Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed never won an Oscar, a BAFTA or a Golden Globe, and he knew it. What he won instead was a kind of immortality that awards bodies rarely confer: a reputation as one of the most fearless actors Britain ever produced. His performance as Bill Sikes in Oliver! is still studied, his work with Ken Russell on Women in Love and The Devils remains a benchmark for screen intensity, and his final turn in Gladiator gave him a posthumous BAFTA nomination and a permanent place in the film's Best Picture win. In 2018, nearly two decades after his death, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The recognition was late, but it was real, and it confirmed what his fans had always known: the work outlasts the awards.