Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
February 17, 1934
Place of Birth:
Allestree, Derbyshire, England
Social Media
Alan Bates
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.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father | Major James Prentis (archival footage) |
| 2018 | Nothing Like a Dame | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 2011 | Discovering Hamlet | Claudius (archive footage) |
| 2004 | Spartacus | Antonius Agrippa |
| 2004 | Hollywood North | Michael Baytes |
| 2003 | The Statement | Armand Bertier |
| 2003 | Meanwhile | |
| 2002 | The Mothman Prophecies | Alexander Leek |
| 2002 | Bertie and Elizabeth | King George V |
| 2002 | Evelyn | Thomas Connolly |
| 2002 | Salem Witch Trials | Sir William Phips |
| 2002 | The Sum of All Fears | Dressler |
| 2002 | The Making of 'Gosford Park' | Self |
| 2001 | Gosford Park | Jennings |
| 2001 | Anthony Quinn: The Final Words | Self |
| 2000 | The Prince and the Pauper | Re Enrico VIII |
| 2000 | St. Patrick: The Irish Legend | Calpornius |
| 1999 | The Cherry Orchard | Gayev |
| 1998 | Nicholas’ Gift | Reg Green |
| 1995 | The Grotesque | Sir Hugo Coal |
| 1994 | Hard Times | Josiah Bounderby |
| 1993 | Silent Tongue | Eamon McCree |
| 1993 | Shuttlecock | Major James Prentis VC |
| 1992 | Losing Track | Henry Sitchell |
| 1992 | Unnatural Pursuits | Hamish Partt |
| 1991 | Secret Friends | John |
| 1991 | Mel Gibson Goes Back to School | Claudius (archive footage) |
| 1990 | Hamlet | Claudius |
| 1990 | Mister Frost | Felix Detweiler |
| 1990 | Dr. M | Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru |
| 1990 | 102 Boulevard Haussmann | Marcel Proust |
| 1989 | Uncontrollable Circumstances | Malcolm Forrest |
| 1989 | The Dog It Was That Died | Blair |
| 1988 | We Think the World of You | Frank Meadows |
| 1988 | The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska | John Fabian |
| 1987 | A Prayer for the Dying | Jack Meehan |
| 1987 | Pack of Lies | Stewart |
| 1986 | Duet for One | David Cornwallis |
| 1985 | One for the Road | Nicholas |
| 1985 | Hands Up! | Self (1981 footage) |
| 1984 | A Voyage Round My Father | John Mortimer |
| 1984 | Dr. Fischer of Geneva | Dr. Alfred Jones |
| 1983 | An Englishman Abroad | Guy Burgess |
| 1983 | The Wicked Lady | Captain Jerry Jackson |
| 1983 | Separate Tables | John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock |
| 1983 | The Return of the Soldier | Captain Chris Baldry |
| 1982 | Britannia Hospital | Macready |
| 1981 | Quartet | H.J. Heidler |
| 1981 | Very Like a Whale | Sir Jock Mellor |
| 1981 | The Trespasser | Siegmund |
| 1980 | Nijinsky | Sergei Diaghilev |
| 1979 | The Rose | Rudge Campbell |
| 1978 | An Unmarried Woman | Saul Kaplan |
| 1978 | The Shout | Charles Crossley |
| 1976 | The Collection | James |
| 1975 | Royal Flash | Rudi Von Sternberg |
| 1975 | In Celebration | Andrew Shaw |
| 1975 | Two Sundays | Charles |
| 1975 | Plaintiffs and Defendants | Peter |
| 1974 | Butley | Ben Butley |
| 1974 | The Story of Jacob and Joseph | Narrator (voice) |
| 1973 | Impossible Object | Harry |
| 1972 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Bri |
| 1972 | Second Best | Tom |
| 1971 | The Go-Between | Ted Burgess |
| 1970 | Three Sisters | Col. Vershinin |
| 1969 | Women in Love | Rupert Birkin |
| 1969 | Look at Life: All in a Day's Work | Self |
| 1968 | The Fixer | Yakov Bok |
| 1967 | Far from the Madding Crowd | Gabriel Oak |
| 1967 | Location: Far from the Madding Crowd | Himself |
| 1966 | Georgy Girl | Jos Jones |
| 1966 | King of Hearts | Charles Plumpick |
| 1965 | Once Upon a Tractor | Joe Turrel |
| 1964 | Zorba the Greek | Basil |
| 1964 | The Caretaker | Mick |
| 1964 | Nothing But the Best | Jimmy Brewster |
| 1963 | The Running Man | Stephen |
| 1962 | A Kind of Loving | Victor Arthur 'Vic' Brown |
| 1961 | Whistle Down the Wind | The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey |
| 1960 | The Entertainer | Frank Rice |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Graham Norton Show | Self |
| 2004 | Spartacus | Antonius Agrippa |
| 2001 | Love in a Cold Climate | Uncle Matthew |
| 2000 | Arabian Nights | Storyteller |
| 2000 | In the Beginning | Jethro |
| 1995 | Oliver's Travels | Oliver |
| 1994 | Hard Times | Josiah Bounderby |
| 1992 | Unnatural Pursuits | Hamish Partt |
| 1991 | Pebble Mill | Self |
| 1985 | The Ray Bradbury Theater | John Fabian |
| 1978 | The Mayor of Casterbridge | Michael Henchard |
| 1976 | Laurence Olivier Presents | |
| 1971 | Great Performances | James |
| 1962 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Stewart |