Reed was an English actor known for his macho image on and off screen. His major films include Women In Love, The Assassination Bureau, The Devils, I'll Never Forget What's 'Isname, Tommy, The Three Musketeers, Burnt Offerings, The Brood, Castaway, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Lion of the Desert, and Gladiator. He was the son of sports journalist Peter Reed and his wife Marcia, he was the nephew of film director Sir Carol Reed, and grandson of the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree by his mistress May Pinney Reed. Dyslexic, Reed was expelled from many different private schools. He was also a direct descendant of King William IV and his long-time mistress, Dorothy Jordan. Starting off as an extra in films in the late 1950s, Reed got his first notable roles in Hammer films Sword of Sherwood Forest, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (both 1960), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). In 1964 he starred in the first of six films directed by Michael Winner.He first collabarated with director Ken Russell in a biopic of Claude Debussy in 1965, after which came his famous role in Women In Love (1969), in which he wrestled naked with Alan Bates in front of a log fire; then the controversial 1971 film The Devils, and finally the 1975 musical film Tommy, based on The Who's 1969 concept album Tommy and starring its lead singer Roger Daltrey. In between those films for Russell, Reed played his memorable role of Bill Sikes in his uncle Carol Reed's 1968 screen version of the hit musical Oliver!, and the title role in the 1969 comedy Hannibal Brooks, again for director Winner. Reed starred as Athos in three films based on Alexandre Dumas's novels, first in 1973's The Three Musketeers, followed by The Four Musketeers in 1974, and fifteen years later with The Return of the Musketeers. His final role as Proximo in Gladiator, released after his death in 2000 (some footage depicting Reed's character was filmed after his death with a double digitally mixed with out-take footage taken before Reed's death). He was famous for his excessive drinking, and was once forced to leave the set of the Channel 4 television discussion programme After Dark after arriving drunk and attempting to kiss feminist writer Kate Millett. On another occasion he removed his trousers during an interview. Steve McQueen told the story that in 1973 he had flown to the UK to discuss a film project with Reed and suggested the pair go to a nightclub in London. This led to a marathon pub crawl during which Reed threw up on McQueen. He died suddenly from a heart attack during a break from filming Gladiator.