Articles/Interviews

OLIVER REED LIVES UP TO HIS IMAGE AT PROGRAMME'S PARTY

 

Oliver Reed seemed determined to live up to his wild man reputation last week at a black tie dinner celebrating 500 programmes of This Is Your Life..

Fellow guests, who included many of the show's most distinguished "victims" such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Dinah Sheridan, who was celebrating her 70th birthday, Adam Faidi and Jimmy Tarbuck, watched in amazement as Oliver tried to head-butt TV tough guy Patrick Mower.

The incident apparently occurred after 52-year-old Oliver repeatedly tried to tip over the table he was sharing with Patrick and others.

An argument followed and Oliver, having rolled up his shirtsleeves, playfully punched Patrick on the chin, attempted the head-butt and continued shadow-boxing before being restrained by former wrestler Jackie Pallo.

Even efforts by his young wife Josephine failed to calm Oliver and he was finally led away by boxer-turned-actor Nosher Powell, still delivering mock karate chops.

Oliver Reed was not available for comment the next day. His brother David, who is also his manager, told HELLO!: "I don't know where he is but he had planned to go to the West Country in search of somewhere to live. I wasn't at the dinner, but this is Ollie's lifestyle so for me it's not out of the ordinary. He's been like this all his life."

"I saw Ollie coming into the building," said Michael Aspel, host of This Is Your Life. "I was rather like an old lady behind her lace curtain twitching away on the second floor and there was Ollie coming round the corner looking perfectly decorous. He saw the photographers and instantly, to their delight, went into one of his fist-waving acts before going in."

"It was all good-natured nonsense, that's what it was, and obviously carefully stage-managed. He always does his act and that's what people want - they'd be terribly disappointed if he didn't."

Four years ago Oliver appeared on Michael's chat show carrying a jug of gin and behaved outrageously throughout the entire programme.

After dinner Michael Aspel surprised Lord Brabourne with the big red book. Thus the veteran film maker, who is married to Countess Mountbatten of Burma (daughter of Lord Mountbatten), became the Thames show's 501st subject, to be shown next month.

Sadly missed from the party for 500 in London was the show's original host, Eamonn Andrews, who died in November 1987. Michael Aspel was keen to pay tribute to him.

"The fact that This Is Your Life is still going strong after all this time is really down to him and I don't see any reason why somebody shouldn't be celebrating the thousandth programme."

"I suppose if I'm helped up on to the stage, it could be me!"