Oliver Reed

Robert Oliver Reed was an English actor who was known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. 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), The Brood (1979), Lion of the Desert (1981), Castaway (1986), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Funny Bones (1995) and Gladiator (2000). He was posthumously nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as Antonius Proximo in Gladiator, which was his final film. He died of a heart attack in a bar in Valletta, Malta, after drinking heavily and arm-wrestling with some sailors. He was buried in Bruhenny Cemetery in Buttevant, Cork, Ireland, where he had lived for the last five years of his life. He was married twice and had two children. He was the nephew of film director Sir Carol Reed and the grandson of actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He claimed to be a descendant of Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia. He was a notorious drinker, carouser, womanizer and brawler, and often made headlines with his antics. He once said: "You meet a better class of people in pubs." He was also a passionate supporter of the Conservative Party and a friend of Margaret Thatcher. He was regarded as one of the most charismatic and talented actors of his generation, and was admired by many of his peers and fans.