Oliver Reed Dead

Pubs the world over will be mourning the loss of bon viveur, drunken chat show guest and erstwhile actor Oliver Reed who died on Sunday, fittingly enough while drinking in a Maltese bar. 61-year-old Reed was with his wife Josephine when he collapsed suddenly from a heart attack. Reed shot to fame in the Sixties as a leading man, where his rough good looks were used to good effect playing Bill Sykes in Oliver! and The Three Musketeers. He was also in the first film scene to show male genitalia, when he infamously wrestled nude with Alan Bates in Ken Russell's Women in Love. But it was his alcohol-fuelled antics that hit the headlines more than his acting, particularly his propensity for flashing his tackle - complete with eagle's talons tattoo - which he did on numerous occasions. He is perhaps best known for several inebriated appearances on television shows, culminating in a legendary performance of Wild Thing on The Word. More recently, Reed had calmed down his act, settling in Ireland with his wife, who was 26 years his junior. He was also about to return to the big screen in Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Glenda Jackson, who starred with him in Women in Love said: "I'm very sorry he's gone. But I think he probably went the way he would have wished."