2nd May marks 25 years since the passing of Oliver Reed, aged 61. Renowned as a drinker and hell-raiser when drunk - he famously said “I do not live in a world of sobriety” - he died of a heart attack in Valetta, Malta whilst filming Gladiator; the pub in which he died in Valetta has since been re-named “Ollie’s Last Pub”. The legends surrounding his behaviour abound, but in truth when sober he was unbelievably shy and withdrawn and undeniably the only pure film actor, having never trained nor appeared onstage, being described by Glenda Jackson as professionally immaculate. He nearly replaced Connery as Bond, but producers decided they could not turn round his image for alcohol and fighting. He amassed 122 screen credits with notable films:– in the early 60s Hammer films such as The Curse of the Werewolf 1961, then The Brigand of Kandahar 1965, The Trap 1966, I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname 1967 (first use of f-word in film) and Bill Sikes in Oliver! 1968 saw him achieve higher status as a leading man with The Assassination Bureau, Women in Love & Hannibal Brooks in 1969, The Devils & The Hunting Party 1971, Sitting Target 1972 (the first X-rated just for violence), Athos in The Three Musketeers 1973 and The Four Musketeers 1974 & The Return of the Musketeers 1989, Tommy (became a close friend of The Who’s Keith Moon) & Royal Flash in 1975, The Prince and the Pauper 1977, Tomorrow Never Comes & The Big Sleep 1978, The Lion of the Desert 1980, The Sting II 1983, Castaway 1986, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 1988, The Lady and the Highwayman 1989, Treasure Island 1990 with Charlton Heston, Return to Lonesome Dove 1993, The Bruce 1996, and Gladiator 2000, for which he received a posthumous BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor and the film was dedicated to him. He declined Hollywood films as he did not want to move to Los Angeles. Born in Wimbledon, London, he attended 14 schools including Ewett Castle School, Ewell, Epsom, Surrey. In later years he was often in the Dog & Fox Hotel public bar in Wimbledon Village. He worked as a bouncer in Soho, and completed national service in Royal Army Medical Corps, and was intensely patriotic. He owned and lived at Broome Hall, between Coldharbour and Ockley, Surrey throughout the 70s to 80s, with the naked wrestling scene for Women in Love filmed there; he loved horses all his life and bred & reared them there, also enjoying golf and lawn bowls. He also owned a villa in the south of France. When taxes were raised, he moved to Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. In his later years he lived in Ireland close to Churchtown, Cork; after a ten-day wake for all friends, family & colleagues he was buried in Bruhenny Cemetery in Buttevant, the site being picked as it was in good view of his favourite pub, O’Brien’s in Churchtown.
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