BORN ON THIS DAY

oLivER REED ( 19381999). The actor from Wimbledon, star of Women in Love and Gladiator, described his career as ‘shafting the girlies and downing the sherbie’. he died after an epic drinking session in a pub in Malta. he was expelled from 14 schools and went on to do a variety of jobs, including club bouncer, fairground boxer and mortuary attendant. GEoRGEs siMEnon (1903-1989). The Belgian novelist, who sold more than 600 million books, is best known for his inspector Maigret mysteries. simenon was a notorious womaniser who had countless affairs and admitted that from the age of 13 he was ‘hungry for all women’.