziani in the 1981 film ''Lion of the Desert'', which costarred Anthony Quinn and chronicled the resistance to Italy's occupation of Libya during World War II; and as the middle aged Gerald Kingsland, who advertises for a 'wife' to live on a desert island for a year. The 'wife' is played by, a mostly naked, Amanda Donohoe in ''Castaway'' (1986). He also starred in the Iraqi historical film ''Clash of Loyalties'' (''al-Mas' Ala Al-Kubra'') in 1982 where he played Lt-Col Gerard Leachman during the 1920 revolution in Iraq. His last major successes were Terry Gilliam's ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (1988) (as the god Vulcan), ''Treasure Island'' (1990) (as Captain Billy Bones), ''Funny Bones'' (1995), and his final role as Proximo in ''Gladiator'', released after his death in 2000 (some footage depicting Reed's character was filmed after his death with a double digitally mixed with outtake footage taken before Reed's death). He was posthumously nominated for a British Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Gladiator. He was also posthumously nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award along with the rest of the principal players of Gladiator for Best Ensemble Cast.
When the UK government raised taxes on personal income, Reed initially declined to join the exodus of major British film stars to Hollywood and other more tax-friendly locales. During this time he began proclaiming himself as "Mr England", and turned down major roles in two hugely successful Hollywood movies: ''The Sting'' (1973) (although he did appear in the less than stellar sequel) and ''Jaws'' (1975). His ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary noted that in the late 1970s Reed was finally obliged to relocate to the Channel Islands as a tax exile.
An anecdote holds that Reed could have been chosen to play James Bond. In 1969, Bond franchise producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were looking for a replacement for Sean Connery, and Reed was a prime candidate. They ultimately decided against hiring him, however, because they felt his public, alcohol-fueled antics made him too much of a liability. After Reed's death, the ''Guardian Unlimited'' called the casting decision "one of the great missed opportunities of post-war British movie history ... He would also have spared us George Lazenby, and perhaps Roger Moore as well."

Personal life

In 1959, Reed wed Kate Byrne. They had one son, Mark, before their divorce in 1969. He then lived with dancer Jackie Daryl, with whom he had a daughter, Sarah. In 1985, he married Josephine Burge, and stayed with her until his death.

Drinking and death

Reed was famous for his excessive drinking, which fitted in with the "social" attitude of many rugby teams in the 1960s and '70s, and there are numerous anecdotes such as Reed and 36 friends drinking, in an evening, 60 gallons of beer, 32 bottles of Scotch, 17 bottles of gin, four crates of wine and one bottle of Babycham. He subsequently revised the story that he drunk 106 pints of beer on a 2-day binge before marrying Josephine; "The event that was reported actually took place during an arm-wrestling competition in Guernsey about 15 years ago, it was highly exaggerated." Steve McQueen told the story that in 1973 he had flown to the UK to discuss a film project with Reed and suggested the pair go to a nightclub in London. This led to a marathon pub crawl during which Reed threw up on McQueen.
Reed was often irritated that his appearances on TV chat shows concentrated on his drinking feats, rather than his latest film. David Letterman cut to a commercial when it appeared Reed might get violent after being asked too many questions about his drinking. Near the end of his life he was brought onto some TV shows specifically for his drinking; for example ''The Word'' put bottles of drink in his dressing room so he could be secretly filmed getting drunk. He was forced to leave the set of the Channel 4 television discussion programme ''After Dark'' after arriving drunk and attempting to kiss feminist writer Kate Millett. He was drunk on the chat show ''Aspel and Company'', and on another occasion removed his trousers during an interview.
He was happiest in the company of hospital porters and gardeners rather than with the rich and famous, although drummer Keith Moon (of The Who) was a very close friend up to Moon's death.
In later years, Reed could often be seen quietly drinking with his wife Josephine Burge, at the bar of the White Horse Hotel in the High Street in Dorking, Surrey, not far from his home in Oakwoodhill. He had sold his larger house, 'Broome Hall', between the villages of Coldharbour and Ockley some years previously.
He died suddenly from a heart attack during a break from filming ''Gladiator'' in Valletta, Malta and was heavily intoxicated when he died, racking up an $866 alcohol bill. He had reportedly drunk three bottles of Captain Morgan's rum, eight bottles of beer and numerous doubles of Famous Grouse whisky. He also beat five much younger Royal Navy sailors at arm wrestling at a bar called "The Pub." (The owners have since added "Ollie's Last Pub" to the sign.^[1]) Several of his scenes in ''Gladiator'' had to be completed using cgi techniques. His funeral was held in Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. The song "Consider Yourself" from ''Oliver!'' was played at the funeral.

References

1.


★ (Friday May 7, 1999). "Devil of an actor". Retrieved Feb. 24, 2006.

External links

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★ OliverReed.net

★ Interview from Playmen, by Michael Pergolani, August 8, 2000

★ Oliver Reed Discussion Forum