Alan Bates
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.
TV Shows(17)
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Spartacus
Antonius Agrippa
2004
Salem Witch Trials
Sir William Phips
2003
Love in a Cold Climate
Uncle Matthew
2001
In the Beginning
Jethro
2000
Arabian Nights
Storyteller
2000
Oliver's Travels
Oliver
1995
Hard Times
Josiah Bounderby
1994
Unnatural Pursuits
Hamish Partt
1992
Pebble Mill
Self
1991
The Ray Bradbury Theater
John Fabian
1985
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Michael Henchard
1978
Laurence Olivier Presents
1976
Great Performances
James
1971
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Armchair Theatre
Lewis Black
1956
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Stewart
1951
Movies(83)
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
Archive
2025
Shuttlecock: Sins of a Father
Major James Prentis (archival footage)
2020
Nothing Like a Dame
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2018
Discovering Hamlet
Claudius (archive footage)
2011
Spartacus
Antonius Agrippa
2004
Hollywood North
Michael Baytes
2004
The Statement
Armand Bertier
2003
Meanwhile
Father Peter
2003
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Self (archive footage)
2003
Salem Witch Trials
Sir William Phips
2002
Evelyn
Thomas Connolly
2002
The Making of Gosford Park
Self
2002
Bertie and Elizabeth
King George V
2002
The Sum of All Fears
Dressler
2002
The Mothman Prophecies
Alexander Leek
2002
Gosford Park
Jennings
2001
Anthony Quinn: The Final Words
Self
2001
The Prince and the Pauper
Re Enrico VIII
2000
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend
Calpornius
2000
The Cherry Orchard
Gayev
1999
Nicholas’ Gift
Reg Green
1998
The Grotesque
Sir Hugo Coal
1995
Hard Times
Josiah Bounderby
1994
Silent Tongue
Eamon McCree
1994
Shuttlecock
Major James Prentis VC
1993
Losing Track
Henry Sitchell
1992
Unnatural Pursuits
Hamish Partt
1992
Secret Friends
John
1991
Hamlet
Claudius
1990
102 Boulevard Haussmann
Marcel Proust
1990
Dr. M
Dr, Marsfeldt / Guru
1990
Mister Frost
Felix Detweiler
1990
Uncontrollable Circumstances
Malcolm Forrest
1989
The Dog It Was That Died
Blair
1989
We Think the World of You
Frank Meadows
1988
The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska
John Fabian
1988
A Prayer for the Dying
Jack Meehan
1987
Pack of Lies
Stewart
1987
Duet for One
David Cornwallis
1986
One for the Road
Nicholas
1985
Hands Up!
Self (1981 footage)
1985
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
Dr. Alfred Jones
1984
A Voyage Round My Father
John Mortimer
1984
An Englishman Abroad
Guy Burgess
1983
The Wicked Lady
Captain Jerry Jackson
1983
The Return of the Soldier
Captain Chris Baldry
1983
Separate Tables
John Malcolm / Maj. Pollock
1983
Britannia Hospital
Macready
1982
Quartet
H.J. Heidler
1981
The Trespasser
Siegmund
1981
Very Like a Whale
Sir Jock Mellor
1981
Nijinsky
Sergei Diaghilev
1980
The Rose
Rudge Campbell
1979
The Shout
Charles Crossley
1978
An Unmarried Woman
Saul Kaplan
1978
The Collection
James
1976
Two Sundays
Charles
1975
Plaintiffs and Defendants
Peter
1975
Royal Flash
Rudi Von Sternberg
1975
In Celebration
Andrew Shaw
1975
The Story of Jacob and Joseph
Narrator (voice)
1974
Butley
Ben Butley
1974
Impossible Object
Harry
1973
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Bri
1972
Second Best
Tom
1972
The Go-Between
Ted Burgess
1971
Three Sisters
Col. Vershinin
1970
Women in Love
Rupert Birkin
1969
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work
Self
1969
The Fixer
Yakov Bok
1968
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd
Himself
1967
Far from the Madding Crowd
Gabriel Oak
1967
Lionpower from MGM
Self - Gabriel Oak (archive footage) (uncredited)
1967
King of Hearts
Charles Plumpick
1966
Georgy Girl
Jos Jones
1966
Once Upon a Tractor
Joe Turrel
1965
Zorba the Greek
Basil
1964
Nothing But the Best
Jimmy Brewster
1964
The Caretaker
Mick
1964
The Running Man
Stephen
1963
A Kind of Loving
Victor Arthur 'Vic' Brown
1962
Whistle Down the Wind
The Man, Arthur Alan Blakey
1961
The Entertainer
Frank Rice
1960