Alan Bates
Date of birth: 1934-02-17
Place of birth: Allestree, Derbyshire, England
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Алан Бейтс
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.
Movie Credits
Hamlet
1990-12-19
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne,
Zorba the Greek
1964-12-14
An uptight English writer traveling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever
Far from the Madding Crowd
1967-06-18
Bathsheba Everdine, a willful, flirtatious, young woman, unexpectedly inherits a large farm and beco
The Mothman Prophecies
2002-01-25
Reporter John Klein is plunged into a world of impossible terror and unthinkable chaos when fate dra
Gosford Park
2001-12-26
In 1930s England, a group of pretentious rich and famous gather together for a weekend of relaxation
Nothing Like a Dame
2018-05-02
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atki
Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father
2020-12-31
At the memorial for his father, WWII hero Major James Prentis (Alan Bates), John (Lambert Wilson) co
Spartacus
2004-03-17
Sentenced to spend out the rest of his adult life laboring in the harsh deserts of Egypt, the Thraci
Britannia Hospital
1982-05-27
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by
A Kind of Loving
1962-04-12
As Vic Brown vacillates between infatuation and disinterest for his co-worker Ingrid Rothwell, she
Whistle Down the Wind
1961-07-25
When an injured wife-murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the farmer’s three children
A Prayer for the Dying
1987-09-11
Martin, an I.R.A. hitman, is seen by a Catholic priest while carrying out a hit. He grows a bond wit
Mister Frost
1990-04-10
Frost is arrested and committed for murder after he is apprehended burying his victims in the garden
The Statement
2003-12-12
The film is set in France in the 1990s, the French were defeated by the Germans early in World War I
Dr. M
1990-05-24
In the not-too-distant future Berlin is shocked by a series of spectacular suicides; a policeman's i
The Go-Between
1971-06-16
British teenager Leo Colston spends a summer in the countryside, where he develops a crush on the be
Georgy Girl
1966-08-04
A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged employe
The Prince and the Pauper
2000-12-01
An adaptation of the classic, "The Prince and the Pauper" is the retelling of Edward Tudor and young
Losing Track
1992-10-18
In 1950, a man returns home to the UK from India after the death of his wife to build bridges with h
The Rose
1979-11-07
Rock-and-roll singer Mary Rose Foster's romantic relationships and mental health are continuously im
An Unmarried Woman
1978-05-24
A wealthy woman from Manhattan's Upper East Side struggles to deal with her new identity and her sex
Bertie and Elizabeth
2002-06-04
The life of England’s George VI, who was forced to become King following the abdication of his broth
Women in Love
1969-09-13
Growing up in the sheltered confines of a 1920s English coal-mining community, free-spirited sisters
A Voyage Round My Father
1984-04-19
A successful lawyer struck with blindness in middle age continues his battles in the courtroom with
Quartet
1981-10-25
When her husband's arrest leaves her penniless, a woman accepts an invitation to move in with a stra
King of Hearts
1966-12-21
An ornithologist mistaken for an explosives expert is sent alone into a small French town during WWI
The Grotesque
1995-09-09
Sir Hugo is more interested in reconstructing dinosaur bones than in paying attention to his wife, L
The Entertainer
1960-07-25
Archie Rice, an old-time British vaudeville performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay in
Duet for One
1986-12-25
When Stephanie, a famous violinist, contracts multiple sclerosis her life begins to fall apart. Her
Royal Flash
1975-10-10
Cowardly rogue Harry Flashman's (Malcolm McDowell) schemes to gain entry to the royal circles of 19t
Hollywood North
2004-01-12
The making of a serious, Canadian arthouse film descends into Hollywood farce when its producer is f
The Fixer
1968-12-08
Set in tsarist Russia around the turn of the century and based on a true story of a Russian Jewish p
The Caretaker
1964-01-21
Aston, a quiet, reserved man, lives alone in a top-floor cluttered room of a small abandoned house i
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1972-05-01
A couple uses extremely black comedy to survive taking care of a daughter who is nearly completely b
Secret Friends
1991-06-21
During a train ride, an anxiety attack leads middle-aged illustrator John into an identity crisis. A
We Think the World of You
1988-12-22
An aimless young man, Johnny, is sent prison. He entrusts his beloved dog, Evie, to the care of his
An Englishman Abroad
1983-11-29
Actress Coral Browne travels to Moscow, and meets a mysterious Englishman. Turns out he's the notori
The Wicked Lady
1983-04-21
Caroline is to be wed to Sir Ralph and invites her sister Barbara to be her bridesmaid. Barbara sedu
Nothing But the Best
1964-03-10
Success has James Brewster's name written all over it, and he also has his heart set on his boss's d
Separate Tables
1983-01-01
Two one-act plays explore love and loneliness. In "Table by the Window" an aging fashion model contr
The Running Man
1963-10-01
An Englishman with a grudge against an insurance company for a disallowed claim fakes his own death
Silent Tongue
1993-01-28
Mad with grief after the death of his Kiowa wife, Roe awaits death under a tree with her body beside
Butley
1974-01-21
Butley is set in Queen Mary’s College, London and focuses on two English instructors, Ben Butley, a
In Celebration
1975-03-17
In a Yorkshire mining town, three educated brothers return to their blue-collar home to celebrate th
Nijinsky
1980-03-20
A ballet dancer struggles with his homosexuality and the increasing allure of a young ballerina who
The Collection
1976-01-01
Set in the rarefied world of West End boutique owners and fashion designers, The Collection takes as
One for the Road
1985-07-25
Powerful statement about the abuse of human rights by totalitarian governments, finds an unctuous an
Uncontrollable Circumstances
1989-04-04
Philippe and Daniel decide to go on vacation Southeast Asia, where they meet Hans, a European who li
Impossible Object
1973-05-24
Harry is a married writer who has an affair with a woman whose husband knows that she is unfaithful.
102 Boulevard Haussmann
1990-11-09
In 1916 author Marcel Proust is leading a reclusive life in Paris. He hires a quartet of musicians a
The Return of the Soldier
1983-01-06
The horrors of World War I have robbed returning veteran Chris Baldry of his memory. The traumatized
Discovering Hamlet
2011-11-01
Journey into "Hamlet"-the play and the man-through the experiences of some of the major actors and d
Nicholas’ Gift
1998-04-21
Fact based drama about an American couple on vacation in Italy in 1994 with their two children who a
Unnatural Pursuits
1992-01-01
An English playwright sacrifices his health waiting for his play's make-or-break opening on Broadway
Hands Up!
1985-01-21
The reunion of a group of former medical students results in a flood of bitter memories.
Pack of Lies
1987-04-26
A British couple are shocked out of their suburban malaise when British intelligence agent Stewart s
Very Like a Whale
1981-01-02
Theme of a powerful and respected man tearing his life to pieces.
Three Sisters
1970-04-01
Nearly a thousand miles away from their beloved Moscow, Chekhov's Three Sisters live in virtual exil
Hard Times
1994-04-29
Charles Dickens' bleak, passionate novel about the challenges of life in 19th-century London comes t
The Trespasser
1981-01-25
Adapted from the D. H. Lawrence novel this tells the romantic story of Siegmund and Helena. Siegmund
Evelyn
2002-09-30
Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unem
Salem Witch Trials
2002-12-24
Salem, Massachusetts. A small town—with no clear governing body—became embroiled in a scandal that f
The Dog It Was That Died
1989-01-01
Rupert Purvis jumps off a bridge onto a dog, causing problems for Blair, his superior at MI5. Blair
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend
2000-03-12
A young Christian boy attends a druid worship that is attacked by invading Irish tribes. Taken capti
Two Sundays
1975-10-21
Two men, with families in tow, meet for lunch. As they talk, repressed school memories come to the s
Plaintiffs and Defendants
1975-10-14
A barrister's complex life unravels as he juggles a court case and highly-strung mistress.
The Story of Jacob and Joseph
1974-04-07
This film recounts the tales of the Biblical figures, Jacob and Joseph. The first part tells the sto
The Sum of All Fears
2002-05-31
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him.
Once Upon a Tractor
1965-09-09
Alan Bates and Diane Cilento play an odd couple fleeing across fictitious European countries with NY
Anthony Quinn: The Final Words
2001-01-01
In a historical interview only a few months before his death, the harger-than-life star of Zorba the
Second Best
1972-01-01
A short film based on a story by D.H. Lawrence in which two sisters meet after being apart for a lon
Meanwhile
2003-07-19
Two childhood friends - Darren and Gary - re-unite for the funeral of an old acquaintance. Gary boas
The Cherry Orchard
1999-01-01
Madame Ranevskaya is a spoiled aging aristocratic lady, who returns from a trip to Paris to face the
Shuttlecock
1993-04-07
Major James Prentis VC is a British spy of World War II and war hero who goes under the code name of
The Shout
1978-06-16
A traveller by the name of Crossley forces himself upon a musician and his wife in a lonely part of
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
1984-10-08
Dr. Fischer has an unusual hobby — to expose human greed. How much humiliation will his fellow man e
The Making of Gosford Park
2002-06-18
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Robert Altman's 2001 film 'Gosford Park'. Cast and crew re
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd
1967-10-01
This promotional short film for the feature Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) takes us to the many l
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work
1969-01-01
A look at people who travel the world by air as part of their everyday jobs, including businessmen a
The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
1988-05-28
S02E12 of “The Ray Bradbury Theater.” A ventriloquist is implicated in the murder of a man at a thea
Lionpower from MGM
1967-01-01
"Lionpower from MGM" (1967) is an exciting 60's promotional short subject, which showcases MGM's rel
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
2025-06-17
Peter Medak's films toy with notions of cosplay, masquerade, gamesmanship, and how power and permiss
Celebrity Naked Ambition
2003-07-19
Documentary looking at how nudity has been used in the movies, sometimes shrewdly and other times wi