Posted on 05/09/2008 9:10:06 PM PDT by zeestephen
"Oliver Reed, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Peter O'Toole were men inextricably linked in the public mind - by their outrageous talent and their pure, unbridled excess...Bound together by mutual rivalry and interlocking friendships, their story encompasses drunken binges of epic proportions, broken marriages, riotous brawls and wanton sexual conquests."
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I admire and resent these men at the same time.
Richard Burton, a fantastic actor with an incredible voice, who destroyed his body and robbed us all (including himself) of much joy by dying at age 58.
Oliver Reed, an actor who seemed to glide effortlessly from displaying barely controlled rage to uproarious laughter in the blink of an eye, dead at age 61.
Richard Harris. He lived to 72 and was rediscovered as an actor AFTER age 55 or so, but even he knew his drinking had shortened his life. He was larger than life and loved living. I loved his stories - even those not about drinking. And now he’s dead.
Peter O’Toole, still kicking at age 75. His career has rebounded lately after many spotty years because of the after effects of drinking.
I admired the talents of all of these men, but I also resent them (even though I have no right to) for denying the world their amazing talents for something as foolish and empty as booze. I am not againt drinking. I just see no reason to worship a false god like booze offering up your talents and abilities as a sacrifice to drunkeness.
I wish Richard Harris was still around. I would love to hear his story about he and Peter O’Toole playing tricks on one another because O’Toole got a part that Harris originally wanted. Harris told the story on the Tonight Show sometime after Johnny Carson retired if I remember correctly. One of the funniest damn stories I ever heard.
Sinatra?
I'll guess you were born long before 1950.
No one in my age group had any clue what the Sinatra cult was all about, musically or personally.
That's not disrespect - he was a star in my parent's youth, not mine.
O’Toole was the best of the bunch. He had charm and, at one time, incredible good looks. Plus he wasn’t a jerk. Harris and Burton had enough talent they could get away with being assh@les. My favorite was Reed. Alas, he was an incredible jerk and ruined any chance to be a big star.
Sure beats the hell out of Paris H and friends.
yup
and its not even my era
ive been blessed with sluts on the screen
Interesting link to a 2-part article on the legendary British actors.
I think the booze was part of generational image of toughness, e.g., Humphrey Bogart was a hard drinker on the big screen as in real life, and the same could be said about Lee Marvin and numerous other actors. Back then drinking was more fashionable — The Thin Man who was always tipsy or drunk at some Ritzy classy party — or socially acceptable after prohibition — think of all the movies where somebody walks into a room and pours himself a drink or is offered one. But even today actors themselves drink a lot to avoid the boredom of waiting around the set for hours ready to do their part. In the case of Richard Burton, I believe he used drink to escape — and I am perhaps very wrong in believing this — the guilt of leaving his wife. I think John Lennon also had the same problem and used drugs an alcohol to avoid dealing with his feelings about leaving his first wife. Like I said, I could be very wrong on this and Burton could have been a heartless, remorseless, heel to his wife from the very beginning. If so, then maybe excessive drinking is just something the Welsh traditionally suffer from, as did his friend Dylan Thomas — as people who are poetic and creative are in constant need of drink as a stimulant or sedative to their soul. Burton always admired his poetic Welsh heritage and maybe that translates into a fondness for drink and drinkers.
That's not disrespect - he was a star in my parent's youth, not mine.
I feel the same about comparing Richard Burton to Mick Jagger and the Beatles. I don't see how you would find Sinatra a star for your parents and not Richard Burton. lol
But when it comes to hard-drinking, womanizing, and adventure, the Australian was the original, and the master of them all:
In like Red X ?
Johnny Depp, eat your heart out.
Rats! Just went to Amazon and the book will not be available here until June 24!
I seldom watch Letterman, not finding it very amusing, but one night maybe a decade ago I happened to have it on when in walked - actually staggered - the guest, Peter O’Toole. Drunk but in command of his voice.
Halfway through the interview which had been rather flat, O’Toole turned to Letterman and said, “What did you say your name was?”
"My God," she cried out to her husband. "It's Humphrey Bogart!"
"What about him?" her husband shouted back.
"He's in our front yard." "Well, invite him in." Bogart sat down for breakfast with the couple and their children, wolfing down bacon and eggs while mesmerising them with tales of Hollywood.
When he'd finished he stood up, said thank you politely and then walked out the way he'd come in.
Near the end of his days, Bogart reflected upon his life and declared that things had gone downhill after a single bad decision. "I should never have switched," he said, "from Scotch to Martinis."
Classic!
A friend of mine was an associate producer on "The Clansman" which starred Burton. He was drunk on the set every day but they dealt with that.
The problem arose in post-production. All of Burton's lines were slurred. They had to force him to a two week drying out in Mexico then get him into the studio to loop his lines. The total process resulted in a six week delay in distribution.
In those days the studios were the distributors, they controlled the theaters. "The Clansman" was scheduled for a wide release and a multi-week run. It was reduced to one week before it was replaced by an expected block buster (it might have been Jaws). The movie lost money, the studio lost money and the production company went belly up.
I used to have SUCH a crush on Errol Flynn!
and Cesar Romero
and Burt Landcaster
LOL!
Reed WAS a huge star in Britain and Europe.
But he actually turned down the chance in the early 70’s to move to the US and it seems that he turned down not only ‘The Big Mick’ role in The Sting,but also Quint in Jaws after Sterling Hayden turned it down(for tax reasons, as he lived in France, and making Jaws would have meant huge back taxes because he would have had to return to the US).
He was alson in 1969, right at the top of the list to replace Sean Connery as Bond, but Broccoli disliked his hellraising, although he liked Reed and thought him perfect.
Cesar Romero, as you probably know, had no interest in girls. He was also a Leftist.
Burt Lancaster was a far left activist and may have secretly been a Commie. He certainly contributed to many left-wing causes.
While Flynn's politics are debatable, he was taken in by the Spanish "Republicans" and the Cuban revolutionaries of the 1950's. Of course, so were many others. Fidel, Raul and Che initially claimed to be anti-communists and "small d" democrats. In any event, Flynn's reputation as a womanizer was outrageous, even for Hollywood. Besides, a man adored by Olivia de Havilland who decided to play the field instead couldn't have had very good judgment, could he?
Ah, youth. It's wasted on the wrong people in so many ways.
Oh, good grief.
Why do some FReepers insist on throwing out the political/sexual preference bull whenever an actor's name is mentioned?
'may have secretly been a Commie', indeed! You sound like a gossipy old neighbor.
-----
I had a crush on some actors in my youth...big whoop. It's not like I was taking them home to Mama.
As to the actor's politics and/or sexual preferences?
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
I used a calendar.
Sinatra was born in 1915, and his greatest work and greatest fame were from the late 1930’s to about 1950. Yes, the Rat Pack and a couple number one songs and a couple of movies came after 1950, but he was inarguably past his prime and part of my parent's generation.
Burton was born in 1925, and he was unknown outside the UK until the early 1950’s. Burton's greatest success and greatest fame came in the 1960’s, at the same time as Jagger and the Beatles.
And to say that Burton had more name recognition than Sinatra among the younger people is laughable.
I cannot imagine Audrey Hepburn “raising hell.” And if she did, I don’t want to know. Unless there are pictures.
No. We did see Butch Cassidy, Bullit, etc.
And these are the Frank Sinatra movies in the sixties. But, like Burton, he was not interesting to us. Maybe to our parents.
Lady in Cement (1968) .... Tony Rome The Detective (1968) .... Det. Sgt. Joe Leland Tony Rome (1967) Von Ryan's Express (1965) None But the Brave (1965) Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) .... Robbo "Burke's Law" (1 episode, 1963) A New Kind of Love (1963) The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Ocean's Eleven (1960) .... Danny Ocean Can-Can
I remember Burton reading from the telephone book, and that sounded wonderful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi9TVDcctkY
What a moment in Oscar history when Rex Harrison announced the winner of the Best Actress by saying the award goes to, "All my Fair Ladies." (Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins, and Audry Hepburn for My Fair Lady)
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