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Oliver Reed

Acting Born Feb 13, 1938 Wimbledon, London, England, UK 24 credits

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".

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Known for

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self

The Saint

as Joe Catelli

The Saint

as Aristides Koralis
Film

Gladiator

as Proximo
Film

Due West: Our Sex Journey

as Narrator
Film

Due West: Our Sex Journey

as Self (archive footage)
Film

The Devils

as Father Urbain Grandier

Return to Lonesome Dove

as Gregor Dunnigan

Thuis

as Vulcan

Yamibo - Darkness, the Hat, and the Travelers of the Books

as General Rodolfo Graziani

Full filmography

  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) as Self
  • The Saint (1962) as Joe Catelli
  • The Saint (1962) as Aristides Koralis
  • Gladiator (2000) as Proximo
  • Film '72 (1971) as Self
  • The Third Man (1959) as Pepi
  • The World of Hammer (1994) as Narrator
  • The World of Hammer (1994) as Self (archive footage)
  • The Devils (1971) as Father Urbain Grandier
  • Masquerade (1983) as Peter Serkov / Wolfen
  • Return to Lonesome Dove (1993) as Gregor Dunnigan
  • The Three Musketeers (1973) as Athos
  • Oliver! (1968) as Bill Sikes
  • The Max Headroom Show (1985) as Self
  • Castaway (1986) as Gerald Kingsland
  • The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) as Vulcan
  • Christopher Columbus (1985) as Martin Pinzon
  • Treasure Island (1990) as Billy Bones
  • The Brood (1979) as Dr. Hal Raglan
  • Lion of the Desert (1981) as General Rodolfo Graziani
  • Tommy (1975) as Frank
  • The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976) as Joe Knox
  • Parting Shots (1999) as Jamie Campbell-Stewart
  • Women in Love (1969) as Gerald Crich