Alan Bates
Known for: Acting
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
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
Great Performances
James
1971
Series
Screen Two
Marcel Proust
1985
Series
The Wednesday Play
Grigor Pecharin
1964
Pebble Mill
Self
1991
Film
The Sum of All Fears
Dressler
2002
Series
The Ray Bradbury Theater
John Fabian
1985
Series
Screen One
Henry Sitchell
1989
Film
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
Gosford Park
Jennings
2001
Film
The Mothman Prophecies
Alexander Leek
2002
Series
Arabian Nights
Storyteller
2000
Series
Spartacus
Antonius Agrippa
2004
Film
Women in Love
Rupert Birkin
1969
Film
Zorba the Greek
Basil
1964
Film
Spartacus
Antonius Agrippa
2004
Film
An Unmarried Woman
Saul Kaplan
1978
Series
In the Beginning
Jethro
2000
Film
Mr. Frost
Felix Detweiler
1990
Film
Hamlet
Claudius
1990
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Stewart
1951
Film
The Dog It Was That Died
Blair
1989
Series
Love in a Cold Climate
Uncle Matthew
2001
Series
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976
Film
Evelyn
Thomas Connolly
2002
Film
The Shout
Charles Crossley
1978
Film
Georgy Girl
Jos Jones
1966
Film
The Go-Between
Ted Burgess
1971
Film
A Prayer for the Dying
Jack Meehan
1987
Film
Far from the Madding Crowd
Gabriel Oak
1967
Series
Salem Witch Trials
Sir William Phips
2003
Film
The Rose
Rudge Campbell
1979
Series
Oliver's Travels
Oliver
1995
Film
The Statement
Armand Bertier
2003
Film
The Running Man
Stephen
1963
Film
Lionpower from MGM
Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited)
1967
Film
The Wicked Lady
Captain Jerry Jackson
1983
Film
102 Boulevard Haussmann
Marcel Proust
1990
Series
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Michael Henchard
1978
Film
Dr. M
Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru
1990
Film
Nothing Like a Dame
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2018
Film
The Fixer
Yakov Bok
1968
Film
Britannia Hospital
Macready
1982
Film
The Return of the Soldier
Captain Chris Baldry
1983
Series
Armchair Theatre
Lewis Black
1956
Series
Armchair Theatre
Mario
1956
Film
King of Hearts
Charles Plumpick
1966
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd
Himself
1967
Film
The Story of Jacob and Joseph
Narrator (voice)
1974
Series
Hard Times
Josiah Bounderby
1994
Film
Quartet
H.J. Heidler
1981
Film
The Caretaker
Mick
1964
Film
Duet for One
David Cornwallis
1986
Film
Nijinsky
Sergei Diaghilev
1980
Film
The Making of Gosford Park
Self
2002
Film
The Prince and the Pauper
Re Enrico VIII
2000
Film
Royal Flash
Rudi Von Sternberg
1975
Film
Whistle Down the Wind
The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey
1961
Film
Second Best
Tom
1972
Film
Separate Tables
John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
1983
Film
The Entertainer
Frank Rice
1960
Film
Bertie and Elizabeth
King George V
2002
Film
Secret Friends
John
1991
Film
We Think the World of You
Frank Meadows
1988
Film
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
Dr. Alfred Jones
1984
Film
The Collection
James
1976
Series
Unnatural Pursuits
Hamish Partt
1992
Film
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Bri
1972
Film
Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father
Major James Prentis (archival footage)
2020
Film
An Englishman Abroad
Guy Burgess
1983
Film
Very Like a Whale
Sir Jock Mellor
1981
Film
Meanwhile
Father Peter
2003
Film
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend
Calpornius
2000
Film
The Grotesque
Sir Hugo Coal
1995
Film
Pack of Lies
Stewart
1987
Film
Discovering Hamlet
Claudius (archive footage)
2011
Film
Silent Tongue
Eamon McCree
1994
Film
Anthony Quinn: The Final Words
Self
2001
Film
A Kind of Loving
Victor 'Vic' Brown
1962
Film
The Cherry Orchard
Gayev
1999
Film
Hard Times
Josiah Bounderby
1994
Film
Three Sisters
Col. Vershinin
1970
Film
Hollywood North
Michael Baytes
2004
Film
Uncontrollable Circumstances
Malcolm Forrest
1989
Film
Once Upon a Tractor
Joe Turrel
1965
Film
Impossible Object
Harry
1973
Plaintiffs and Defendants
Peter
1975
Film
Butley
Ben Butley
1974
Film
Hands Up!
Self (1981 footage)
1985
Film
Nothing But the Best
Jimmy Brewster
1964
Film
A Voyage Round My Father
John Mortimer
1984
Film
Shuttlecock
Major James Prentis VC
1993
Film
Nicholas’ Gift
Reg Green
1998
Film
Unnatural Pursuits
Hamish Partt
1992
Film
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work
Self
1969
Two Sundays
Charles
1975
Film
In Celebration
Andrew Shaw
1975
Film
One for the Road
Nicholas
1985
Film
The Trespasser
Siegmund
1981
Film
Losing Track
Henry Sitchell
1992
Film
The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
John Fabian
1988
Film
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
Archive
2025