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".

Filmography

• 2012The Devils Original on-set footage
• 2002L'esattore (parodia de "Il gladiatore")
• Living Famously — (archive footage)
• 2000Gladiator — Proximo
• 2000Orpheus & Eurydice — Narrator
• 1999Parting Shots — Jamie Campbell-Stewart
• 1998Jeremiah — General Safan
• 1998The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo — Captain Cornelius Donovan
• 1996Superbrain — Professor Norbert Marcus
• 1996The Bruce — Bishop Wisharton
• 1995Funny Bones — Dolly Hopkins
• 1995Luise knackt den Jackpot — Matthias
• 1995Russian Roulette - Moscow 95
• The World of Hammer — Narrator, Self (archive footage)
• 1994The World of Hammer: Chiller — narrator
• 1994The World of Hammer: Lands Before Time — Narrator
• 1994The World of Hammer: Trials of War — Narrator
• 1994The World of Hammer: Vamp — Narrator (voice)
• 1994The World of Hammer: Wicked Women — Narrator (voice)
• Return to Lonesome Dove — Gregor Dunnigan
• 1992Severed Ties — Dr. Hans Vaughan
• 1991Prisoner of Honor — Gen. de Boisdeffre
• 1991The Pit and the Pendulum — Cardinal
• 1990A Ghost in Monte Carlo — The Rajah
• 1990Hired to Kill — Michael Bartos
• 1990Panama Sugar — Generale
• 1990That's Action — General Turner (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The Word
• 1990Treasure Island — Billy Bones
• 1989The House of Usher — Roderick Usher
• 1989The Return of the Musketeers — Athos
• 1989The Revenger — Jack Fisher
• 1988Blind Justice — Ian Ballinger
• 1988Captive Rage — General Belmondo
• 1988Rage to Kill — General Turner
• 1988Skeleton Coast — Captain Simpson
• 1988The Adventures of Baron Munchausen — Vulcan
• 1988The Lady and the Highwayman — Sir Phillip Gage
• 1987Dragonard — Captain Shanks
• 1987Gor — Sarm
• 1987Master of Dragonard Hill — Captain Shanks
• 1987The Misfit Brigade — The General
• 1986Captive — Gregory Le Vay
• 1986Castaway — Gerald Kingsland
• 1985Black Arrow — Sir Brackley
• Christopher Columbus — Martin Pinzon
• 1983Clash of Loyalties — Colonel Leachman
• 1983Fanny Hill — Edward Widdlecome
• Masquerade — Peter Serkov / Wolfen
• 1983Spasms — Jason Kincaid
• 1983The Sting II — Lonnegan
• 1983Two of a Kind — Beasley
• 1981Condorman — Krokov
• 1981Lion of the Desert — General Rodolfo Graziani
• 1981Venom — Dave Averconnelly
• 1980Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype — Dr. Henry Heckyl/Mr. Hype
• 1979A Touch of the Sun — Captain Daniel Nelson
• 1979The Brood — Dr. Hal Raglan
• 1978The Big Sleep — Eddie Mars
• 1978The Class Of Miss MacMichael — Terence Sutton
• 1978Tomorrow Never Comes — Jim Wilson
• 1977The Prince and the Pauper — Miles Hendon
• 1977The Ransom — Nick McCormick
• 1976Burnt Offerings — Ben Rolf
• 1976The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday — Joe Knox
• 1976The Sell Out — Gabriel Lee
• 1975Lisztomania — Princess Carolyn's Servant
• 1975Royal Flash — Otto von Bismarck
• 1975Tommy — Frank
• 1974And Then There Were None — Hugh Lombard
• 1974Blue Blood — Tom the butler
• 1974Mahler — Train Conductor (uncredited)
• 1974The Four Musketeers — Athos
• 1973Dirty Weekend — Fabrizo
• 1973One Russian Summer — Palizyn
• 1973Revolver — Vito Cipriani
• 1973The Three Musketeers — Athos
• 1972Sitting Target — Harry Lomart
• 1972The Triple Echo — Arthur, the Sergeant
• 1972Z.P.G. — Russ
• 1971The Devils — Father Urbain Grandier
• 1971The Hunting Party — Frank Calder
• 1970Take a Girl Like You — Patrick Standish
• 1970The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun — Michael Caldwell
• 1969Hannibal Brooks — Brooks
• 1969The Assassination Bureau — Ivan Dragomiloff
• 1969Women in Love — Gerald Crich
• 1968Oliver! — Bill Sikes
• 1967Dante's Inferno — Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• 1967I'll Never Forget What's'isname — Andrew Quint
• 1967The Jokers — David Tremayne
• 1967The Shuttered Room — Ethan
• 1966The Trap — La Bete
• 1965Always on Sunday — Narrator (voice)
• 1965The Brigand of Kandahar — Ali Kahn
• 1965The Debussy Film — Claude Debussy
• 1965The Party's Over — Moise
• R3 — Dr. Richard Franklin
• 1964The System — Tinker
• 1963Paranoiac — Simon Ashby
• 1963The Scarlet Blade — Captain Sylvester
• 1962Captain Clegg — Harry Cobtree
• 1962The Damned — King
• 1962The Pirates of Blood River — Pirate Brocaire
• The Saint — Joe Catelli, Aristides Koralis
• 1961His and Hers — Oliver Borlinski
• 1961No Love for Johnnie — Man with Bucket on His Head (uncredited)
• 1961The Curse of the Werewolf — Leon Corledo
• 1961The Rebel — Artist in Cafe
• 1960Beat Girl — Plaid Shirt
• 1960Hello London — Photographer (uncredited)
• 1960Life Is a Circus — Spectator at Sideshow (uncredited)
• 1960Sword of Sherwood Forest — Lord Melton (uncredited)
• 1960The Angry Silence — Mick
• 1960The Bulldog Breed — Teddy Boy in Cinema Fight (uncredited)
• 1960The League of Gentlemen — Chorus Boy (uncredited)
• 1960The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll — Nightclub Bouncer (uncredited)
• Knight Errant Limited — Benny Falconer
• 1959The Captain's Table — Suntanning Passenger (uncredited)
• The Third Man — Pepi
• 1959Upstairs and Downstairs — Train Passenger (uncredited)
• Monitor — Claude Debussy
• 1958The Square Peg — (uncredited)
• 1955Value for Money — Extra (uncredited)

Appearances as themselves (12)

• 2012Director of Devils — Self
• 2005Strength and Honor: Creating the World of 'Gladiator' — Self
• 2003Celebrity Naked Ambition — Self (archive footage)
• 2000Hellraisers — Self (archive footage)
• 2000The Real Oliver Reed — Self (archive footage)
• 1999Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' — Self (archive footage)
• 1991Alex Higgins: I'm No Angel — Self
• 1987The Best of Max Headroom — Self
• The Max Headroom Show — Self
• 1977US Against the World — Self
• Film '72 — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self