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Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed Paperback – Illustrated, April 26, 2011

4.3 out of 5 stars 298

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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.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Told in the free-ranging anecdotal style of the bar stool bard--and taken, presumably, with the requisite tumblerful of tipple--these breezy tales of outcast British actors stumbling, bumbling and humping their way to stardom, offer up truly guffaw-worthy camp and idiocy. All the classic bits are there. . . . 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 (and moaning and toasting all the while.)” ―GQ

“A book celebrating famously unrepentant drunks is a welcome surprise . . . Like the rejuvenating martinis and blurry haze of cigarettes in 'Mad Men,' Robert Sellers's nostalgic
Hellraisers. . . amounts to an unapologetic celebration of the plastered and the damned in our sanctimonious 'Oprah' age of public confession and easy redemption.” ―The Wall Street Journal

“Robert Sellers' outrageously entertaining history proves that today's celebrities don't have much on Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed.” ―
The Daily Beast

Hellraisers wants only to be a rowdy collection of greatest hits, and it lives up to that fun-loving ambition.” ―The New York Times

“An incredibly entertaining series of anecdotes, interspersed with unpretentious and conversational interviews--all about drinking.” ―
The LA Times

“As the colorful anecdotes collected in this book make clear, some stars are born rather than made.” ―
The New York Post

“Their names are included up there with the acting greats and these boys spent quite a bit of time behaving badly. From O'Toole getting arrested for wooing an insurance building, Reed dropping his pants in public to show off his "mighty mallet," Harris attacking cars in Italy, to Burton urinating onstage, it is laid out in hilarious detail by Sellers. The hijinks, happening in a time before real paparazzi we have now, did not come without a price, although while on top, these men lived life to the fullest and never looked backward or even forward. . . . These extraordinary characters and ultimately charming men continued to grab life by the horns even when the partying slowed. The men were more than actors; they were legends, and they never let anyone forget it for an instant.” ―
San Francisco Book Review

“The most outrageous film book of the season, by far, is Robert Sellers'
Hellraisers. . . . We no longer think of the exploits and peccadilloes of self-annihilating alcoholics as a roistering, almost Elizabethan source of anecdotage and amusement, but for the last historical period where people did, Burton, Harris O'Toole and Reed were the source of more stories, both hilarious and monstrous, than anyone else.” ―The Buffalo News

“Equal parts funny and appalling,
Hellraisers takes us back to the glory days of stage and screen actors Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed.” ―Connecticut News

“There are some wonderful tales here.” ―
Dallas Morning News

About the Author

ROBERT SELLERS is the author of eight books. He contributes regularly to Empire, Total Film, Cinema Retro, and The Independent. A former stand up comedian, he lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and daughter.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin; Illustrated edition (April 26, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312668147
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312668143
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.72 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 298

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Robert Sellers
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Robert Sellers was born in Leeds in 1965. Following graduation from drama school he aspired to a career on stage and screen. Alas, despite a few walk on roles, the world has been spared his acting, which is perhaps all for the best.

Instead he turned to film journalism - why not write about the medium he loves if he couldn't appear in it. Since the early 90s he has written numerous biographies, books on film and TV and popular culture including the bestselling Hellraisers. His book The Battle for Bond was the subject of controversial litigation and for a time was banned in Britain.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
298 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2015
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.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2013
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 Crow
GLADIATOR 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.
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Top reviews from other countries

Ebbs
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 22, 2018
Was worth waiting for
Dr. R. Lechner
3.0 out of 5 stars Hellraisers' Special
Reviewed in Germany on July 12, 2014
Lots of hearsay episodes interspersed with partly documented quotations (see "R. Burton Diaries") in a sloppy, grammatically mostly incorrect language. Anyway, enjoyable infotainment