Oliver Reed | |
|---|---|
 Reed in 1968 | |
| Born | Robert Oliver Reed 13 February 1938 Wimbledon, London, England |
| Died | 2 May 1999 (aged 61) Valletta, Malta |
| Burial place | Bruhenny Graveyard, Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland |
| Education | Ewell Castle School |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1955–1999 |
| Spouses | Kate Byrne
(m. 1959; div. 1969)Josephine Burge (m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (grandfather) Sir Carol Reed (uncle) |
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor, known for his upper-middle class, macho image[1] and his heavy-drinking, "hellraiser" lifestyle.[2][3] His screen career spanned over 40 years, between 1955 and 1999. At the peak of his career, in 1971, British exhibitors voted Reed fifth-most-popular star at the box office.[4]
After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his notable film roles included La Bete in The Trap (1966), Bill Sikes in Oliver! (a film directed by his uncle Carol Reed that won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Picture), Gerald in Women in Love (1969), the title role in Hannibal Brooks (1969), Urbain Grandier in The Devils (1971), Athos in The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974), Uncle Frank in Tommy (1975), Dr. Hal Raglan in The Brood (1979), Dolly Hopkins in Funny Bones (1995) and Antonius Proximo in Gladiator (2000).
For playing the old, gruff gladiator trainer in Ridley Scott's Gladiator, in what was his final film, Reed was posthumously nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in 2000.
The British Film Institute (BFI) stated that "partnerships with Michael Winner and Ken Russell in the mid-[19]60s saw Reed become an emblematic Brit-flick icon", but from the mid-1970s his alcoholism began affecting his career, with the BFI adding: "Reed had assumed Robert Newton's mantle as Britain's thirstiest thespian".[5]
- ^ "Actor Oliver Reed once drank 100 pints in 24 hours". LADbible. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (11 July 2019). "Men behaving badly: why cinema's great hellraisers were a breed apart". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Cabrerizo, Felipe (5 May 2024). "'When he's sober, he's boring as hell': 25 years without Oliver Reed, the star who televised his long decline". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Waymark, Peter (30 December 1971). "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas," The Times, London, p. 2.
- ^ "Oliver Reed: 10 essential films". BFI. Retrieved 27 April 2022.