Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed

If you are like me and enjoy living vicariously by reading about the misdeeds and generally abhorrent conduct of the rich or famous — rock or movie stars or politicians — well, this book is for you. This book describes the reckless, alcohol and drug addled lives and times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed.The stories told in this book are anecdotal but taken together present a picture consistent to all these actors: They were all enormously talented, and while each starred in their share of lose movies, each took part in some of the greatest films from the last fifty years.They all had a deep indifference to, distrust and/or disgust of authority, and whenever these thespians expressed that indifference, distrust or disgust they all, in contemporary terms, “acted out.” This is by far the most entertaining portion of the book. That indifference, distrust or disgust was expressed in different ways. Richard Burton made sure that he bedded as many women as possible. Oliver Reed went out of his way to intimidate anyone he came into contact. Richard Harris and Peter O’Toole did whatever they fool well felt like doing, irrespective of social convention.And alcohol. They all drank like a fish and smoked like a chimneys. Richard Burton could put away two bottles of vodka before 2:00 in the afternoon. The book relates that when Burton was undergoing surgery on his back due to chronic back problems, they discovered that there were alcohol crystals up and down his spine. Now that’s a lotta booze. Sober, Reed was a complete gentleman; drunk he was out of control. He was banned for life from most pubs he went to because of the mayhem he caused when drunk. Harris and O’Toole modified their drinking habits in the latter part of their lives. This is why they lived to see their 70s. Richard Burton, on the other hand, lived to be 58 years old and Oliver Reed lived to the ripe old age of 61.This book will not disappoint. Burton, Harris, O’Toole and Reed lived lively, full lives, even if they severely abused their bodies. There is a companion book as well, Hollywood Hellraisers, about the counterparts to the subjects of this book — Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, and Warren Beatty. The highjincks of these scallywags don’t come close to the antics raised by Burton, Harris, O’Toole and Reed, in my opinion, with the possible exception to Dennis Hopper, of course.It seems that today’s Hellraisers lack something that these fellows definitely had in abundance. Keith Richards, another hellraiser, once said, “If you are going to get wasted, then get wasted elegantly.” Today’s hellraisers resemble sloppy drunks compared to Burton, Harris, O’Toole and Reed. They got wasted and they did so elegantly. They were the real deal.

Gossip makes the world go around and confirmed true gossip is the best kind especially when it involves high profile celebrities. The four Irish actors presented here were stage and screen actors extraordinary. Well let's say all but Oliver Reed who never seemed close to breaking through to stardom the way O'Toole, Harris and Burton did. Oliver Reed was also the only one of the group who came from a well to do family. The point of this book is to entertain the reader with story after story of these four actors drinking with many other theatrical talents indulged in what can only be described as inappropriate behavior. There self-destructive behavior in all but O'Toole's case resulted in their early deaths and the squandering of their talent. O'Toole said it was marvelous to wake up in the morning and not know what country he was in. He is alive today because in his 40s he had to quit drinking or die (so he took up smoking and laid off alcohol). My favorite of the group is Peter O'Toole and my favorite O'Toole story is: "When (Peter) Finch was working in Ireland in the early 60s O'Toole joined him one night for a drink but the pub refused to serve them because it was after closing time. Both stars decided that the only course of action was to buy the pub, so they wrote out a cheque for it on the spot. The following morning after realizing what they'd done the pair rushed back to the scene of the crime. Luckily the landlord hadn't cashed the cheque yet and disaster was averted. O'Toole and Finch remained on friendly terms with the pub owner and when he died his wife invited them to his funeral. Both knelt at the graveside as the coffin was slowly lowered in, sobbing noisily. When Finch turned away, unable to stand it anymore, O'Toole saw his friend's face change from a look of sorrow to one of total astonishment. They were at the wrong funeral. Their friend was being buried 100 yards away." They were all alcoholics who lived hedonistic lives of misbehavior. Richard Harris eventually gave up drink because he realized he remembered none of it. Burton and Reed never did. Burton fought the demons of great talent (perhaps the greatest of all four especially on stage) by preferring great fame and notoriety and great wealth over quality work. He took the money and ran leaving one bad picture after another behind him. Oliver Reed comes off just a first class jerk. Reed it appears was a drunken, fighting, rude bloke with no charm and total disregard for health or life of even those around him. His stories are mostly ugly and sad. But the whole of the stories and lives presented from their dark sides are all sad. O'Toole less so as he has outlived the bunch and developed an eccentricity that is both charming and out of date. As I read the book I could not help myself from telling others around me a story or two from what I had just read. There just to amazing, many funny, many shocking made more so because my generation grew up with this talent. Who can forget Richard Harris in SNOW GOOSE perhaps the best Hallmark Hall of Fame film ever (Or This Sporting life or A Man Call Horse, or Mutiny on the Bounty). Or Richard Burton as BECKET (with Peter O'Toole) or his stage work as Hamlet or the king in CAMELOT. Oliver Reed not so much as he died before his last film the Russell CrowGLADIATOR even was finished. Yet it is O'TOOLE, the eccentric O'Toole that combined the best of all four with the luck of an amazing body of work. As you may be able to tell this book is a fun, light romp through these four lives as if told by their friend after a pint or two (or seven or eight). You will enjoy it and be outraged by the behavior of these four STARS.

Was worth waiting for

Lots of hearsay episodes interspersed with partly documented quotations (see "R. Burton Diaries") in a sloppy, grammatically mostly incorrect language. Anyway, enjoyable infotainment