Oliver Reed

Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his upper-middle class, macho image, hellraiser lifestyle, and "tough guy" roles. Notable films include The Trap (1966), Oliver! (1968), Women in Love (1969), Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Devils (1971), The Three Musketeers (1973), Tommy (1975), Lion of the Desert (1981), Castaway (1986), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and Funny Bones (1995). For Gladiator (2000), his final film, Reed was posthumously nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. At the peak of his career, in 1971, British exhibitors voted Reed 5th most popular star at the box office. 2Early life Reed was born at 9 Durrington Park Road, Wimbledon, to sports journalist Peter Reed and his wife Marcia (née Napier-Andrews). He was the nephew of film director Sir Carol Reed, and grandson of the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and his mistress, May Pinney Reed. Reed claimed to have been a descendant (through an illegitimate step) of Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia. Reed attended Ewell Castle School in Surrey. Oliver's brother Simon Reed, a sports journalist, works for British Eurospor