Oliver Reed
Known For
Acting
Born
1938-02-13 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK
Died
1999-05-02
Biography
Robert Oliver Reed (February 13, 1938 – May 2, 1999) was an English actor known for his "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his notable films include The Trap (1966), playing Bill Sikes in the 1968 Best Picture Oscar winner Oliver! (a film directed by his uncle Carol Reed), Women in Love (1969), Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Devils (1971), portraying Athos in The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974); the lover and stepfather in Tommy (1975), Funny Bones (1995) and Gladiator (2000). For playing Antonius Proximo, 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 in 2000. At the peak of his career, in 1971, British exhibitors voted Reed fifth most popular star at the box office. The British Film Institute (BFI) stated that "partnerships with Michael Winner and Ken Russell in the mid-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".
Most Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
The Saint
as Joe Catelli
The Saint
as Aristides Koralis
Gladiator
as Proximo
The Third Man
as Pepi
Gor
as Sarm
Tommy
as Frank
The World of Hammer
as Narrator
The World of Hammer
as Self (archive footage)
Spasms
as Jason Kincaid
Castaway
as Gerald Kingsland
Funny Bones
as Dolly Hopkins
Treasure Island
as Billy Bones
Mahler
as Train Conductor
Film '72
as Self
Return to Lonesome Dove
as Gregor Dunnigan
Masquerade
as Peter Serkov / Wolfen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
as Vulcan
Oliver!
as Bill Sikes
Burnt Offerings
as Ben Rolf