Remembering Oliver Reed
A few days ago, this snippet of the “Saddam Goes to Hollywood” documentary hit my Youtube feed:
The clip reveals that the late Oliver Reed had once travelled to Iraq to start in a movie bankrolled by Saddam Hussein himself.
I was again surprised by this hellish hellraiser and his dare-devil way of life, which made me want to remember and recollect a few things about the man…
First contact
First movie I saw starring Oliver Reed was screened during a history class at my elementary school, it was none other than Gladiator.
I’d have been in my teens then, but if I recall the point of the screening was to demonstrate how the Romans lived and how glamorous the Roman Empire once was.
Proximo (played by Oliver Reed) is introduced “half-way” through the movie and is a supporting character; In my opinion he does a magnificent job dangling his own personal interests (money and reputation) and the upbringing / converting of Maximus into a spectacular, crowd-entertaining, gladiator.
The hellraiser
I re-stumbled upon Oliver Reed and his tales of legend after moving to London and becoming more knowledgeable in the English culture and their personalities, I discovered how fascinating his stories were and how outlandish they were.
How he once drank 100 pints in one day, and capped it off with a handstand… at the counter in the bar! (Handstand image)
Hellraising was synonymous with Oliver Reed, so much so that he is featured in the 2000 ‘Hellraisers’ Documentary, along with other well known hellraisers:
Professional and witty Reed
Despite his fancy of liquor and long lasting parties, Reed was surprisingly on set and on time and ready to go.
Some of his interviews were shameful and disgraceful. Others witty and bizarre. All of them entertaining.
His fascination for non-crumbling burger buns might be a bit outlandish but it does make sense and makes me dread those days where the concept of a burger had yet to reach Europe.
Hope you enjoyed this post, and join me in for a toast.
To Oliver Reed 🥂