Alan Bates

Versatile, good-looking British actor Alan Bates came to prominence as one of the chief proponents of the angry young man school, along with fellow RADA alums Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. Since his London stage debut in "The Mulberry Bush" (1956), he has been closely associated with playwrights John Osborne, Harold Pinter and Simon Gray, both on the boards and in film. Bates originated the role of Cliff in Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" (1956) and made his Broadway debut the following year in the play. He won tremendous acclaim for his portrayal of Edmund Tyrone in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night" (1958) before making his feature debut in the film version of Osborne's "The Entertainer" (1960), starring Laurence Olivier. He then created the role of Mick in Pinter's "The Caretaker" (1960), playing it on Broadway (1961) and in the Clive Donner movie version (also known as "The Guest" 1964).

Bates flourished on the big screen during the 60s, establishing a long-standing relationship with director John Schlesinger ("A Kind of Loving" 1962, "Far From the Madding Crowd" 1967) and providing able support for Anthony Quinn in "Zorba the Greek" (1964) and Lynn Redgrave in "Georgy Girl" (1966). He starred in the stylish "King of Hearts" (1967), which has become a cult favorite, received his lone Best Actor Oscar nomination for John Frankenheimer's "The Fixer" (1968) and romped sans clothing in Ken Russell's adaptation of D H Lawrence's "Women in Love" (1969). Never one to allow too much time to pass before returning to the English stage, Bates interpreted the Bard during the early 70s, taking his turns as a well-received "Hamlet" (1970) and as Petruccio in His London Evening Standard Award for his portrayal of Simon Gray's "Butley" (1971) preceded the Tony and Drama Desk Awards he would win when he brought the play to NYC in 1972.

Bates starred opposite Julie Christie in Joseph Losey's "The Go-Between" (1971), renewing his association with screenwriter Pinter, reprised his award-winning role for Pinter's film version of "Butley" (1973) and delivered an outstanding performance as Jill Clayburgh's bearded lover in Paul Mazursky's "An Unmarried Woman" (1978). Since "The Return of the Hero" and Lindsay Anderson's "Brittania Hospital" (both 1982), his best feature work has been as Gary Oldman's lover in "We Think the World of You" (1988) and as Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli's "Hamlet" (1990), starring Mel Gibson. Bates reteamed with Schlesinger for the TV-movies "An Englishman Abroad" (BBC, 1983) and "Separate Tables" (1984), winning a BAFTA Award as British spy Guy Burgess for the former. His other TV projects have included A&E's 1994 movie "Unnatural Pursuits" (screenplay by Gray), and the PBS "Masterpiece Theatre" production of Charles Dickens' "Hard Times" (1995). The West End production of "Life Support" (1997), directed by Pinter, marked his 11th collaboration with playwright Gray.

• Also Credited As:
  Alan Arthur Bates
• Born:
  February 17, 1934 in Allestree, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom
• Died:
  December 27, 2003.
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Stage manager

Family

• Father: Harold Arthur Bates.
• Mother: Florence Mary Bates.
• Son: Benedick Bates. twin; born c. 1971; mother, Victoria Ward; acted in the feature Deadly Advice (1994) and on stage with father in Fortune s Fool in 1998
• Son: Tristan Bates. twin; born c. 1971; died of a heart attack brought on by freak asthma attack in January 1990, aged 18; mother, Victoria Ward; Bates endowed a theater in honor of his son

Education

• Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England

Milestones

• 1951 Served in the Royal Air Force (dates approximate)
• 1955 Joined Frank Dunlop s Midland Theatre Company, Coventry, England, where he stage-managed and made stage acting debut in You and Your Wife
• 1956 First film appearance, a one-minute impersonation of King Lear in It s Never Too Late
• 1956 Joined English Stage Society at the Royal Court in London (date approximate)
• 1956 London stage debut, The Mulberry Bush
• 1956 Played Cliff in the original production of John Osborne s Look Back in Anger
• 1957 Broadway debut, Look Back in Anger
• 1959 US TV debut, Duel For Love
• 1960 Feature film debut in movie version of Osborne s The Entertainer
• 1960 Originated part of Mick in Harold Pinter s The Caretaker on the English stage
• 1961 Reprised Caretaker role on Broadway
• 1962 First collaboration with director John Schlesinger, A Kind of Loving
• 1964 Again reprised stage role in feature film The Caretaker/The Guest , directed by Clive Donner
• 1964 Portrayed Anthony Quinn s intellectual British cohort in Zorba the Greek
• 1966 Played the lover who left Lynn Redgrave in the lurch in Georgy Girl
• 1967 Reteamed with Schlessinger for Far From the Madding Crowd ; first screen teaming with Julie Christie
• 1968 Received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for John Frankenheimer s The Fixer , adapted by Dalton Trumbo from the Bernard Malamud novel
• 1969 Engaged in now famous nude wrestling scene with Oliver Reed in Ken Russell s film adaptation of the D H Larwence novel Women in Love
• 1970 Interpreted title role of Hamlet on British stage
• 1971 Starred as farmer opposite aristocratic Julie Christie in Joseph Losey s The Go-Between ; screenplay written by Harold Pinter
• 1972 Portrayed Petruccio in The Taming of the Shrew for the Royal Shakespeare Company
• 1973 Reprised Tony-winning role from Simon Gray s stage play Butley in film version directed by Pinter
• 1973 Reunited with Frankenheimer for Impossible Object
• 1975 First film with Lindsay Anderson, In Celebration
• 1978 Was outstanding as Jill Clayburgh s ultimate lover (after abandonment by weak-willed husband Michael Murphy) in Paul Mazursky s An Unmarried Woman
• 1982 Came home shell-shocked to wife Julie Christie after World War I in The Return of the Soldier
• 1982 Reteamed with director Anderson for Brittania Hospital
• 1983 Earned a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of exiled traitor Guy Burgess in An Englishman Abroad , a TV-movie (BBC) directed by John Schlesinger
• 1984 Second TV film with Schlesinger, Separate Tables (HBO)
• 1990 Turned in a solid portrayal as King Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli s Hamlet , starring Mel Gibson as the Melancholy Dane
• 1991 Portrayed Marcel Proust in A&E movie 102 Boulevard Haussman
• 1994 Starred as obsessive English writer Hamish Partt in A&E movie Unnatural Pursuits (screenplay by Simon Gray)
• 1995 Played Josiah Bounderby in PBS Masterpiece Theatre production of Charles Dickens Hard Times
• 1996 Appeared as Oliver in four-part Oliver s Travels for Mystery! (PBS)
• 1997 Embarked on West End Show Life Support , his 11th collaboration with playwright Gray, directed by Pinter
• 1998 Starred opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in CBS movie Reginald s Gift , the true story of Maggie and Reginald Green who donated the organs of their brain-dead son, enhancing or saving the lives of seven people
• 2000 Returned to the NYC stage in the Off-Broadway production of The Unexpected Man
• 2001 Gave a sterling performance as the head butler at Gosford Park in Robert Altman s ensemble murder mystery
• 2002 Appeared in the Richard Gere thriller Mothman Prophecies
• 2002 Appeared in the Tom Clancy thriller The Sum of All Fears
• 2002 Returned to Broadway opposite Frank Langella in Fortune s Fool
• 2003 featured in The Statement with Michael Caine