Alan Bates

Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the kitchen sink drama '' A Kind of Loving''.

Bates is also known for his performance with Anthony Quinn in '' Zorba the Greek'', as well as his roles in '' King of Hearts'', '' Georgy Girl'', '' Far From the Madding Crowd'' and '' The Fixer'', for which he received 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 in '' The Rose'' with Bette Midler, as well as many television dramas, 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 appeared on the stage, notably in the plays of Simon Gray, such as '' Butley'' and '' Otherwise Engaged''.

Early life

Bates was born at the Queen Mary Nursing Home, Darley Abbey, Derby, England, on 17 February 1934, the eldest of three boys born to Florence Mary (née Wheatcroft), a housewife and a pianist, and Harold Arthur Bates, an insurance broker and a cellist. They lived in Allestree, Derby, at the time of Bates' birth, but briefly moved to Mickleover before returning to Allestree.

Both his parents were amateur musicians who encouraged Bates to pursue music. By the age of 11, having decided to become an actor, he studied drama instead. He further developed his vocation by attending productions at Derby's Little Theatre.

Bates was educated at the Herbert Strutt Grammar School, Derby Road, Belper, Derbyshire (now "Strutts", a volunteer led business and community centre) and later gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he studied with Albert Finney and Peter O'Toole, before leaving to join the RAF for National Service at RAF Newton.

Career

Early stage appearances

Bates's stage debut was in 1955, in ''You and Your Wife'', in Coventry.

In 1956, Bates made his West End debut as Cliff in '' Look Back in Anger'', a role he had originated at the Royal Court and which made him a star. He also played the role on television (for the '' ITV Play of the Week'') and on Broadway. He also was a member of the 1967 acting company at the Stratford Festival in Canada, playing the title role in Richard III.

Television

In the late 1950s, Bates appeared in several plays for television in Britain in shows such as ''ITV Play of the Week'', '' Armchair Theatre'' and ''ITV Television Playhouse''.

In 1960, Bates appeared as Giorgio in the final episode of ''The Four Just Men (TV series)'' entitled Treviso Dam.

Bates worked for the ''Padded Wagon Moving Company'' in the early 1960s while acting at the ''Circle in the Square Theatre'' in New York City.

Film stardom (1960–1979)

Bates made his feature film debut in '' The Entertainer'' (1960) opposite Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Albert Finney, and the rest of the ensemble cast. Bates played the lead in his second feature, '' Whistle Down the Wind'' (1961), opposite Hayley Mills and directed by Bryan Forbes. He followed it with the lead in '' A Kind of Loving'' (1962), directed by John Schlesinger in his film debut. Both films were very popular in the UK, with the latter earning him a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor and establishing Bates as a film star. Some film critics cited the 1963 crime drama '' The Running Man'' as being one of Bates' finest performances. The film starred Laurence Harvey as a man who fakes his death and Lee Remick as his increasingly conflicted wife, with Bates in the supporting role of Stephen Maddox, an insurance company investigator.

Bates next co-starred in an adaptation of Harold Pinter's '' The Caretaker'' (1963) along with Donald Pleasence and Robert Shaw. It was directed by Clive Donner, who then made '' Nothing But the Best'' (1964) with Bates. He was the co-lead alongside Anthony Quinn in the Academy Award-winning hit Michael Cacoyannis film '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964); the lead in a short film, ''Once Upon a Tractor'' (1965); and starred in Philippe de Broca's '' King of Hearts'' (1966).

Bates also starred as the male lead opposite Lynn Redgrave as the titular '' Georgy Girl'' (1966), which also featured James Mason and Charlotte Rampling in supporting roles. He was reunited with Schlesinger in '' Far From the Madding Crowd'' (1967), starring Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, and Peter Finch. For these two films, Bates earned himself three Golden Globe nominations: Best Comedy/Musical Actor and Best Male Newcomer; and Best Drama Actor the following ceremony, respectively.

In 1968, Bates starred alongside Dirk Bogarde and Ian Holm in the John Frankenheimer film '' The Fixer'' (1968), adapted from the Bernard Malamud novel based off the true story of Menahem Mendel Beilis. It earned Bates an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, as well as another Golden Globe nomination. He followed that up with '' Women in Love'' (1969), directed by Ken Russell and co-starring Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson, in which Bates and Reed wrestled completely naked. The scene was groundbreaking for taboos of the time, as it was the first studio film to ever feature full frontal male nudity. Bates also earned another BAFTA nomination for Best Actor for his performance.

Following that success, he appeared as Col Vershinin in the National Theatre's film of '' Three Sisters'', reuniting him with Olivier (who directed) and Plowight. He was handpicked by director Schlesinger to play the male lead in the film '' Sunday Bloody Sunday'' (1971). However, he was preoccupied filming '' The Go-Between'' (1971) for director Joseph Losey alongside Christie again, and had also become a father around that time, so thusly refused the role (which ultimately went to Finch opposite co-lead Jackson).

Bates starred in the film adaptation of '' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'' (1972) with Janet Suzman and produced and appeared in a short, ''Second Best'' (1972). He starred in '' Story of a Love Story'' (1973). He also starred in two adaptations of his successful theatrical roles: his Tony-winning role in '' Butley'' (1974), as well as '' In Celebration'' (1975). He was the villain in '' Royal Flash'' (1975). He appeared alongside Susannah York and John Hurt in '' The Shout'' (1978); and opposite Jill Clayburgh in '' An Unmarried Woman'' (1978). He also played Bette Midler's ruthless business manager in the film '' The Rose'' (1979).

Film and television (1980s)

Bates starred in the TV movie ''Piccadilly Circus'' (1977) and '' The Mayor of Casterbridge'' (1978). In the latter he played Michael Henchard, the ultimately-disgraced lead, which he described as his favourite role. Bates played two diametrically opposed roles in '' An Englishman Abroad'' (1983), as Guy Burgess, a gay member of the Cambridge spy ring exiled in Moscow, and in '' Pack of Lies'' (1987), as a British Secret Service agent tracking several Soviet spies.

His film roles this decade were more sparse, but included Herbert Ross's '' Nijinsky'' (1980), in which he portrayed yet another role as both a closeted gay lover and a domineering mentor. The following year, he was part of James Ivory's '' Quartet'' (1981), also starring Maggie Smith, Isabelle Adjani, and Anthony Higgins. Bates succeeded that with '' The Return of the Soldier'' (1982), which reunited him with Julie Christie, Glenda Jackson, and Ian Holm. '' The Wicked Lady'' (1983) teamed him up with Faye Dunaway but received poor reviews.

Bates then starred alongside Julie Andrews as the husband of her violinist who is stricken with multiple sclerosis in '' Duet for One'' (1986). In the North Irish IRA thriller '' A Prayer for the Dying'' (1987) from director Mike Hodges, he plays the main antagonist and Bob Hoskins. And in '' We Think the World of You'' (1988), he portrays the older lover of young convict Gary Oldman—the latter of whom gets sent to jail and entrusts his beloved, mischievous German Shepherd ( Alsatian) to the former's care.

Later career

Bates continued working in film and television in the 1990s, including the role of Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli's version of ''Hamlet'' (1990). In 2001 he joined an all-star cast in Robert Altman's critically acclaimed period drama ''Gosford Park'', in which he played the butler Jennings. He later played Antonius Agrippa in the 2004 TV film ''Spartacus'', but died before it premiered. The film was dedicated to his memory and that of writer Howard Fast, who wrote the original novel that inspired the film ''Spartacus'' by Stanley Kubrick.

On stage, Bates had a particular association with the plays of Simon Gray, appearing in '' Butley'', '' Otherwise Engaged'', ''Stage Struck'', ''Melon'', ''Life Support'', and ''Simply Disconnected'', as well as the film of ''Butley'' and Gray's TV series ''Unnatural Pursuits''. In ''Otherwise Engaged'', his co-star was Ian Charleson, who became a friend, and Bates later contributed a chapter to a 1990 book on his colleague after Charleson's early death.

Bates was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 Birthday Honours,The United Kingdom: and was knighted in the 2003 New Year Honours, in both cases for services to drama. and was a patron of The Actors Centre, Covent Garden, London, from 1994 until his death in 2003.

Personal life

Bates was married to actress Victoria Ward from 1970 until her death from a heart attack in 1992, although they had separated many years earlier. They had twin sons, born in November 1970: the actors Benedick Bates and Tristan Bates. Tristan died following an asthma attack in Tokyo in 1990.

Bates had numerous gay relationships, including those with actor Nickolas Grace and Olympic skater John Curry, as detailed in Donald Spoto's authorised biography ''Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates''. Spoto characterised Bates's sexuality as ambiguous, and said, "he loved women but enjoyed his closest relationships with men". Even after homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England in 1967, Bates rigorously avoided interviews and questions about his personal life, and even denied to his male lovers that there was a homosexual component in his nature. Throughout his life, Bates sought to be regarded as charming and charismatic, or at least as a man who, as an actor, could appear attractive to and attracted by women. He also chose some roles with an aspect of homosexuality or bisexuality, including the role of Rupert in the 1969 film '' Women in Love'' and the role of Frank in the 1988 film '' We Think the World of You''.

In the later years of his life, Bates had a relationship with the Welsh actress Angharad Rees.

Death

Bates died of pancreatic cancer on 27 December 2003, after slipping into a coma. He was buried at All Saints' Church, Bradbourne in Derbyshire. Bates bequeathed companion and actress Joanna Pettet £95,000 () upon his death. The two had been friends since 1964, and Pettet provided support and companionship during his final months after he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2003. Pettet was quoted as saying: "It was a very touching gesture because he had done everything while he was in hospital to make sure I would be looked after following his death."

''Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates''

Donald Spoto's 2007 book, ''Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates'', is a posthumous authorised biography of Alan Bates. It was written with the cooperation of his son Benedick and features more than one hundred interviews, including with Michael Linnit and Rosalind Chatto.

Tristan Bates Theatre

Bates and his family created the Tristan Bates Theatre at the Actors' Centre in Covent Garden, in memory of his son Tristan who died at the age of 19. Tristan's twin brother, Benedick, is a vice-director.

Selected credits

FILM:

STAGE:

TELEVISION:

^‡This mini-film was shown as part of a presentation on the anthology series, '' Screen Two''.

Accolades

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Alan
1934 births
2003 deaths
20th-century English male actors
20th-century Royal Air Force personnel
21st-century English male actors
Actors awarded knighthoods
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Audiobook narrators
BAFTA winners (people)
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England
Drama Desk Award winners
English bisexual male actors
English knights
English male film actors
English male radio actors
English male Shakespearean actors
English male stage actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Knights Bachelor
Male actors from Derby
Military personnel from Derbyshire
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Allestree
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Shakespeare Company members
Tony Award winners