Maxim on Oliver Reed: "We'll Drink to That"

From the May 2009 issue of Maxim Magazine (UK):

"A tabloid journalist’s dream, Oliver Reed spent a thirty-year career balancing his considerable talent with an irresistible urge to self-destruct. A fine actor, Reed was often irritated by the emphasis that was placed on his drinking above his career. At the time of Oliver!’s success he was one of the highest paid stars in the country, and was reputedly only a whisker away from bagging the part of James Bond, after Sean Connery vacated the role. Inevitably however, his acting would become increasingly overshadowed by his extracurricular activities, with every film shoot seeming to generate another string of debauched anecdotes. And despite what he might occasionally have claimed, Ollie revelled in his notoriety: ‘I’ve always liked being called a hellraiser. The sad thing is that I’m the last of them. There was O’Toole, Harris and I was the baby. Now I’m the only one carrying the baton.’ A baton that has not been carried in quite the same way since. 10 years after his death, we raise a glass to the life of the last Great British hellraiser."

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I spotted a couple of errors, but all in all, an entertaining mini-biography loaded with great quotes from Ollie.