Oliver Reed, the actor who played Proximo in Gladiator, was a true Getbigger and overall hard ass.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_ReedReed's face was scarred in a 1963 bar fight after which he received 63 stitches and was in danger of losing his film career over his facial damage. He claimed to have turned down major roles in two Hollywood movies: The Sting (1973; although he did appear in the 1983 sequel The Sting II) and Jaws (1975)
Reed was known for his alcoholism and binge drinking. Numerous anecdotes exist, such as Reed and 36 friends drinking in an evening 60 gallons of beer, 32 bottles of scotch, 17 bottles of gin, four crates of wine, and a bottle of Babycham. He subsequently revised the story, claiming he drank 106 pints of beer on a two-day binge before marrying Josephine Burge; "The event that was reported actually took place during an arm-wrestling competition in Guernsey about 15 years ago, it was highly exaggerated." Steve McQueen told the story that in 1973 he flew to the UK to discuss a film project with Reed and suggested the two men visit a London nightclub.[6] They ended up on a marathon pub crawl during which Reed vomited on McQueen.[6]
Reed became a close friend and drinking partner of The Who drummer Keith Moon in 1974 while working together on the film version of Tommy.[7] With their reckless lifestyles Reed and Moon shared much in common, and both cited the hard drinking actor Robert Newton as a role model.[8] Christopher Lee, a friend and colleague of Reed, commented on his alcoholism in 2014: "when he started, after number eight, he became a complete monster. It was awful to see."[9]
Reed was often irritated that his appearances on TV chat shows concentrated on his drinking feats rather than his latest film. David Letterman cut to a commercial when it appeared Reed might get violent after being asked too many questions about his drinking. In September 1975, in front of a speechless Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, the bellicose Reed had a glass of whisky poured over his head on-camera by an enraged Shelley Winters (Winters had been upset by Reed's derogatory comments toward women).[10]
