Oliver Reed: Difference between revisions

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English actor (1938-1999) known for his brutish persona and extraordinary real-life drinking. Some of his minor early roles were in [[Hammer Horror|Hammer films]], including ''Curse of the Werewolf'', Hammer's only werewolf movie. He also made several films with [[Ken Russell]], including ''[[The Devils]]'', ''[[Tommy]]'' (based on [[The Who]]'s rock opera) and ''[[Women In Love]]'' ([[Everybody Remembers the Stripper|notorious]] for his full-frontal nude [[Ho Yay|wrestling]] scene with Alan Bates). He played Bill Sikes in the 1968 Best Picture Oscar winner, ''[[Oliver! (Theatre)|Oliver]]''. (The director, Carol Reed, was his uncle. Oliver had refused to work with him until he was established as an actor to avoid accusations of nepotism.) For a little while in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe. Interestingly, he was perhaps the only major British star of the period who ''didn't'' have any experience or training in the [[Shakespearian Actors|theater]]. (He stated in interviews that he considered "life" to be the best teacher for actors.) He played Athos in Richard Lester's trilogy of Musketeer films (including ''[[The Three Musketeers (1973 (Filmfilm)|The Three Musketeers 1973]]'', ''The Four Musketeers'', and ''The Return of the Musketeers''). His career had faltered by the 80s and he was mostly reduced to doing [[Money, Dear Boy|paycheck]] roles, though he did get some respectable work, including playing the god Vulcan in ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Film)|The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'' and the slave dealer Proximo in ''[[Gladiator (Filmfilm)|Gladiator]]''. He died while filming that last one, forcing some [[Fake Shemp|creative]] story alterations.