Hellraisers
The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed
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4.2 • 22 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The Boozy Biography of the Four Greatest Actors to Ever Walk–Or Stagger–Into a Pub.
Set in the dazzling world of cinema, Hellraisers paints the raw and riveting profiles of four illustrious figures from Hollywood and British cinema—Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed. These stars reigned on-screen, while off-screen, they wove tales of legendary proportion through their notorious exploits.
Renowned author Robert Sellers captures the intertwined lives and careers of these icons with a unique blend of humor and affection. He recounts their incredible narratives overflowing with intoxicated binges, tumultuous relationships, and reckless romantic escapades that, for an average individual, would warrant legal consequences.
Hellraisers is a celebratory catalog of their miscreant deeds, a greatest-hits package, as it were, of their most breathtakingly outrageous behavior, told with humor and affection. You can't help but enjoy it—after all, they bloody well did.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Show business biographer Sellers (The Battle for Bond) chronicles the booze-soaked lives of four of the stage and screen's most bombastic performers. Welsh Burton (1925 1984), Irish-born Harris (1930 2002), Irish-born and English-raised O'Toole (born 1932) and English Reed (1937 1999) gave some of the 20th century's most memorable performances, but were equally famous for their offscreen antics. Except for Reed, their careers began on the British stage, before all four were lured to Hollywood, starring in such classics as Lawrence of Arabia (O'Toole), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Burton), Camelot (Harris) and The Three Musketeers (Reed). Consuming staggering amounts of alcohol on a daily basis, all were forces to be reckoned with on the set, often turning up too drunk to perform. Burton's tempestuous affair with Elizabeth Taylor which led to two marriages and two divorces often eclipsed his talent, while O'Toole, Harris and Reed saw their careers slump in the late 1970s and '80s, only to be revived by roles in such successful films as Troy (O'Toole), the Harry Potter franchise (Harris) and Gladiator (Reed). Though Sellers often muddles the chronology by switching too often between the four's liquored-up antics, his glimpse into Hollywood's culture of excess is more than enough to satisfy.
Customer Reviews
Hell raisers
Well written, fast paced biography focused on the exceptional careers and drinking lives of four of the best English Actors of the 20th century.
Wild Tales
I happened to be reading this for the second time so this influences my rating. The drinking stories become overwhelming after a while and I desired to read individual bios of Burton, Harris, and O'Toole (but not Reed) with more fleshed-out portrayals. This book has plenty of laughs but not for the light-hearted or prudish. Some stories are hard to believe also but I am sure there is some truth in all of them. I plan to pursue the individual bio route...EAF