"I thought I was wearing my swimming costume, as I was due to go swimming, but the law tell me I was in my underpants" - possibly the best line in a TV interview ever! 😂
Some people just have that special charisma and his was on the funny side end the serious I love watching him but it was sad but when you live that kind of wild lifestyle stop at least we get a chance to ask God for forgiveness Oliver was a good job chap
This guy was a proper hell raiser back in the day. One of his close buddies was Keith Moon, and that guy could go on a session. I’ve always liked Oliver Reed, no nonsense or bullshit, he would treat many working men with respect and drink with them. Not many Hollywood actors would do that today.
“So I was fairly merry” proceeds to tell story about smashing windows and walking the streets in underpants meaning he was pissed out of his brains hahaha
What an absolute pleasure to here a non condicending reporter conducting an interview with Oliver Reed without throwing him to the lions like they all do now ! 😀
Genuine, original, true to himself, no agenda, endearing, charismatic, mega talented, eccentric & hilariously entertaining, Oliver Reed was truly one of a kind, a once in a lifetime person, & amongst the Last of The Mohicans. A rare species indeed (Very Rare), with Oliver Reed's passing a whole way of life & sense of individuality passed with him. Much respect, admiration & appreciation. God rest his soul🇬🇧🏴❤️🙏
My real introduction to Ollie was as a teen in the USA when the rock opera Tommy was released . I knew of him in other productions certainly. But I appreciated him more then. I bet he was great fun at parties....sometimes...lol
I met him once many years ago in his old local in Ockley The Cricketers. He ended up getting me and a friend pretty pissed and was wonderful company. My wife and I were at his funeral and met a lot of the locals. We were told stories by them as well as by, friends, old neighbours from Guernsey, old drinking and working friends who really knew the real Ollie Reed, not the media version. The press were led a merry dance by some of those locals, it was hilarious to listen to some of the stories they were making up for the so called reporters. It was a sad day but it was wonderful to meet so many lovely people didn't have a bad word to say about him. A lot of the tales we were told were backed up by photographic proof, none of which ever found its way into the press. They were very protective of " their Ollie "
@@oliverreedslovechild would you be allowed to divulge any of the stories and did Ollie really like to drink i know he used to act drunk and play the clown but he did love to go the pubs but was he an alcoholic I'm saying no he wasnt
@@rebeccaryan3621just my guess but I doubt he was an alcoholic in the Richard Burton sense. He just liked the craic and the booze helped it along mightily!
This entertained me way more than it should have lol but yes, today they wear makeup, man bags, and get offended at a gust of wind. I cannot stomach it.
Such a phenomenal man Mr Reed was. Not long ago, finished reading his biography, What Fresh Lunacy Is This? and loved it. A great read about a great, misunderstood man. He had a very sensitive and endearing side to him, despite his macho image. A great read for all Ollie fans.
@@marcop8418, I've not read the latter. Thanks for that recommendation, Marco. Haha 😄, "a load of bullocks", that's such an Oliver Reed thing to have said. Then again, mad personal life aside, Ollie was pretty humble from what I've read. Oliver Reed was very misunderstood. He definitely had a very sensitive side to him, which he seemed to hate for some reason. After reading the Lunacy book, people should have a better perception of Mr Reed. I saw a documentary his lookalike and sound alike son, Mark, did and Mark also said that his Dad had a very sensitive side to him. Ollie did a lot of good, but didn't blow his trumpet about it. From reading the Lunacy book, you'll think "What a nice man, why did he (Mr Reed) hate himself and have such an incorrect perception of himself?". Great read indeed. Mad personal life and chauvinism aside, Ollie seemed to be a good man deep down with a lot of good sides and for some reason appeared to be at war with his sensitive soul. It's a shame Ollie saw his sensitivities as weaknesses, as was the mental health view at the time. I know that people, women especially, would have found his this very appealing to them. His relationships could have been a lot richer, too. Shame. We do know that Reed was one of a kind, that's for sure, a true original in an entertainment world full of clones.
People nowadays seem to hold back things that they feel might be negative or embarrassing so they show you a piece of themselves. But this man didn’t give a shit what anybody thought but only what he thought and wanted to express. I would have done a lot of things different but that’s me and that was him. He was being himself and that’s more important then any agreement or likability from anyone else.
He was a great actor, and one of life's great characters. Liked a drink or two, got into fights and trouble sometimes, but he was a genuine bloke, who never tried to be something he wasn't. And didn't give a shit either way if he was liked or not. But he was always honest to himself, and he could bloody act. (Oliver Reed) (RIP).
@@trollop_7 quite. According to Stanislavsky technique, though, we derive character impersonations from our own experiences. So yes, Chris may be right.
I was his bartender on several occasionsins as I worked in a small Guernsey Hotel and Mr Reed would pop by for a few Double G & Ts always joined him for the first one even if it was just after Breakfast. Genuinely funny intelligent and exceptionaly articulate even after enough booze to floor many wannabes Total Geezer
This might just be the greatest video RU-vid ever hosted. From the supremely 80’s intro to the rambling, yet strangely specific and articulate anecdote from a functioning alcoholic (and legendary actor) this has it all.
Oliver Reed says he's "not used to" drinking rum. That's like Scary Spice claiming to be a virgin! And he's clearly still a bit pissed here - he confuses Norfolk with Norway and the Duke of Normandy Hotel with Jamaica. Don't suppose he was ever 100% sober! How wonderful that he was arrested in his underpants, but thought they were swimming trunks. It could happen to anyone... After 12 pints of rum. God love him - there will never be another!
I know he'd drink me under the table without an effort... But good God I'd of loved to have had a 'good few' beers with this man! They don't make them like this anymore.
I watched WOMEN IN LOVE again recently - what can I say about Oliver Reed's performance... He was ELECTRIC. The movie is currently here on RU-vid, if you haven't seen it in a while (or shock, horror, never seen it), I thoroughly recommend it. Oliver Reed was among the very best actors Britain ever produced, he was a superstar up there with Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Sean Connery etc, and if he had been more ambitious I reckon he'd have eclipsed them all. When the call came for him to go to Hollywood and become a huge movie star in the early seventies, he refused. He loved his home too much to leave it. He was approached to play James Bond after Connery finally abandoned the role. Can you imagine? I think Ollie would have been an incredible Bond, and made Connery look like Julian Clary!
One of the greatest mysteries known, is Ollie Reed... He could take someone on a mental journey to any place he decided, and be it good, bad, or indifferent, you somehow wanted more... He seemed to realize the bs in others, when they thought they were very clever, and either confound, ignore, or put them in their place... Brilliant talent, that drink put an end to like many others... Perhaps he just wanted to leave this realm when he realized it's all carp anyway, and drink was his vehicle of choice... Sad though...very sad...He was apparently greatly loved...
If you frequented bars in Guernsey in the 80’s, chances are you’d have an Ollie Reed story. The only one I have is of my dad refusing a beer in the Jamaica Inn, where I live opposite to now, having a death stare because he was driving. Life doesn’t have these sorts of characters anymore!
Ollie reed was the most interesting very underated actor there's ever been ...if people didn't concentrate on his drinking antics as much as they did then maybe they could of seen what a brilliant actor and man he really was
What's rather tragic about Ollie is that those who worked with him said he was a dedicated professional who took his job VERY seriously - with 'Women in Love', in one scene, he had to dive into freezing waters for countless takes and never complained once. When he was sober (like here) he was rather shy, polite and charming. But when he got drunk (most of the time) he was violent, brutish and dangerous to be around. It also lead to the cause of his death. He was a remarkable actor though and it's a shame we never got to see how his career would have recovered after Gladiator.
Indeed. Gladiator was such a hit, his career may have had a latter day renaissance. You could see Ollie getting some great roles in the 2000s, had he lived....
A legend. It's a disgrace the way this great man was treated because he liked a drink. They failed anyway, because he will always be considered a national treasure.
I use to run a nightclub in St. Peter Port ( where he's interviewed here) and Ollie use to come in occasionally, he once accused me of eying up Josephine his partner, I told him if he didn't behave he'd be barred, he gave me a slobbered kiss, he was hilarious.
@THE Don Spaghetti & Ravioli Someone even like your assertion. Absolutely true story so that makes you a deluded fool. I laugh at those who make baseless, completely unfounded accusations, I wager they're the first types to swear how honest they are.
@@felix2672 Fuck me, what sort of upbringing do you morons have, accusing people of lying for no reason at all. It's hardly an unbelievable anecdote. Let me guess, you're both Leftists, unable to take facts.
The contrast between this articulate and softly spoken man....and the booze monster raging around in his underpants, is almost like some kind of slightly off colour superhero story.
