1934-02-17 Allestree, Derbyshire, England
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.
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Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders | Archive | 2025-06-17 |
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Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father | Major James Prentis (archival footage) | 2020-12-31 |
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Nothing Like a Dame | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2018-05-02 |
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Discovering Hamlet | Claudius (archive footage) | 2011-11-01 |
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Spartacus | Antonius Agrippa | 2004-03-17 |
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Hollywood North | Michael Baytes | 2004-01-12 |
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Meanwhile | Father Peter | 2003-07-19 |
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The Statement | Armand Bertier | 2003-12-12 |
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Celebrity Naked Ambition | Self (archive footage) | 2003-07-19 |
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Evelyn | Thomas Connolly | 2002-09-30 |
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The Sum of All Fears | Dressler | 2002-05-31 |
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Bertie and Elizabeth | King George V | 2002-06-04 |
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The Mothman Prophecies | Alexander Leek | 2002-01-25 |
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Salem Witch Trials | Sir William Phips | 2002-12-24 |
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The Making of Gosford Park | Self | 2002-06-18 |
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Anthony Quinn: The Final Words | Self | 2001-01-01 |
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Gosford Park | Jennings | 2001-12-26 |
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St. Patrick: The Irish Legend | Calpornius | 2000-03-12 |
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The Prince and the Pauper | Re Enrico VIII | 2000-12-01 |
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The Cherry Orchard | Gayev | 1999-01-01 |
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Nicholas' Gift | Reg Green | 1998-04-21 |
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The Grotesque | Sir Hugo Coal | 1995-09-09 |
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Hard Times | Josiah Bounderby | 1994-04-29 |
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Silent Tongue | Eamon McCree | 1994-02-01 |
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Shuttlecock | Major James Prentis VC | 1993-04-07 |
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Losing Track | Henry Sitchell | 1992-10-18 |
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Unnatural Pursuits | Hamish Partt | 1992-01-01 |
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Secret Friends | John | 1991-06-21 |
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Mister Frost | Felix Detweiler | 1990-04-10 |
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Dr. M | Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru | 1990-05-24 |
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102 Boulevard Haussmann | Marcel Proust | 1990-11-09 |
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Hamlet | Claudius | 1990-12-19 |
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Force majeure | Malcolm Forrest | 1989-04-04 |
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The Dog It Was That Died | Blair | 1989-01-01 |
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We Think the World of You | Frank Meadows | 1988-12-22 |
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The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska | John Fabian | 1988-05-28 |
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Pack of Lies | Stewart | 1987-04-26 |
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A Prayer for the Dying | Jack Meehan | 1987-09-11 |
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Duet for One | David Cornwallis | 1986-12-25 |
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One for the Road | Nicholas | 1985-07-25 |
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Ręce do góry | Self (1981 footage) | 1985-01-21 |
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Dr. Fischer of Geneva | Dr. Alfred Jones | 1984-10-08 |
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A Voyage Round My Father | John Mortimer | 1984-04-19 |
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The Return of the Soldier | Captain Chris Baldry | 1983-01-06 |
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The Wicked Lady | Captain Jerry Jackson | 1983-04-21 |
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An Englishman Abroad | Guy Burgess | 1983-11-29 |
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Separate Tables | John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock | 1983-01-01 |
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Britannia Hospital | Macready | 1982-05-27 |
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The Trespasser | Siegmund | 1981-01-25 |
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Quartet | H.J. Heidler | 1981-10-25 |
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Very Like a Whale | Sir Jock Mellor | 1981-01-02 |
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Nijinsky | Sergei Diaghilev | 1980-03-20 |
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The Rose | Rudge Campbell | 1979-11-07 |
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The Shout | Charles Crossley | 1978-06-16 |
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An Unmarried Woman | Saul Kaplan | 1978-05-24 |
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The Collection | James | 1976-01-01 |
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Two Sundays | Charles | 1975-10-21 |
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Plaintiffs and Defendants | Peter | 1975-10-14 |
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In Celebration | Andrew Shaw | 1975-03-17 |
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Royal Flash | Rudi Von Sternberg | 1975-10-10 |
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The Story of Jacob and Joseph | Narrator (voice) | 1974-04-07 |
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Butley | Ben Butley | 1974-01-21 |
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L'Impossible Objet | Harry | 1973-05-24 |
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Second Best | Tom | 1972-01-01 |
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A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Bri | 1972-05-01 |
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The Go-Between | Ted Burgess | 1971-06-16 |
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Three Sisters | Col. Vershinin | 1970-04-01 |
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Look at Life: All in a Day's Work | Self | 1969-01-01 |
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Women in Love | Rupert Birkin | 1969-09-13 |
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The Fixer | Yakov Bok | 1968-12-08 |
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Far from the Madding Crowd | Gabriel Oak | 1967-06-18 |
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Lionpower from MGM | Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1967-01-01 |
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Location: Far from the Madding Crowd | Himself | 1967-10-01 |
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Georgy Girl | Jos Jones | 1966-08-04 |
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Le Roi de cœur | Charles Plumpick | 1966-12-21 |
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Once Upon a Tractor | Joe Turrel | 1965-09-09 |
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The Caretaker | Mick | 1964-01-21 |
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Αλέξης Ζορμπάς | Basil | 1964-12-14 |
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Nothing But the Best | Jimmy Brewster | 1964-03-10 |
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The Running Man | Stephen | 1963-10-01 |
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A Kind of Loving | Victor Arthur 'Vic' Brown | 1962-04-12 |
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Whistle Down the Wind | The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey | 1961-07-25 |
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The Entertainer | Frank Rice | 1960-07-25 |