"You meet a better class of people in pubs"

August 25, 2008 5:10 AM

Oliver Reed. Movie star or hellraiser? Actor or alcoholic? But it was probably not as simple as that... The Real Oliver Reed (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (Poss. NSFW Brief nudity)

Oliver Reed: The original hellraiser
15 Things You Genuinely Didn’t Know About Oliver Reed
The infamous Aspel appearance , More on that and other chat show appearances
Oliver Reed - Resurrecting Proximo (1, 2, 3)
Uncut interview from 1992 (1, 2)
Johnny Carson interview (1, 2, 3)
At the Oliver! reunion (Poss. NSFW some swearing)
Reed on The Word
Spitting Image
... and finally the last pub. RIP

posted by fearfulsymmetry (28 comments total)

Actor or alcoholic?

It is a pity that the drinker must continually defend himself against the charges of alcoholism.
posted by three blind mice at 5:29 AM on August 25, 2008 [5 favorites]

He was 61 years old and was reported to be heavily intoxicated at the time of his death. Racking up an $866 alcohol bill, Reed 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."

It's not tragic to die doing what you love.
posted by slimepuppy at 5:49 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

He was great as Mike Brady.
posted by davidmsc at 6:15 AM on August 25, 2008

Very odd Oliver Reed interview w Late Night Dave c1987-88.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:20 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Ooh, another great Brit documentary. Dang, the Brits are good at documentaries. Just brilliant. Thanks for an excellent post fearfulsymmetry.

Always loved early Oliver Reed's sultry act, those lazy, alluring, somewhat reptilian eyes and half expected a snake tongue to come out of his mouth with a forked flick. Never great acting really but mesmerizing nonetheless, the classic magnetism and charisma of a first class narcissist. I did like his acting in Gladiator, as Proximo, the slave dealer.

I wonder how his son, Mark, and daughter, Sarah, survived their father's alcoholism?
posted by nickyskye at 6:33 AM on August 25, 2008 [2 favorites]

He was only 61 when he died? I always thought he was a lot older. He didn't age well.
posted by schwa at 6:39 AM on August 25, 2008

I thoroughly enjoyed him as Bill Sikes in Oliver.
posted by netbros at 7:07 AM on August 25, 2008

He didn't age well.

"Ah my boy, someday you'll realize that living well and aging well are as different as the empty bottle and the full. Now, if you'll please pass me something to puke in, I would be much obliged."
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:09 AM on August 25, 2008 [4 favorites]

Never great acting really but mesmerizing nonetheless...

That's it exactly, nickyskye...he was never quite embraced as an astounding (if raddled) talent like Burton, but he was definitely alluring -the "drinking women's crumpet" and all that....

(This one's bookmarked for a good wallow later - thanks so much.)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:42 AM on August 25, 2008

I loved, Loved, LOVED him in Hammer's "Curse of the Werewolf", and was pleasantly surprised to see him in "Gladiator".
posted by willmize at 8:04 AM on August 25, 2008

Oliver Reed on Carson. (The beginning of his feud with Shelley Winters.)
posted by miss lynnster at 8:08 AM on August 25, 2008

It is a pity that the drinker must continually defend himself against the charges of alcoholism.

Yeah, for the life of me, I can't understand why they got on Reed's case for his drinking. For instance, on the night he died he only had 12 double rums and a half bottle of whiskey. Seems like a normal drinker to me.
posted by Xurando at 8:14 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes scared the crap out of me when I was a kid.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:19 AM on August 25, 2008

Yeah, for the life of me, I can't understand why they got on Reed's case for his drinking. For instance, on the night he died he only had 12 double rums and a half bottle of whiskey. Seems like a normal drinker to me.

Any drunk worthy of the name would have finished the bottle of whiskey. A drinker knows when he's had enough - even if by mortal standards enough is a lot.
posted by three blind mice at 8:27 AM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oliver Reed was the fucking man. I thought that he played a fantastic Athos in the Three Musketeers, and although I wasn't crazy about Gladiator, his performance was quite good.

As for the circumstances of his death, could you ask for a better way to go out?

P.S., Alvy's quote is awesome
posted by Tullius at 9:52 AM on August 25, 2008

Loved him in Lester's The Three Musketeers/Four Musketeers. His Athos carried some real menace and weight. And one of Athos' best lines is rather telling: You will find, young man, that the future looks rosiest through the bottom of a glass
posted by Ber at 10:11 AM on August 25, 2008

Fans should definitely have a look at "The Devils".
posted by No Robots at 10:47 AM on August 25, 2008

three blind mice: that is brilliant.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 10:49 AM on August 25, 2008

Put me on the list of people scared shitless by Bill Sikes, and seeing The Who's Tommy later on didn't help much.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:01 AM on August 25, 2008

Wow, I like the part where his brother says "Jackie and Oliver were having a, in the end, a very tempestuous, she was having, I mean, I don't think she'll mind me saying, a really awful time, because Oliver was... very, very... very abusive."

Wow, that's pretty abusive. So, Bill Sikes? So convincing.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:35 AM on August 25, 2008

Hah. I had never heard of Reed until I read Will Ferguson's Happiness^tm a couple of months ago. I assumed he was a made-up character. The fact that he was a real dude makes the book even cooler.
posted by joe defroster at 11:56 AM on August 25, 2008

A drinker knows when he's had enough - even if by mortal standards enough is a lot.

Apparently it's some time after laying into his wife.
posted by rodgerd at 1:03 PM on August 25, 2008

Thirding Reed's awesomeness as Athos in the Three/Four Musketeers. He pretty much stole the movie from Michael York.

I have this idea that there's an all-fighting all-drinking actors table in hell. Errol Flynn is there. Russell Crowe will be going there at some point. And Oliver Reed is sitting at the head of the table. I hope I can visit the table some day, even though I'll probably get my ass kicked.
posted by supercrayon at 2:05 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

How Peter O'Toole managed to survive Oliver Reed (and Richard Harris) is a puzzle which still manages to stump our finest minds.
posted by John Shaft at 4:34 PM on August 25, 2008

I actually remember watching Oliver! (in eighth grade) and finding Oliver Reed oddly attractive.


...I guess I have nothing to add to that.
posted by duvatney at 5:38 PM on August 25, 2008

Watched the whole thing. Excellent.

Reed was damn ugly and crazy at the end. Incredible he courted a 16 year old , Josephine Burge, for 4 years and married her when he was in his 40's and utterly pickled. Hope she got some therapy.

His son and daughter book look beautiful and astonishingly sane. His son, David, has an amazing face, able to convey so much emotion in such minute muscle movements.

David Hemmings narrated the film. He was also in Gladiator with Reed and died just a year older than Reed was, at 62.
posted by nickyskye at 6:08 PM on August 25, 2008

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

-Oliver Reed
posted by A Long and Troublesome Lameness at 7:06 PM on August 25, 2008

Devils is a must watch. Crazy bastard.
posted by lumpenprole at 9:04 PM on August 25, 2008