Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 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
Gladiator
(2000)
Proximo
The Three Musketeers
(1973)
Athos
Oliver!
(1968)
Bill Sikes
Lion of the Desert
(1981)
Gen. Rodolfo Graziani
The Devils
(1971)
Father Urbain Grandier
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
(1988)
Vulcan
The Brood
(1979)
Dr. Hal Raglan
Treasure Island
(1990)
Billy Bones
And Then There Were None
(1974)
Hugh Lombard
The Hunting Party
(1971)
Frank Calder
The Four Musketeers
(1974)
Athos
Two of a Kind
(1983)
Beasley
Tommy
(1975)
Frank
Castaway
(1986)
Gerald Kingsland
Venom
(1981)
Dave Averconnelly
Burnt Offerings
(1976)
Ben Rolf
Full Filmography
Acting
Value for Money
(1955)
Extra (uncredited)
The Square Peg
(1958)
(uncredited)
The Captain's Table
(1959)
Suntanning Passenger (uncredited)
Upstairs and Downstairs
(1959)
Train Passenger (uncredited)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
(1960)
Nightclub Bouncer (uncredited)
Hello London
(1960)
Photographer (uncredited)
Beat Girl
(1960)
Plaid Shirt
The Bulldog Breed
(1960)
Teddy Boy in Cinema Fight
Life Is a Circus
(1960)
Spectator at Sideshow (uncredited)
Sword of Sherwood Forest
(1960)
Lord Melton (uncredited)
The League of Gentlemen
(1960)
Chorus Boy (uncredited)
The Angry Silence
(1960)
Mick
The Curse of the Werewolf
(1961)
Leon Corledo
His and Hers
(1961)
Poet
No Love for Johnnie
(1961)
Man with Bucket on His Head (uncredited)
The Rebel
(1961)
Artist in Cafe
The Pirates of Blood River
(1962)
Pirate Brocaire
The Damned
(1962)
King
Captain Clegg
(1962)
Harry Cobtree
Paranoiac
(1963)
Simon Ashby
The Scarlet Blade
(1963)
Captain Sylvester
The System
(1964)
Tinker
The Party's Over
(1965)
Moise
The Brigand of Kandahar
(1965)
Ali Kahn
The Debussy Film
(1965)
Claude Debussy
Always on Sunday
(1965)
Narrator (voice)
The Trap
(1966)
La Bete
The Shuttered Room
(1967)
Ethan
The Jokers
(1967)
David Tremayne
Dante's Inferno
(1967)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
(1967)
Andrew Quint
Oliver!
(1968)
Bill Sikes
Hannibal Brooks
(1969)
Brooks
The Assassination Bureau
(1969)
Ivan Dragomiloff
Women in Love
(1969)
Gerald Crich
Take a Girl Like You
(1970)
Patrick Standish
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun
(1970)
Michael Caldwell
The Devils
(1971)
Father Urbain Grandier
The Hunting Party
(1971)
Frank Calder
The Triple Echo
(1972)
Arthur, the Sergeant
Sitting Target
(1972)
Harry Lomart
Z.P.G.
(1972)
Russ
Dirty Weekend
(1973)
Fabrizo
Revolver
(1973)
Vito Cipriani
The Three Musketeers
(1973)
Athos
One Russian Summer
(1973)
Palizyn
Blue Blood
(1974)
Tom the butler
The Four Musketeers
(1974)
Athos
Mahler
(1974)
Train Conductor
And Then There Were None
(1974)
Hugh Lombard
Lisztomania
(1975)
Princess Carolyn's Servant
Royal Flash
(1975)
Otto von Bismarck
Tommy
(1975)
Frank
The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday
(1976)
Joe Knox
Burnt Offerings
(1976)
Ben Rolf
The Sell Out
(1976)
Gabriel Lee
US Against the World
(1977)
Self
The Prince and the Pauper
(1977)
Miles Hendon
The Ransom
(1977)
Nick McCormick
Tomorrow Never Comes
(1978)
Jim Wilson
The Big Sleep
(1978)
Eddie Mars
The Brood
(1979)
Dr. Hal Raglan
The Class Of Miss MacMichael
(1979)
Terence Sutton
A Touch of the Sun
(1979)
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype
(1980)
Dr. Henry Heckyl/Mr. Hype
Condorman
(1981)
Krokov
Lion of the Desert
(1981)
Gen. Rodolfo Graziani
Venom
(1981)
Dave Averconnelly
Fanny Hill
(1983)
Edward Widdlecome
Spasms
(1983)
Jason Kincaid
The Sting II
(1983)
Lonnegan
Two of a Kind
(1983)
Beasley
Clash of Loyalties
(1983)
Colonel Leachman
Black Arrow
(1985)
Sir Brackley
Castaway
(1986)
Gerald Kingsland
Captive
(1986)
Gregory Le Vay
Gor
(1987)
Sarm
Master of Dragonard Hill
(1987)
Captain Shanks
The Misfit Brigade
(1987)
The General
Dragonard
(1987)
Captain Shanks
The Lady and the Highwayman
(1988)
Sir Phillip Gage
Rage to Kill
(1988)
General Turner
Captive Rage
(1988)
General Belmondo
Skeleton Coast
(1988)
Captain Simpson
Blind Justice
(1988)
Ian Ballinger
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
(1988)
Vulcan
The Revenger
(1989)
Jack Fisher
The House of Usher
(1989)
Roderick Usher
The Return of the Musketeers
(1989)
Athos
A Ghost in Monte Carlo
(1990)
The Rajah
Hired to Kill
(1990)
Michael Bartos
Treasure Island
(1990)
Billy Bones
That's Action
(1990)
General Turner (archive footage) (uncredited)
Panama Sugar
(1990)
The Pit and the Pendulum
(1991)
Cardinal
Prisoner of Honor
(1991)
Gen. de Boisdeffre
Severed Ties
(1992)
Dr. Hans Vaughan
The World of Hammer: Vamp
(1994)
Narrator (voice)
The World of Hammer: Wicked Women
(1994)
Narrator (voice)
The World of Hammer: Lands Before Time
(1994)
Narrator
The World of Hammer: Dracula and the Undead
(1994)
Narrator
Russian Roulette - Moscow 95
(1995)
Funny Bones
(1995)
Dolly Hopkins
Luise knackt den Jackpot
(1995)
Matthias
Superbrain
(1996)
Professor Norbert Marcus
The Bruce
(1996)
Bishop Wisharton
The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo
(1998)
Captain Cornelius Donovan
Jeremiah
(1998)
General Safan
Parting Shots
(1999)
Jamie Campbell-Stewart
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
(1999)
Self (archive footage)
Gladiator
(2000)
Proximo
Hellraisers
(2000)
Self (archive footage)
The Real Oliver Reed
(2000)
Self (archive footage)
Orpheus & Eurydice
(2000)
Narrator
Strength and Honor: Creating the World of 'Gladiator'
(2005)
Self
The Devils Original on-set footage
(2012)
Director of Devils
(2012)
Self