Reed was more than just a hell-raiser

Bob Crouch in the title role of Oliver Reed – Wild Thing, a one-man show currently on tour around Ireland.

While ‘hell-raiser’ is the word that immediately comes to mind when discussing the late Oliver Reed, there was more to this larger-than-life actor than drunkenness and outrageous behaviour. So says Rob Crouch, co-writer and performer of a one man show, Oliver Reed – Wild Thing, touring Ireland until May 25.

Crouch, who wrote the show with Mike Davis, says it has a really obvious shape. “Oliver was making Gladiator and died before the end of filming. So at the end of his career, he was making this fantastic film. We are telling his story from the point of view of Oliver’s final session in a bar in Malta, where he looks back.”