Effects to `revive' dead actor

The late Oliver Reed is to be brought back to life. The hard-drinking British actor was filming the epic adventure "TheGladiator," when he died in May.

Reed, who was 61, was cast in the key role of the warrior Proximoin the adventure story, set in ancient Rome, and he had alreadycompleted several of his scenes. The use of many extras and largespecially constructed sets made reshooting all of Reed's scenesimpossible.

When the option of recasting Reed's role was dismissed,animatronics and special-effects experts were brought in to find waysof superimposing his image on scenes he had not yet shot.

The technique has been used before. When Brandon Lee died …