HOLLYWOOD LEGEND Oliver Reed’s gift to a Scots pub remains in use over a quarter of a century after he first purchased it.
The Gladiator star was in the Scottish Borders filming The Bruce and was so unhappy with the seating at the Crown Hotel in Peebles, Scottish Borders that he argued with owner Peter Cassidy.
He then gave a local man Davie Lees a ‘wad of notes’ to purchase a comfortable chair for the boozer and allow him to enjoy the hospitable atmosphere.
The Oliver actor accompanied the local to the store and picked out an upholstered, cushioned armchair for the pub.
According to the daughter of the shop owner of the time, Reed was happy to joke with her father and after paying for the armchair, placed coins underneath the cushion.
The armchair Lees purchased, a tartan and leather upholstered throne, fit for Hollywood royalty remains in the Crown Hotel to this day.
A legacy of the late actors time spent in the hotel, the chair remains against a back wall under a photo of Reed posing with the owner Cassidy outside the hotel.
The story of Reeds chair shaped legacy was shared on social media with the caption: “The crown pub in Peebles.
“Oliver Reed complained to the hotel owner Peter Cassidy about the hardness of his seats and then thrust a bundle of notes into the hand of a regular called Davie Lees and ordered him to go to the local furniture store, the Castle Warehouse, and buy the pub a properly upholstered, properly comfortable armchair.
“Davie obliged, and the armchair now resides against a back wall of the public bar, under a framed photo of a well-refreshed Reed posing with Cassidy outside the hotel.”
The post has since received hundreds of likes and dozens of comments from users amazed by the story with some recounting other tales of Reed’s antics.
One user said: Aye, he got kicked out of Top Pub here as was ‘disturbing the peace.”
Another added: “Wow I had no idea, my favourite place to eat in Peebles too. X”
A third said: “He had a chair in a pub in Oban, too. Liked his comforts x”
And a fourth added: “Oliver Reed went to the castle warehouse with Davy Lees and picked the chair himself, my father sold him the chair , Davy carried it along to the crown.”
Speaking today Sharon Norville said: “My father passed away a couple of years ago, but he said that it was an expensive chair costing a few hundred pounds.
“Oliver paid cash and then he took change out his pocket and put it under the cushion told my father that all chairs have loose change in them.”
Speaking today Chris Cassidy said: “I was about 12 when Oli came here and him and his wife got friendly with my mum and dad and the workmen came in for their coffee in the morning and they wouldn’t end up getting to work because they would enjoy the crack and the patter.
“He would probably fly in two or three times a year and they would go up north with my mum and dad and they would hop about and just enjoy the time.
“He’s a real character, my dad was a bit of a drinker as well, went to his funeral and was supposed to be away for two days and he came back five days later.”
“Oliver and his wife Josephine came to Peebles to star in a film called The Bruce, he loved the Crown and the locals as it’s a working man’s bar.”
