My friend Lois Lane is big with the celebrity crushes so I'm giving her a forum to share who she's into, who she's falling out of love with and which former famous boyfriends just need to be put down.
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In the Corral
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New to the Corral
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Quarantined
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Out to Pasture
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Ghost
Riders |
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Oliver Reed Ghost Riders
in the Sky Here’s the man to blame for breaking my No Dead Dudes rule… Name: Oliver Reed (1938 -1999) As I am sure Mark will be eager to point out, I spent my childhood and several years beyond mortally terrified by Oliver Reed. Ter.ri.fied. The reason for this was one movie, shown countless times on TV: Oliver! As Bill Sikes, Ollie was a seriously scary bastard. There is no way a “family” movie today would have such a traumatizing villain. But, several years ago I saw Women In Love and thought, “Hey…wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute. This guy is maybe not as scary as I thought.” Well he was still scary, but there was something more. It dawned on me that maybe – just maybe – that fear of Bill Sikes had been mixed with a little attraction to such an animalistic and powerful man. That realization generated the teeniest of crushes, lasting through the watching of one other movie, Castaway (not the Tom Hanks one, obviously). Since this was back before NetFlix and the like, my secret mini-crush subsided when I was unable to find many of his films. Then, a couple months ago I saw Oliver! on TV again. It almost instantly rekindled my interest. Don’t get me wrong, he is still a rotten SOB and when he beats down Nancy it is truly awful. But Reed is such a powerful actor, such a commanding presence that I was drawn again to wanting to see more of him. So, to the horror of Mark and my sister (who has since jumped on his bandwagon, to a degree) I embarked on a groundbreaking crush. I have managed to see several of his films recently, and no matter how bad the movie he was always compelling. He possessed a wonderful speaking voice, more posh than you would expect but always tinged with a flinty, whispery menace. Unfortunately, Oliver passed away in 1999 after a life of drinking, hell-raising and making the occasional movie. He was a vastly underrated actor and sadly never really lived up to his full potential. His contemporaries like Michael Caine and Peter O’Toole made better choices and went to Hollywood. Oliver remained loyal to the British movie making establishment and drank away his leading man looks (to put it mildly). Over four decades he made a few memorable movies, several passable movies and many, many bad movies. It’s difficult to imagine if you are only familiar with the fat and haggard-looking man he became in his later years that Ollie once strikingly handsome young dude. See some of Ollie’s movies and you will learn to love him, too. Even if he scared the crap out of you when you were a kinder. Best Fan Sites: Oliver
Reed.net. An incredible thorough site with great articles,
a gorgeous gallery and loads of hilarious (in a sad way) anecdotes. Some of his Best Movies: Next Ghost Rider:
Elvis Presley
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Opinions
expressed in Lois Lane's Imaginary Celebrity Boyfriend Corral are
solely those of Lois Lane and do not reflect those of Bad Tiki or
its owner. Lois Lane is not a professional celebrity stalker, she
is just an enthusiastic young woman with internet access and occasionally
dubious taste in men. |
