Articles/Interviews

At the tender age of 17, when most boys are cutting classes so they could devote time to pop rock records, Oliver Reed was tossing over-enthusiastic customers at performances in an underground Soho strip-tease joint out on the side walk.

That career however, was brought to an abrupt halt by the intervention of the police. He next tried boxing and that career came to just as abrupt a halt when he accidentally broke an opponent's jaw.

So he got into acting, becoming in time Great Britain's most popular young performer in films requiring the light, deft, comedic touch. With his latest, Michael Winner's hilarious "Hannibal Brooks," opening ...... at the ...... Theatre, under release by United Artists, and entertainment subsidiary of Transamerica Corporation, he stands ready to invade America and take on the world for top honors in the field of screen comedy.

The new comedy - having to do with a break for freedom by a British POW in Germany, an adventure complicated by the fact that he must also get an elephant out of the country - was produced and directed by Michael Winner who also had a part in writing it. It is in Color by DeLuxe and stars Michael J. Pollard of "Bonnie and Clyde" fame with Reed.

After his boxing career Reed decided to get his army service over with. That behind him he looked around for something permanent to do. Somehow, and he's not sure to this day exactly how, he wangled some bit parts in TV, and that did it.

People began to write in asking who the boyish guy with the contagious smile was. To the amazement of the producers it turned out to be Reed. This got him into pictures and he became a national favourite in short order. He was a sensation in "The Girl Getters," and he was on his way.