Overview (5)

Mini Bio (1)

Oliver Reed was born on February 13, 1938 in Wimbledon, London, England as Robert Oliver Reed. He was an actor, known for Gladiator (2000), Oliver! (1968) and Dr. Heckyl und Mr. Hype (1980). He was married to Josephine Burge and Kate Byrne. He died on May 2, 1999 in Valletta, Malta.



Spouse (2)

Trade Mark (4)

Outspoken views a trademark especially his opinions of his co-stars or women in general.



Marvellous speaking voice



Often sported a thick handle-bar moustache



Ocean blue eyes



Trivia (91)



Shared the same dentist as horror star Christopher Lee

Needed 36 stitches to repair cuts on his face after a bar fight in 1963. The incident left him with a permanent scar, which he initially feared would put an end to his screen career.





He had two brothers. David Reed became his business manager and his half-brother Simon Reed became his press agent.



Nephew of the film director Sir Carol Reed , who directed him in his breakthrough role as the villainous Bill Sikes in Oliver! (1968).



Father of Mark Thurloe Reed (born January 21, 1961) with his first wife Kate Byrne and of Sarah Reed (born 1970) from his 12-year relationship to dancer Jacqueline Daryl

He died of a heart attack in a bar after downing three bottles of Captain Morgan's Jamaica rum, eight bottles of German beer, numerous doubles of Famous Grouse whiskey and Hennessy cognac, and beating five much younger Royal Navy sailors at arm-wrestling. His bar bill for that final lunch time totaled 270 Maltese lira, almost £450, about $594.72.





He was severely injured and almost died during the filming of Die drei Musketiere (1973) when he was stabbed in the throat during the windmill duel scene.



Grandson of actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree , who founded the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1904.

His first job (at the age of 17) was as a bouncer at a Soho nightclub.



Was dyslexic.





Narrowly missed out on playing superspy James Bond because of his love of alcohol and fighting. A new biography of the star uncovered a letter from Bond mastermind Albert R. Broccoli outlining how close he came to replacing Sean Connery in the role. Broccoli wrote, "With Reed we would have had a far greater problem to destroy his image and re-mold him as James Bond. We just didn't have the time or money to do that." According to Cliff Goodwin , author of the book "Evil Spirits", "Oliver was probably within a sliver of being cast as Bond." He adds, "But by 1968 his affairs were public and he was already drinking and fighting - as far away from the refined Bond image as you could get.".



By the mid-1970s he was considered by many to be Britain's biggest movie star. He declined roles in Der Clou (1973) and Der weiße Hai (1975) because he didn't want to relocate to Los Angeles. Both of these roles were taken by fellow British hellraiser Robert Shaw . However, a Hollywood executive claimed, "Reed didn't turn us down. We turned him down. We like our stars to have respect - Oliver Reed didn't respect anyone and he showed it."



The actor he admired most was Errol Flynn



In 1973 Steve McQueen flew to England to meet Reed and discuss a possible film collaboration. "Reed showed me his country mansion and we got on well," recalled McQueen. "He then suggested he take me to his favorite London nightclub." The drinking, which started at Reed's home, Broome Hall, continued into the night until Reed could hardly stand. Suddenly, and with no apparent warning, he vomited over McQueen's shirt and trousers. "The staff rushed around and found me some new clothes, but they couldn't get me any shoes," said McQueen. "I had to spend the rest of the night smelling of Oliver Reed's sick."



Michael Winner and former snooker champion Alex Higgins , himself suffering from throat cancer, were the only celebrities to attend Reed's funeral in Ireland.



His wrestling scene with Alan Bates in Liebende Frauen (1969) was the first time full frontal male nudity had featured in a mainstream movie.



Reed died during the filming of Ridley Scott 's Gladiator (2000), and it cost the company $3 million to recreate his face so he could "appear" in the scenes he still had left to shoot.



Agreed to appear in the small but vital role of casino boss Eddie Mars in Tote schlafen besser (1978) just because he admired the film's star Robert Mitchum so much.



Described his role as Father Grandier in Ken Russell 's Die Teufel (1971) as the best performance he ever gave.



In 1968 he was signed to star as William the Conqueror in a British film about the Norman Conquest with Michael Winner directing, but the project fell through.

He never had any acting training or stage experience.



For a brief period in the late 1960s Reed was the highest paid actor in Europe, but by the early 1980s he was reduced to starring in dire European films.





In addition to acting, Reed released several singles in the popular music vein, though with limited success. These included "Wild One"/"Lonely for a Girl" (1961), "Sometimes"/"Ecstasy" (1962), "Baby It's Cold Outside" (duet with Joyce Blair ) and "Wild Thing" (1992) (duet with snooker ace Alex Higgins ). Oliver also later narrated a track called "Walpurgis Nacht" by heavy metal band Death SS.

During the Falklands War in 1982, the highly patriotic Reed covered his house in a huge Union Jack flag and decorated every room with military memorabilia.





According to director Ken Russell , the original script for Liebende Frauen (1969) did not include the famous nude wrestling scene because he felt it wouldn't pass the censors and would be difficult to shoot. It wasn't until Reed talked him into it by literally throwing his weight around--he wrestled Russell in his kitchen, pinned him down, and wouldn't let him up unless he agreed to shoot it.



At age 22, Reed was paid £90 per week for his first starring role in Der Fluch von Siniestro (1961). But the film would not be seen in Spain for many years. It was banned because it was thought the film portrayed Spain as a backward nation.

He never forgot his Hammer roots. After hitting the big time, he went back to pay homage to his horror beginnings to narrate the full Hammer retrospective, a reminder that his voice was the one quality the English critics admired about him.



Reed remains the only British film star who never had any stage work of any kind. A 1980s National Portrait Gallery show noted this, saying he was their only pure film actor.





He starred in the first film to say "fuck", Was kommt danach...? (1967). He also starred in the first British film to be rated X just for the violent content, Blutroter Morgen (1972).

The public house in Malta in which he died, previously known as "The Pub", was renamed "Ollie's Last Pub" in his memory.





Owned a villa in the south of France next door to Jack Hawkins ' villa.



On location for Leise weht der Wind des Todes (1971), Reed bemoaned the necessity of faking an American accent and this, coupled with his love of Broome Hall and English pubs, was enough to cement his decision not to move to Hollywood.

Bought Broome Hall, a 63-bedroom Victorian mansion in Surrey, in 1970.





Lost weight to appear in Castaway - Die Insel (1986) on a diet of vodka.



Had a tattoo on his penis. According to Patrick Warburton , Reed showed him the tattoo the first day they worked together.



He was nearly killed in a friendly sword-fight with director Ken Russell . He described the incident in the December 1973 issue of Photoplay Film Monthly: "Ken Russell came down here last Sunday and we had a fight. I have two large, double-handed swords and he nearly killed me. He tore my shirt right down to here, and I was only fighting with a small sword, from Die drei Musketiere (1973), and I said, "I'm going to kill you!" So, he said, "I'm going to kill you!!" All his viewfinders and his pince nez, and his silver hearts with "I am allergic to aspirin" on them, his Mickey Mouse shoes, his pontification about people's varicose veins, that was all blown to the wind. He left here at four. He said, "you didn't really mean that about killing me, did you?" But we were very serious at the time. But whatever it is that allows for that lunacy or sense of the ridiculous comes across in the work that we do. He's extraordinarily talented.".



Once reckoned that the strenuous filming of Die Teufel (1971) took four years off his natural life.



Had an intense dislike for Jack Nicholson , whom he called "a balding midget". (Reed claimed Nicholson was only 5'7" tall).



Said that when he made the infamous drunken appearance on the Michael Aspel chat show when he sang a raucous rendition of "Wild Thing", that the producers of that show had plied him with spirits in the green room prior to the interview so that he was already plastered when he came on stage.

In 1979 he published an autobiography, entitled "Reed All About Me". Asked to describe the book by an interviewer he replied, "It's a load of bollocks really.".



He once described his purpose in life as "shafting the girlies and downing the sherbie.".





Was heavily criticized in the late 1980s for appearing in exploitation films produced by the infamous impresario Harry Alan Towers , most of which were filmed in South Africa under the apartheid regime, and released straight to video in the US and UK.



In order to avoid charges of nepotism Reed deliberately avoided working for his uncle, director Sir Carol Reed , until he was already established as a star in British movies.



He stated in 1974 his favorite book was "The House on Pooh Corner" by A.A. Milne

He enjoyed playing golf and (lawn) bowls.



He loved horses all his life and also enjoyed breeding and rearing them.



He suffered from acute tinnitus for many years.



He won army sprint races while serving his national service.



Buried in Bruhenny Cemetery in Buttevant, Cork (Ireland). His grave-site was picked so that it was in full view of his favorite pub.



His paternal great-grandfather, Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm, was of German, Lithuanian, and Dutch ancestry.





He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Oliver! (1968) and Gladiator (2000).



He turned down the role of Doyle Lonnegan in Der Clou (1973) but later played the role in Zwei ausgekochte Gauner (1983).



He was arrested for walking in public without clothes while filming Die Brut (1979) and for fighting in a bar just after filming had ended on Avanaida - Todesbiss der Satansviper (1983).



At his trial in 2014 Max Clifford claimed he had helped cover up Reed's liking for underage girls.



The January 16, 1974, edition of Variety, in the Film Production section, reports the movie The Captive began filming Sep. 13, 1973, producer/director Herb Freed , starring Reed, Fernando Rey , and Curd Jürgens . No evidence the movie was ever released.



He turned down the role of Attila Mellanchini in 1900 (1976) that went to Donald Sutherland

In October 1981, Reed was arrested in Vermont, where he was tried and acquitted of disturbing the peace while drunk. However, he pleaded no contest to two assault charges and was fined $1,200.



In December 1987, Reed, who was overweight and already suffered from gout, became seriously ill with kidney problems as a result of his alcoholism and had to abstain from drinking for over one year on the advice of his doctor.





He was going to play Captain Bligh in Die Bounty (1984) when David Lean was going to direct.



He was originally cast as Mordechai "Fingers" Adams in Die Piratenbraut (1995), but was fired after getting in a bar fight and threatening to expose himself to Geena Davis George Murcell eventually took his place.



He was originally cast as James Parker in Tarzan, Herr der Affen (1981), but was forced to withdraw, due to a strike by the Screen Actors Guild, of which he was a member. When the production resumed filming, Reed had moved on to star in Die schwarze Mamba (1981) and his role was taken by Richard Harris



Reed was held partly responsible for the demise of BBC1's Sin on Saturday (1982) after some typically forthright comments on the subject of lust, the sin featured on the first programme. The show had many other problems, and a fellow guest revealed that Reed recognised this when he arrived and virtually had to be dragged in front of the cameras. Near the end of his life, he was brought onto some TV shows specifically for his drinking; for example The Word (1990) put bottles of liquor in his dressing room so he could be secretly filmed getting drunk. He left the set of the Channel 4 television discussion programme After Dark after arriving drunk and attempting to kiss feminist writer Kate Millett , uttering the phrase, "Give us a kiss, big tits". However, Cliff Goodwin's biography of Reed, "Evil Spirits", offered the theory that Reed was not always as drunk on chat shows as he appeared to be, but rather was acting the part of an uncontrollably sodden former star to liven things up, at the producers' behests.

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. In the late 1970s Reed finally relocated to Guernsey as a tax exile. He had sold his large house, Broome Hall, between the villages of Coldharbour and Ockley some years earlier and initially lodged at the Duke of Normandie Hotel in Saint Peter Port.



In his final years, when he lived in Ireland, Reed was a regular in the one-roomed O'Brien's Bar in Churchtown, County Cork, close to the 13th-century cemetery in the heart of the village where he was laid to rest.





He was due to star in My Uncle Silas (2001). Following his death, his role went to Albert Finney



He was briefly sought to play Heathcliffe in Sturmhöhe (1970).

During the filming of "The Three Musketeers," co-star Christopher Lee described Oliver Reed as "a menace" when armed with a sword.



Michael Winner said that Oliver Reed was a rather shy, withdrawn person when sober.



Was mocked by Richard Harris when the Irish actor sent Reed two crutches. On one crutch was written the name Ken Russell and the other on Michael Winner's name on it. Included was a note from Harris which read: "Careful Ollie old boy. Don't lose these crutches, otherwise you shall fall right on your a***.".



Was wary of co-star Klaus Kinski during the filming of "Venom," owing to the German actor's notorious temper.



From the late 1980s till his passing, Oliver Reed began to mellow and was able to put his wild lifestyle behind him.



As well as being good friends with actor Richard Harris since the late 1960s, he would go on to become distantly related to him by marriage via their connections with James and Edward Fox.



In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was often seen in the Dog & Fox Hotel public bar in Wimbledon Village, London.



He once bought a man in a pub a house in Scotland simply because he promised he would if he became famous.



He and Russell Crowe didn't get along during the making of Gladiator (2000).



Max Clifford testified in court that he helped cover up Reed's interest in underage girls.



Personal Quotes (36)

You meet a better class of people in pubs.



I do not live in the world of sobriety.



My only regret is that I didn't drink every pub dry and sleep with every woman on the planet.



I believe that my woman shouldn't work outside the home. When I come home and I'm tired from filming all day, I expect her to be there and make sure that everything is cool for me. You know, like drawing my bath and helping me into bed. That's the kind of job she had and, in return for it, she can bear my children and if any man talks bad to her, I'll hit him.





Die Abenteuer des Baron Münchhausen (1988) was about the only time I've been allowed to do what I want with a part. You can be over-directed by people, but Terry [ Terry Gilliam ] let me have my own way. There was a scene we rehearsed on Saturday where we really hit our stride. When we resumed, Terry said on the Sunday, "You seemed to be having much more fun with the character yesterday. Could you take it a bit further? I didn't need to be told twice! Once I realized I could get away with it, off I went!



There is, of course, a world of difference between cricket and the movie business . . . I suppose doing a love scene with Raquel Welch roughly corresponds to scoring a century before lunch.

American men like their women to have these special teeth and be perfectly coiffured and have amazing breasts. Have you seen an Italian mama with those kinds of teeth, that kind of hair, and that kind of waist? They're not like that. They're in the kitchen cooking for their families - doing what they should do. I believe my woman shouldn't work outside the home.



I also use women as a sex object; maybe I'm kinky. However, I like to talk to them as well.



I like the effect drink has on me. What's the point of staying sober?



I'm the biggest star this country has got, destroy me and you destroy the whole British film industry.





Richard Burton was hitting the bottle with Jimmy Hurt the night before his death. He knew it was going to kill him, but he did not stop. I don't have a drink problem. But if that was the case and doctors told me I would have to stop, I'd like to think I would be brave enough to drink myself into the grave.

Life shouldn't be about sitting around staring at frosted glass. Life should be lived and that's all there is to it.





Nicholson [ Jack Nicholson ]? As far as I'm concerned, he's a balding midget. He stands five-foot-seven, you know. He tries to play heavies and doesn't quite make it.

I'm not a villain. I've never hurt anyone. I'm just a tawdry character who explodes now and again.



I like to give my inhibitions a bath now and then.



I do think a carpenter needs a good hammer to bang on the wall.



I have made many serious statements -- I just can't remember any of them. I guess they mustn't have been very important.



I have two ambitions in life: one is to drink every pub dry, the other is to sleep with every woman on earth.



Once a pirate, always a pirate. I'm a buccaneer - a bucco - through and through. I'm the same old Ollie I was years ago. Ollie Reed doesn't change.



My acting school was, and still is, life in the raw - the whole wide world as a stage. I didn't go into a shop full of mirrors, I stayed outside and gazed at the reflections of life. I've got a lot of performances stored away at the back of my mind, ready to come out in front of the cameras when they are needed.





I was disappointed in Sonja Henie . Her legs were muscle-bound and unattractive and didn't give me the urge to give her one.



At one point I would have liked the role of Heathcliff in Sturmhöhe (1970). Then I saw it done by Laurence Olivier on television and he was so good that I decided to forget about it.



[on Die Teufel (1971)] It vividly shows a side of the church that was never scrutinized attentively or even less accepted. The film shows that the monarchy can be weak, that the church can be corrupt, that society can admit that it has a lot to learn. I think these kinds of things were hidden from audiences for a long time. The masses go to the movies, not the intellectual elites.

I didn't go to acting school, only to normal school. I'm not for acting schools because I suspect that the majority of the teachers are there because they can't find work as actors or because they think they can teach people to act but haven't had much experience themselves in the field. What I mean is that my skepticism derives from the fact that I believe that for an actor it's much more important to learn with the audience . . . the audience is the real teacher and it's the audience that has taught me what I know. The audience's reaction tells me what I need to do, just as the audience's reaction makes you into a first-rate star. It's easy: the important thing is that a sufficient number of people, an audience, in a sufficient number of countries is willing to spend money to go see this actor. At this point the movie producers interfere and ask you to work on this or that film. And then one becomes an actor with international success depending on the public's reaction.



Theatre doesn't interest me. It doesn't interest me because in England theatre means warm gin during intermission, not being able to smoke in the theatre, eat chocolates and try to find out who else is present in order to then greet them in the foyer. Going to this or that theatre premiere is very much an "in" thing to do. But this is only one of the reasons; the second reason is a bit more professional. Logically speaking, I think that for an actor or an actress working in the theatre is boring, but I am not referring to theatre actors who have always worked there, and this my own boring opinion, but because it means reciting the same lines every night six nights a week, not counting matinées . . . boring, don't you think?



I think that the most important achievement of my career was getting paid for something that I really wanted to do.





[on his role as Father Grandier in Die Teufel (1971)] You would think from the critics' hostility that Ken Russell had tried to pull off some obscene hoax. On the contrary, the film is, I think, an utterly serious attempt to understand the nature of religious and political persecution. It is not in any way exaggerated. If anything, the horrors perpetrated in Loudun in the 17th century were worse than Russell has chosen to show . . . the character of the priest was a marvelous one to act. Ken Russell's brother-in-law is an historian and he helped me research Grandier's life, with particular reference to his thesis in celibacy. The people of Loudun loved him. He walked among the plague victims and comforted them. I started to play him as a priest and realized that he was a politician.



I bluster my way through, and I sing rather like a rugby forward. Tommy (1975) is an amazing visual film and the music is astonishing. I think for anyone to translate The Who 's music in terms of images, it must be somebody like [ Ken Russell ]--or a lunatic!



[on his role as Father Grandier in Die Teufel (1971)] It was certainly the most difficult and the most strenuous part I have ever played. And I think, quite important.



[on public reaction to Die Teufel (1971)] I remember noticing the gleam in [ Ken Russell 's] eye while everybody was working away on the set, so I knew something good was going on. What they said afterward was totally incredible. We were regarded as pornographers in Italy. We'd have been arrested if we went there.



[on directors Michael Winner and Ken Russell ] Winner gave me my bread and Russell gave me my art.



[on making Die Teufel (1971)] It was a difficult and tiring role. I don't think anyone in their right mind would say that they had fun shooting that film. It wasn't created with the intent of having fun or being pleasurable; on the contrary, it was analyzed acutely and made with extreme seriousness. It was definitely a film about a certain society and the things that society did. We tried to show that humans are diabolical or can be as diabolical as in the film. I didn't have fun, it was four months of hard work and if anyone has the courage or the desire to sit his ass down on a firecracker and scream for four months with Ken Russell yelling in your ears, well . . .



[on criticism of Die Teufel (1971)] It was very disturbing to make. I still haven't got over it... Where do you draw the line? This is the way it happened - those nuns were used for political ends, toted round France as a side show for a year. Do you ignore the actual historical accuracy and the fact that the Church, the politicians and the aristocracy were corrupt? I get so angry with the opinion makers who class it with the sex films. If we ignore history because it was unpleasant we're going to end up with nothing but nature films.

One day I should like to live in Ireland. I love the Irish, the more I see of other races the more I believe the Irish are the only real people left, and apart from that they have space and clear air in which to wander and think and to feel free.



[on claims he only got into movies because of his uncle] I am not a product of nepotism.





Rita Tushingham was not the most fantastically classical beautiful woman that England has ever produced, but she is, and I mean this, fantastic. She's got the pair of eyes that I would like to go swimming in.

Salary (3)