Alan Bates
Born: 1934-02-17 in Allestree, Derbyshire, England
Died: 2003-12-27
Known For: 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.
Filmography
2025
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)
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
2004
- Spartacus as Antonius Agrippa
- Spartacus as Antonius Agrippa
- Hollywood North as Michael Baytes
2003
- The Statement as Armand Bertier
- Celebrity Naked Ambition as Self (archive footage)
- Salem Witch Trials as Sir William Phips
- Meanwhile as Father Peter
2002
- The Sum of All Fears as Dressler
- The Mothman Prophecies as Alexander Leek
- Evelyn as Thomas Connolly
- Salem Witch Trials as Sir William Phips
- The Making of Gosford Park as Self
- Bertie and Elizabeth as King George V
2001
- Gosford Park as Jennings
- Love in a Cold Climate as Uncle Matthew
- Anthony Quinn: The Final Words as Self
2000
- Arabian Nights as Storyteller
- In the Beginning as Jethro
- The Prince and the Pauper as Re Enrico VIII
- St. Patrick: The Irish Legend as Calpornius
1999
- The Cherry Orchard as Gayev
1998
- Nicholas’ Gift as Reg Green
1995
- Oliver's Travels as Oliver
- The Grotesque as Sir Hugo Coal
1994
- Hard Times as Josiah Bounderby
- Silent Tongue as Eamon McCree
- Hard Times as Josiah Bounderby
1993
- Shuttlecock as Major James Prentis VC
1992
- Unnatural Pursuits as Hamish Partt
- Unnatural Pursuits as Hamish Partt
- Losing Track as Henry Sitchell
1991
- Pebble Mill as Self
- Secret Friends as John
1990
- Hamlet as Claudius
- Mister Frost as Felix Detweiler
- Dr. M as Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru
- 102 Boulevard Haussmann as Marcel Proust
1989
- Uncontrollable Circumstances as Malcolm Forrest
- The Dog It Was That Died as Blair
1988
- We Think the World of You as Frank Meadows
- The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska as John Fabian
1987
- A Prayer for the Dying as Jack Meehan
- Pack of Lies as Stewart
1986
- Duet for One as David Cornwallis
1985
- The Ray Bradbury Theater as John Fabian
- Hands Up! as Self (1981 footage)
- One for the Road as Nicholas
1984
- Dr. Fischer of Geneva as Dr. Alfred Jones
- A Voyage Round My Father as John Mortimer
1983
- The Wicked Lady as Captain Jerry Jackson
- The Return of the Soldier as Captain Chris Baldry
- An Englishman Abroad as Guy Burgess
- Separate Tables as John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
1982
- Britannia Hospital as Macready
1981
- Quartet as H.J. Heidler
- The Trespasser as Siegmund
- Very Like a Whale as Sir Jock Mellor
1980
- Nijinsky as Sergei Diaghilev
1979
- The Rose as Rudge Campbell
1978
- The Mayor of Casterbridge as Michael Henchard
- An Unmarried Woman as Saul Kaplan
- The Shout as Charles Crossley
1976
- Laurence Olivier Presents
- The Collection as James
1975
- Royal Flash as Rudi Von Sternberg
- Plaintiffs and Defendants as Peter
- In Celebration as Andrew Shaw
- Two Sundays as Charles
1974
- The Story of Jacob and Joseph as Narrator (voice)
- Butley as Ben Butley
1973
- Impossible Object as Harry
1972
- Second Best as Tom
- A Day in the Death of Joe Egg as Bri
1971
- Great Performances as James
- The Go-Between as Ted Burgess
1970
- Three Sisters as Col. Vershinin
1969
- Women in Love as Rupert Birkin
- Look at Life: All in a Day's Work as Self
1968
- The Fixer as Yakov Bok
1967
- Far from the Madding Crowd as Gabriel Oak
- Lionpower from MGM as Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Location: Far from the Madding Crowd as Himself
1966
- Georgy Girl as Jos Jones
- King of Hearts as Charles Plumpick
1965
- Once Upon a Tractor as Joe Turrel
1964
- Zorba the Greek as Basil
- The Caretaker as Mick
- Nothing But the Best as Jimmy Brewster
1963
- The Running Man as Stephen
1962
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- 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
1956
- Armchair Theatre as Lewis Black
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Stewart