Evil Spirits: The Life of Oliver Reed

In May 1999, after a 40-year acting career, Oliver Reed succeeded in destroying himself. He died, as he had invariably lived, drinking with friends in Malta while making yet another film - Ridley Scott's "Gladiator", which was completed after his death using a computer-generated "Oliver Reed". Oliver Reed's acting breakthrough came in 1968 as Bill Sykes in the musical "Oliver!" which one six oscars and made Reed an international star. By the late 1960s he was Britain's highest paid actor. His drinking, womanising and marriages earned him great notoriety in addition to his acting successes. The author reveals much about Reed's past: his involvement with the south London underworld, and the women in his life. Material from friends, family and colleagues add new perspectives to the story of this legendary character. As the great man said, "Life should be lived, and that's all there is to it."

Cliff Goodwin was born in London in 1950. He joined Slough's weekly newspaper as a trainee reporter in 1968 from where he embarked on a journalistic career. He has had news stories and features published in more than 200 newspapers and magazines worldwide, and his coverage of the Lockerbie air crash in 1988 earned him a regional press award. In 1993, after 25 years in journalism, he decided to concentrate on full-time writing and has since written numerous biographies of popular icons including Sid James, Tony Hancock and Oliver Reed.