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

Description

An extremely entertaining biography of four charismatic and much-loved actors- Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed. Robert Sellers follows their stories through five decades of boozing, brawling and braggadocio. 'God put me on this earth to raise sheer hell.' Richard Burton 'I was a sinner. I slugged some people. I hurt many people. And it's true, I never looked back to see the casualties.' Richard Harris 'Booze is the most outrageous of all drugs, which is why I chose it.' Peter O'Toole 'I don't have a drink problem. But if that was the case and doctors told me I had to stop I'd like to think I would be brave enough to drink myself into the grave.' Oliver Reed This is the story of four of the greatest thespian boozers who ever walked - or staggered - off a film set into a pub. It's a story of drunken binges of near biblical proportions, parties and orgies, broken marriages, drugs, riots and wanton sexual conquests. They got away with it because of their extraordinary acting talent and because the public loved them. They were truly the last of a breed, the last of the movie hellraisers.

Robert Sellers is a former stand-up comedian and the author of biographies of Sting, Tom Cruise, two appreciations of the work of Sean Connery and the definitive book on The Pythons- Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Robert was a regular contributor to Empire, Total Film, The Independent, SFX and Cinema Retro and has contributed to a number of television documentaries, including Channel 4's The 100 Best Family Films.

A rollicking read * Sunday Express * Sellers' biography is a jaw-dropping account of their twisted, tortured, politically incorrect lives * Daily Record * Robert Sellers gleefully follows the seedy lives of the four liver-abusing actors as they drink, brawl and shag their way through the decades into eventual oblivion * Metro * The best book we've ever read involving binge drinking, botched stage entrances, Hollywood floozies and British movie stars . . . Sometimes the form of a piece so perfectly fits its content you can actually hear the angels of accordance purr. Such is the case with Hellraisers . . . The sprightly smash 'n dash of the prose so wonderfully captures the wanton belligerence of both bingeing and stardom you almost feel the guys themselves are telling the tales * GQ * Unputdownable ... Sports book of the half-century, you might even say -- Frank Keating * Guardian *