Tudor Gates (2 January 1930 – 11 January 2007) was a British

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist.

Biography

Gates was involved in

stage management Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including overseeing of the rehearsal proce ...

by the early 1950s, and began scriptwriting in his spare time. After ''The Guv'nor'' was broadcast on television in 1956, he took to writing full-time.BECTU News - Tudor Gates dies at 76
/ref> He wrote, co-wrote or worked on the screenplays for '' Barbarella'' (1968), '' Danger: Diabolik'' (1968), ''

The Vampire Lovers ''The Vampire Lovers'' is a 1970 British Gothic film, Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole (actor), George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams, Douglas Wilmer and Jon Fin ...

'' (1970), '' Fright'' (1971), '' Lust for a Vampire'' (1971), '' Twins of Evil'' (1971), '' The Love Box'' (1972), '' The Optimists of Nine Elms'' (1973), '' The Sex Thief'' (1973) and '' Intimate Games'' (1976). He also wrote for several TV series, including '' The Sweeney'' and '' Strange Report''. In the 1966 general election, Gates stood as the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

, and in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

he stood in the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in a ...

, placing a distant third on both occasions. In February 1974, he came second in

Bethnal Green and Bow Bethnal Green and Bow was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2010 until its abolition for the 2024 United Kingdom ...

, losing votes but again coming second in

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

. Turning to the stage again in the mid-1970s, Gates wrote ''Who Saw Him Die?'', '' Aurelia'' and '' Who Killed Agatha Christie?'' A lifelong trade unionist, Gates became the President of the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians and supported its merger with the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance which formed the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU), of which he served as vice president until 2004. A controversial figure, he twice took his union to court, using legislation passed by the Conservative Party in the 1980s. He stood unsuccessfully for the Presidency of BECTU in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Selected Credits

*'' Danger: Diabolik'' (1968) *''

The Young, the Evil and the Savage ''The Young, the Evil and the Savage'' (), also known as ''Schoolgirl Killer'', is a 1968 Italian giallo film, ''giallo'' film directed by Antonio Margheriti. Plot A woman is drowned in a bathtub and then placed in a trunk that lands in a pickup ...

'' (1968) (uncredited) *'' Barbarella'' (1968) *''

'' (1970) *'' Lust for a Vampire'' (1971) *'' Twins of Evil'' (1971) *'' Fright'' (1971) *'' The Love Box'' (1972) *'' The Optimists of Nine Elms'' (1973) *'' The Sex Thief'' (1973) *'' The Sweeney'' (1975) (TV series) *'' Three for All'' (1975) *'' Intimate Games'' (1976) *'' Sex with the Stars'' (aka ''Confessions of the Naughty Nymphos'') (1980)

References

External links

Obituary
at ''The Stage''
Obituary
at The Scotsman * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Tudor 1930 births 2007 deaths English male screenwriters English trade unionists English television writers Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Birchington-on-Sea English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters