The truth and the myths about Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed liked a drink. Even anyone who's never seen one of his films knows that much about him. There was much more to the man than hellraising. and Living Famously was a timely reminder that he was a pretty good actor too.

Although made with the co-operation of his widow Josephine and the rest of his family, this was no whitewash job but a warts-and-all, ultimately moving, account of a talented man who cultivated his hellraising image so well that he's remembered more as the chat show guest from hell than for appearances in more than 100 films. Sadly, he died while making Ridley Scott's Gladiator, a film tipped to launch a serious comeback.

Brothers David and Simon recalled affectionately and honestly his often-difficult early years - his dyslexia, attending 13 different schools, and National Service. A legacy of the latter was a wardrobe of cheap suits which he employed to gain work as a film extra. Rather than trade on the name of his uncle, famed director Carol Reed, he bedded every production assistant he could in the hope they'd find him work.

There was, David recalled, an audible sign from the young ladies in the cinema when young Ollie first appeared on screen in The System - one of the films he made for British director Michael Winner. He and Ken Russell both championed his career, and thought he'd have been a big star if he'd taken the chance to go to Hollywood.

Reed's mistake was playing up to his image as a "boozy ram". "We made Ollie notorious and it feeds on itself," said David. Bad publicity about his drinking and womanising reflected on his career, losing him the chance to play James Bond.

He was having a tough time off-screen too. He didn't have time for his son Mark and his marriage fell apart in the 1960s. He set up house with dancer Jackie and their daughter Sarah in rambling Victorian mansion in 50 acres. He set about restoring the place, which proved a constant drain on his finances. Eventually, he married again, this time to Josephine, whom he first met as a schoolgirl. They moved to Ireland, where "Ollie soon made many friends in the local bars". How fitting he died in a bar, having a lunchtime drink with British sailors, while filming Gladiator in Malta. He was buried in a graveyard within walking distance of his local pub.

Recollections from family and friends showed they weren't blind to his faults, while obviously holding him in great affection. Russell told how he and Alan Bates drank a bottle of vodka each before the nude wrestling scene in Women In Love. There was the "Wimbledon Eight", which involved a pub crawl around the pubs on Wimbledon Common. After two circuits, and 16 pints in 90 minutes, Reed was the only one ready for a third lap. And we heard the truth about his drunken appearance on Aspel & Co. According to brother Peter, he was only acting - "delivering what everyone wanted".