Portrait of Alan Bates

Alan Bates

Acting

Biography

Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving. He is also known for his tour-de-force with Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek, as well as his roles in King of Hearts, Georgy Girl, Far From the Madding Crowd, and The Fixer, which gave him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1969, he starred in the Ken Russell film Women in Love with Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson. Bates went on to star in The Go-Between, An Unmarried Woman, Nijinsky, and The Rose with Bette Midler, as well as playing varied roles in television drama, including The Mayor of Casterbridge, Harold Pinter's The Collection, A Voyage Round My Father, An Englishman Abroad (as Guy Burgess), and Pack of Lies. He also continued to appear on the stage, notably in the plays of Simon Gray, such as Butley and Otherwise Engaged.

Born: February 17, 1934

Place of Birth: Allestree, Derbyshire, England

Filmography

2020
Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father

as Major James Prentis (archival footage)

2018
Nothing Like a Dame

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

2011
Discovering Hamlet

as Claudius (archive footage)

2004
Spartacus

as Antonius Agrippa

2004
Spartacus

as Antonius Agrippa

2004
Hollywood North

as Michael Baytes

2003
The Statement

as Armand Bertier

2003
Meanwhile

as Father Peter

2002
Salem Witch Trials

as Sir William Phips

2002
Evelyn

as Thomas Connolly

2002
Bertie and Elizabeth

as King George V

2002
2002
The Mothman Prophecies

as Alexander Leek

2001
Gosford Park

as Jennings

2001
Love in a Cold Climate

as Uncle Matthew

2000
The Prince and the Pauper

as Re Enrico VIII

2000
2000
Arabian Nights

as Storyteller

1999
1998
Nicholas’ Gift

as Reg Green

1995
The Grotesque

as Sir Hugo Coal

1995
1994
Hard Times

as Josiah Bounderby

1994
Hard Times

as Josiah Bounderby

1993
Shuttlecock

as Major James Prentis VC

1993
Silent Tongue

as Eamon McCree

1992
Unnatural Pursuits

as Hamish Partt

1992
Losing Track

as Henry Sitchell

1992
Unnatural Pursuits

as Hamish Partt

1991
1990
Hamlet

as Claudius

1990
102 Boulevard Haussmann

as Marcel Proust

1990
Dr. M

as Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru

1990
Mister Frost

as Felix Detweiler

1989
1988
1987
1987
Pack of Lies

as Stewart

1986
Duet for one

as David Cornwallis

1985
One for the Road

as Nicholas

1985
1985
Hands Up!

as Self (1981 footage)

1984
Dr. Fischer of Geneva

as Dr. Alfred Jones

1984
A Voyage Round My Father

as John Mortimer

1983
An Englishman Abroad

as Guy Burgess

1983
The Wicked Lady

as Captain Jerry Jackson

1983
The Return of the Soldier

as Captain Chris Baldry

1983
Separate Tables

as John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock

1982
1981
Quartet

as H.J. Heidler

1981
The Trespasser

as Siegmund

1981
Very Like a Whale

as Sir Jock Mellor

1980
Nijinsky

as Sergei Diaghilev

1979
The Rose

as Rudge Campbell

1978
The Shout

as Charles Crossley

1978
An Unmarried Woman

as Saul Kaplan

1978
The Mayor of Casterbridge

as Michael Henchard

1976
1975
Royal Flash

as Rudi Von Sternberg

1975
In Celebration

as Andrew Shaw

1974
1974
Butley

as Ben Butley

1973
1972
1971
The Go-Between

as Ted Burgess

1971
1970
Three Sisters

as Col. Vershinin

1969
Women in Love

as Rupert Birkin

1968
The Fixer

as Yakov Bok

1967
1966
King of Hearts

as Charles Plumpick

1966
Georgy Girl

as Jos Jones

1965
Once Upon a Tractor

as Joe Turrel

1964
1964
Nothing But the Best

as Jimmy Brewster

1964
1963
The Running Man

as Stephen

1962
A Kind of Loving

as Victor Arthur 'Vic' Brown

1961
Whistle Down the Wind

as The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey

1960
The Entertainer

as Frank Rice

1951